Article by Youth Culture Agency, Archrival reveals the changing buying behaviour of Gen Z
With social media being the primary hub for Gen Z for everything from marketplace, entertainment, learning & news. The shopping experience is now a medley of influences and mindsets.
The pre-social media era created a predictable funnel of 1. Awareness >> 2. Interest >> 3. Desire >> 4. Action. The focus was to reach as many people as possible with generic adverts.
Now, the funnel has transformed into an infinite loop of Inspiration >> Exploration >> Community >> Loyalty >> Inspiration
INSPIRATION: This generation is facing a constant bombardment of content and information via Social Media. They seek inspiration with content that breaks that clutter and want to identify with brands that provide them inspiration.
retailers are behaving more like media companies and media companies are behaving more like retailers, says Alex Hawkins, strategic foresight editor at agency The Future Laboratory. One example is Half Magic, a makeup line and joint venture between film and TV production studio A24 and makeup artist Doniella Davy, who created the beauty looks on A24 show Euphoria. Most recently, the brand has released a makeup kit inspired by the new Sofia Coppola film Priscilla.
EXPLORATION: The new-age consumer is all about reading labels. The generation believes in thorough research and will only purchase after establishing trust with a brand through reviews, comment sections, unboxing videos, and how-tos. They are also quite value-conscious and are constantly weighing between various options - cheaper options on Amazon or a sale/offer at a D2C product competitor.
In reality, many Gen Z consumers aren’t buying products impulsively at the point of inspiration. In fact, young people are increasingly using social media as a search engine, to research products they’ve seen online or IRL and hear from others about the item’s fit, quality, packaging and more.
COMMUNITY: The new-age consumer expects to associate with brands that are more than just a shop. They expect brands to build a universe/story they can invest in as a part of a larger engaged community.
For many Gen Z customers, simply selling a product isn’t enough — brands need to build a universe. 54 per cent of Gen Zs say that their favourite brands are the ones that make them feel like they’re part of a community, Archrival found. In other words, “cool” brands are the ones engaging this generation with far more than just product. And with 84 per cent saying they’re more likely to purchase from brands that they see as “cool”, compared to ones they don’t, this universe building is key to winning their loyalty.
LOYALTY: Loyalty is not just about being a repeat purchase anymore. Being a brand-lover, sharing its content, and showing up at community events while not being a purchaser is loyalty too. The new-age consumer wants to be acknowledged for showing their brand love.
Brands need to be where the people are: traversing the infinite loop of inspiration, exploration, community and loyalty.
In the old world, brands were at the centre of the consumer journey — today, people are (and, you could argue, always should have been).
Full Article: https://genzbrokethefunnel.com/