Generation Z Consumption Trends & Lifestyle

Consumption trends depend on consumers’ consumption habits or behaviors, for example, how consumers use a product, or how they interact with the social group to which they belong through a brand. The marketing budget of the industry will be based on the consumption budget and lifestyle of mainstream consumers in the market as the main reference index.

According to research, the new generation of consumer trends has shifted from the generation born after the baby boom to the millennial generation (young people born in 1982-2000). And what kind of characteristics do these young people have, and what impact will they have on future consumer trends?

We will sort out the characteristics of the millennial generation, the mainstream consumers in the future market (US) and provide several directions as a reference for the 2016 market.

Consumption trends example

After the financial tsunami, the employment opportunities of this generation of young people were severely damaged. Due to the unfriendly job market, the degree of recovery was also very slow. This group of people was less urgent and radical in “finding a job” compared to other generations. Because the employment rate is relatively low, the average spending power is weaker than that of other generations, the rate of relying on credit cards is also relatively low, and the age for getting married, starting a family, and owning assets is relatively delayed.

However, in contrast, more than 30% of young millennials have a college degree or higher education level. From the results of the above figure, it currently accounts for about 40% of the total population of the United States. According to statistics from Stifel Financial Crop, this group of people are more accustomed to shopping online than traditional shopping malls; for retailers, e-commerce sales accounted for more than half of total sales in 2014.

Consumption habits of millennials

In addition to their preference for online consumption and higher education, according to Goldman Sachs statistics, the consumption habits of millennials also have the following characteristics:

  1. “healthier” (1.5 times) than other generations (generation X & postwar baby boom)
  2. A big fan of sports brands (TOP3: Lululemon, Under Armour, the North Face)
  3. Very good at using technology products (tech-savvy), like using social networks
  4. Like to buy daily groceries in specific stores, but has low brand loyalty
Generation Z Consumption Trends & Lifestyle
Generation Z Consumption Trends & Lifestyle

Overall, young millennials pay more attention to personal health and overall health. From a more comprehensive perspective and through the choices of each lifestyle, they find ways to improve their personal health, such as eating, cleaning or For daily physical exercise, use the App to monitor the results of daily physical training or assist in daily personal training plans. For example, use Nike+, Starva to record the time, speed, calories burned, etc. of running and cycling.

Based on the above consumption characteristics, the 2016 potential market consumption trends MarketingSkull analyzes from three different perspectives: technology, clothing, food consumption

  1. Technology: Wearable Devices

The life of this generation has an inseparable relationship with technological products, which is also the trend of this era. After smartphones, wearables are regarded as the next new star with great development potential. They are consuming fashion trends for the market, and product design usually combines practical and fashionable features. Each brand has its own unique tricks to attract different Consumer market.

According to the results of Google trends in the figure below, we can see that people’s interest in wearable devices is growing in an astonishing trend. IDC estimates that by 2018, the market for wearable devices will grow 5.8 times (to $112 million).

Compared with the past wearable devices are a strange product, such as sports titanium germanium energy accessories, nowadays wearable devices incorporate design aesthetics. For example, in 2014, the Polo Tech shirt combined with biometric technology was launched, which can record the player’s training status and further analyze it through data transmission to provide more accurate recommendations for the player’s adaptive training.

In March this year, Apple entered the smart watch market and launched three different grades of Apple Watch. It can be called a “good helper for life”. It can monitor daily activities, exercise time, register, read the latest headlines, to-dos, Apple pay, etc. Paid features.

Fitbit, the leader in the wearable device industry, has four product lines in addition to smart watches, including pedometers, smart weight scales, and smart watches. It uses “weight loss” as its main marketing method to prevent Apple from beautifying itself. The stock “FIT” listed on the New York Stock Exchange in June has also become the third largest OTC company in the United States this year.

The veteran Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch also announced in August that it has joined the smart watch battle, launching the first smart watch “Touch Zero One“, which focuses on specific functions of a single device. Each watch has different functions, rather than high-end all-in-one and products as a market segment.

Garmin, which started with aviation, navigation, and car GPS navigation in the early days, also announced this year to join the blue ocean of wearable devices. The first product is positioned as a comprehensive bowl table that combines business use and sports training; Xiaomi, which currently has the third largest market share Attacking the market at low prices.

The wearable device market is taming, and there is a lot of room for innovation and experimentation, but you don’t need to invent a wearable device like the above-mentioned major manufacturers, you can develop toward the peripheral products or accessories of the wearable device, and use your strength. Such as different colored straps, watch cases, or matching accessories with wearable devices, and even smart jewelry, such as rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.

Example: Pet Smart Collar

The owner can monitor and control the health of the fur child in real time-24-hour personal record of the pet’s activities throughout the day, so that the owner can detect the pet’s abnormalities in advance, such as the pet’s rest, walking and running status, body temperature, and health; it can also be monitored If the temperature of the environment is too high, take the initiative to remind the owner to add more water and food to pets with more activity. Through the pet smart collar, you no longer need to worry about the problem of pets getting lost. Through the pet smart collar, you can establish a social network relationship and let your pets meet new partners.

