Generation Z: We are no angels

Generation Z raises questions with companies and advertisers. Brands don’t always know how to approach this generation, or with which communication channel to reach them. On the side of recruiters, speak with a few business leaders and human resources directors and you will hear this generation say that it is victimary, unfaithful, narcissistic, misinformed… The American writer Bret Easton Ellis even spoke of a “chochotte” generation in an article that generated a lot of comments at the time. Of course, this is only a vision.

Others say to themselves that we tend to look at this generation too much through the glasses of our own generation and that in reality, we should rather say that generation Z is a generation that is committed, sensitive, demanding but also ready to take more risk than its elders as written by Les Echos.

In reality, all of this is true, but what is even more true is that this generation has one thing in common with the others, it is that it is full of contradictions. And this is the result of a study published by the economic magazine The Economist. First, let’s remember that this generation was not structured, but destructured by the financial crisis of 2008 but, above all, by the two years of COVID and of course by global warming. These are all disturbing and therefore destructuring events or phenomena. Consulting firm McKinsey shows that a quarter of this generation Z think they will not be able to afford their pension and half think they will never own a property. This alone should make older generations think twice before sticking a pejorative adjective on Gen Z.

But let’s come to the contradictions of this generation, as they have been pinpointed by The Economist: the first is that these young people, who claim to be afraid of the future, are also rather in overconsumption mode, generally online and often through social networks. Normal, the smartphone has become a prosthesis for young people. Besides, take a good look at them, they no longer wear watches, it’s their smartphone that does the job. Then, among the trends highlighted by The Economist, there is the fact that these young people are followers of “buy now, pay later”, dear to Americans. Clearly, these young people are addicted to credit. They are also addicted to subscriptions, especially for their online entertainment. This in itself is a trend that business leaders should keep in mind. A study shows it well: we have entered into a Netflixisation of the economy. Not a sector escapes the influence of subscriptions. Second, this generation loves fast deliveries. Again, this is in contradiction with their fear of global warming… In other words, this generation Z is Ecolo to the end of its anger but not to the end of its bank card.

And the most surprising thing is that according to this study, the generation considers luxury as a normal element of consumption. According to the consultant Bain, the Generation Z consumer – I’m talking about an average – buys his first luxury item at …. 15 years old against 19 years old for those over 30, as Marc Fiorentino points out. For his part, Jacques Séguéla, the best-known French advertiser, must laugh. A few years ago, he caused a scandal by saying “if you don’t have a Rolex at 50, you’ve wasted your life”.

In the meantime, all these contradictions do not make life easier for brand marketing managers. They discover what the philosopher Régis Debray said, namely that we are just humans and we discover every day that it is difficult to respect the specifications of an angel.

Generation Z raises questions with companies and advertisers. Brands don’t always know how to approach this generation, or with which communication channel to reach them. On the side of recruiters, speak with a few business leaders and human resources directors and you will hear this generation say that it is victimary, unfaithful, narcissistic, misinformed… The American writer Bret Easton Ellis even spoke of a “chochotte” generation in an article that generated a lot of comments at the time. Of course, this is only a vision. Others say to themselves that we tend to look at this generation too much through the glasses of our own generation and that in reality, we should rather say that Generation Z is a committed generation, sensitive, demanding but also ready to take more risks than its elders as Les Echos writes. In reality, all of this is true, but what is even more true is that this generation has one thing in common with others is that it is full of contradictions. And this is the result of a study published by the economic magazine The Economist. First, let’s remember that this generation was not structured, but destructured by the financial crisis of 2008 but, above all, by the two years of COVID and of course by global warming. These are all disturbing and therefore destructuring events or phenomena. Consulting firm McKinsey shows that a quarter of this generation Z think they will not be able to afford their pension and half think they will never own a property. This alone should make older generations think twice before sticking a pejorative adjective on Generation Z. But let’s come to the contradictions of this generation, as they have been pinpointed by The Economist: the first is that these young people, who claim to be afraid of the future, are also rather in overconsumption mode, generally online and often via social networks. Normal, the smartphone has become a prosthesis for young people. Besides, take a good look at them, they no longer wear watches, it’s their smartphone that does the job. Then, among the trends highlighted by The Economist, there is the fact that these young people are followers of “buy now, pay later”, dear to Americans. Clearly, these young people are addicted to credit. They are also addicted to subscriptions, especially for their online entertainment. This in itself is a trend that business leaders should keep in mind. A study shows it well: we have entered into a Netflixisation of the economy. Not a sector escapes the influence of subscriptions. Second, this generation loves fast deliveries. Again, this is in contradiction with their fear of global warming… In other words, this generation Z is Ecolo to the end of its anger but not to the end of its bank card. And the most surprising thing is that according to this study, the generation considers luxury as a normal element of consumption. According to the consultant Bain, the Generation Z consumer – I’m talking about an average – buys his first luxury item at …. 15 years old against 19 years old for those over 30, as Marc Fiorentino points out. For his part, Jacques Séguéla, the best-known French publicist, must laugh. A few years ago, he caused a scandal by saying “if you don’t have a Rolex at 50, you’ve failed your life”. brand marketing managers. They discover what the philosopher Régis Debray said, namely that we are just humans and we discover every day that it is difficult to respect the specifications of an angel.