Generation Z, individuals born between 1995 and 2005, are affecting the marketing industry. Their consumer habits and worldviews are altering the way sellers need to advertise their products. With older generations, sellers could advertise based on demographics such as race, age, and gender, but Gen Z is making this nearly impossible. Many Gen Zers don’t share the same concepts of age, race, and gender as the older generations and probably won’t any time soon. Gen Z also makes up over 44 billion in direct buying power, so sellers must adapt to appeal to them if they wish to succeed.
Highlights:
- Gen Z’s different ideas of race and gender are affecting the marketing industry
- Marketers can’t target certain demographics as easily since Gen Z groups are now more based on behavior, not physical traits
- Most Gen Zers use the internet, so marketers reach out to them on sites like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook
- Trying to connect with Gen Zers can be tricky considering their slang and customs
- If advertisements aren’t good, Gen Z will purposely go out of their way to avoid them
- Advertisers need to adapt to these new criteria if they wish to succeed
Go deeper:
- Why Gen Z might signal the end of demographic targeting as we know it – Marketing Dive
- “Officially Bonkers:” Genderless Kids Clothes Cause Controversy in U.K. – AdAge
- Uniquely Generation Z– IBM
- Gen Z is Anxious, Distrustful, and Often Downright Miserable, New Poll Reveals – Inc.
Lily Sousa is a marketing intern at 301 Digital Media. She lives with her family in Middle Tennessee, where she is an 8th grader. She loves Zelda and drawing.
