What Gen Z wants | WARC | The Feed

What Gen Z wants

A new survey of American teens goes deep on money, the metaverse, and brand preferences.

Why it matters

Successors to millennials, Gen Z are those born between 1997 and 2012. Around the world, this generation has a more sophisticated attitude to technology and surprising spending power. New insights from a survey of 7,100 US teens by the investment bank Piper Sandler shines a light on some of their commercial preferences.

Key insights

• Devices: 87% of teens surveyed say they use an iPhone. As a result, Apple Pay is the most used payment app ahead of PYPL’s Venmo.
• Social Media: TikTok is the favorite social media platform (33% share) surpassing Snapchat for the first time (31%); Instagram was again third (22%).
• Money: Cash remains important, a slight growth in usage (89% of respondents say they used cash in the last month vs 83% last year) points to more frequent shopping or dining outings. Food returns to teens’ top wallet priority, with a 22% share.
• Beauty: Skincare really matters in the beauty space, taking the highest priority spending spot, ahead of cosmetics and hair care. Most buyers read the ingredients; 88% would pay more for “clean” and 58% would pay more for “science-backed”.
• The Metaverse: Though a quarter of the sample own a VR device, just 5% say they use it daily. Just under half (48%) of teens are either unsure or not interested in the ‘Metaverse’.
• Athleisure continues: Nike is the number one apparel brand and number one footwear brand. More broadly, athletic brands’ mindshare is growing among teens.

Sourced from Piper Sandler, WARC