Dress
  • Athleisure “Cool Sports” style
  • “Athletic (sports)” + “Leisure (leisure)” → “Athleisure (cool sports style)”

“Cool sports style” started in 2014 from street trends such as hip-hop singers and skateboards, and has quietly entered the fashion world, such as heavy metal elements with fluff, sports running shoes with dresses, blazers with a hat T, suit pants with a pair of designs The trainer-branded sneakers set off a revolution in “sportswear out of the gym” and brought new fashion trends.

This kind of clothing usually has neat cut and fit and comfortable fabrics, which are stretchy, stretchable, close-fitting, and slimming. At the same time, it can convey a cool feeling. You can usually dress in this style even if you don’t go to the gym. Go shopping or go to a restaurant to eat, so even those who do not like sports will want to try this style of dress.

As mentioned above, the millennial consumer group is a loyal fan of sports brands, and the millennial consumer group pays much attention to their health and loves sports. Cool sportswear not only saves them from busy work. When you go home and change clothes, you can go directly from the office to the yoga studio or gym after getting off work. The point is that it is still very “tide”, so it is deeply loved by this generation.

It is estimated that the US sportswear market will grow by 50% in 2020, and the market value is expected to exceed 100 billion US dollars.

  1. Beauty products

Women in the consumer market have always been a force that cannot be underestimated. For millennial women, makeup is not only a way to conceal personal shortcomings, beauty products have also become a source of entertainment, as a kind of personal personality display the way.

For example, Sephora, a well-known French cosmetics chain store, is not only in physical stores or online shopping platforms, but also to help consumers have a personalized experience and help them choose the right color and brand.

Recently, daily skin cleansing products have also caused a chaotic battle in the market. Based on people’s emphasis on health, and bamboo charcoal has a natural adsorption of impurities and cleaning effects, many products have recently launched beauty products with bamboo charcoal/active carbon ingredients. Ingredients are a mainstream trend.

You can also see the results of google trend, the popularity of Sephora and bamboo charcoal products has changed.

According to statistics, it is estimated that the market value of US skin care products-related industries in 2016 can reach 1.21 trillion US dollars; on average, women over 18 spend about 4,000 yuan on beauty-related products each year. With the rising health awareness of millennials, they are very optimistic about the future market for such products.

  1. Food consumption

The millennial generation is also known as a generation of “foodies”. They like to try new and exotic dishes, and their ability to follow the trend of early adopters is amazing. Based on their concerns about health, they will also pay attention to information about food sources, food mileage, food additives, and whether they are friendly to the environment.

They will be proud of their “food safety awareness” and will be relatively attracted to products with clearly marked sources. The experience of food shopping hopes to obtain good quality, diversified products and clear product information.

Potential market:

Provide a food consumption platform that makes them feel smart, healthy, cool, and friendly.

And the food-related products take matcha as an example

According to the characteristics of the millennial generation mentioned earlier, matcha is another trending product. It has a history of thousands of years in China and Japan. Monks drink tea to maintain a quiet mind of meditating. In addition, matcha is also regarded as an anti-cancer health care product that can meet the needs of vitality and nutrition.

Because matcha powder is ground into powder from unfermented tea leaves, it can retain the original flavor and nutrients of the tea. Compared with ordinary green tea, the caffeine content is also lower, which can effectively block the absorption of oil and strengthen the intestinal peristalsis. Matcha tea is rich in antioxidants, L-theanine, β-carotene and other ingredients, which can improve immunity, enhance resistance, reduce anxiety, resist stress, help concentration, improve sleep quality, stabilize mood, bad breath and tooth decay. As well as preventing cardiovascular diseases, it is a very healthy tea.

The search situation of matcha in google trends is shown in the figure below:

The tea market is a booming industry in the United States. According to a survey by the American Tea Association, 80% of households in the United States have tea at home, and more than 50% have the habit of drinking tea every day. According to statistics, the United States drank 8 million pounds of green tea in 2013, and tea consumption continues to increase at an alarming rate.

To enter the matcha market, you can start from the following three aspects:
  • Selling Matcha-whisk products
  • Become a reputable matcha supplier
  • Sell ​​related teacup sets with distinctive or design sense (Tea-cup sets)
Marketing tips for millennials:
  • Commodity personalization
  • Information transparency
  • Interactive
  • The content is streamlined and eye-catching
  • Fast and efficient customer service
  • Consider social network relationships and cultural habits
  • Trusting friends is better than experts

But the most important thing is to do a good job of market research before launching a product. How to find your product positioning and differentiation in a highly competitive market to create consumption incentives to ensure that the product to be launched will not only bring short-term Fashion and dazzling style but can become the undefeated giant to dominate the market!

Generation Z Consumption Trends & Lifestyle
Generation Z Consumption Trends & Lifestyle

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