Ever feel like someone’s talking about you? Well if you’re considered part of Generation Z, trust your gut more often-SXSW has been talking about you incessantly for their entire conference. The following is Forbes take on these Gen Z experts & what they have to say about you:
At SXSW Interactive this past week, conversation wasn’t just about the big flashy new technologies – from VR headsets at numerous event pop-ups, to all sorts of conversations around artificial intelligence or autonomous cars. It was also about consumers and how to better reach them.
As the festival has drawn in more marketers and not just tech folk over the years, this has increasingly become the case. For 2016, however, it was one segment very specifically that stood out: Generation Z.
Defined as those born after the year 1995, or thereabouts, this is the generation that follows Millennials. It’s also the generation that’s still being born right now. For those in their teen years however, there are many healthy insights already to gain.
- Gen Z is the most ethnically diverse generation in US history. It will comprise 47% ethnic minorities, according to Jaclyn Suzuki, creative director of Ziba Design.
- These consumers are digital natives, but even more so, mobile first. They are twice more likely to want to shop on a mobile than Millennials, said Anna Fieler, executive vice president of marketing at Popsugar.
- Their media consumption habits are also significantly different: they watch between two and four hours of YouTube and less than an hour of traditional television per day.
- Their attention span is estimated at just eight seconds, comparative to 12 seconds for Millennials, outlined Fieler.
- They find email an out-dated communications method, and are 3x likelier to open a chat message received through a push notification. They value privacy meaning the best way to reach them is via private forums than broadcast media like Twitter and Facebook, said Jaclyn Ling, director of fashion and retail services at Kik.
- They spend and care less about material items than they do experiences they can share on social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. They do care about brands, they just don’t use brands to navigate their choices, said Jaran.
- In a top 10 list of influencers Gen Z take note of, there was only one name on there who is a traditional movie star, and that was Jennifer Lawrence, noted Fieler. While the likes of Kendall and Kylie Jenner feature heavily, they otherwise favor Snapchat and YouTube stars, and other people who look like them. 63% of them say they prefer to see real people than celebs in their ads.
- This generation is defined by fluid personal identities breaking from traditional forms. They have multiple online personas and many will have three careers by the age of 30, explained Suzuki.
- They also don’t define themselves as much by gender. According to Shepherd Laughlin, director of trend forecasting at JWT Intelligence, only 48% of Gen Z identify as exclusively heterosexual as compared to 65% of Millennials, and only 44% of them say they always buy clothes designed for their own gender, compared with 54% of Millennials.
- They can also be defined as the “Pluralist Generation” – they have conviction in diverse races and religions and believe people can coexist in society, explained Fieler.
- They’re also twice more likely to use YouTube than Millennials, and a lot less likely to use Facebook , according to Shireen Jaran, chief brand experience officer at Lucky Brand.
Okay, we’re dying to know what YOU think scholars! Comment below & tell us how the ‘Gen Z Experts’ did.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com. You can read the original here.