A new report from Acceleration Community of Companies highlights the distinct social dynamics that shape Gen Z brand engagement, including the group’s embrace of multiple identities beyond traditional markers, their attraction to satirical marketing, how they’ve expanded the concept of the “third place,” and the significant influence social currency has on purchasing decisions.
The report — Unveiling Gen Z: What They Want You to Know in Their Own Words — indicated Gen Z, defined for the study as U.S. adults aged 18-27, is drawn to niche communities that cater to their passions. As such, 78% of Gen Z belong to one or more communities specifically related to their interests, hobbies or extracurricular activities. However, as they participate in these communities, GenZers tend to adopt layered identities and characteristics that change depending on the group. The identity fluidity, or ZEGOS, represents the unique intersection between digital spaces and lived experiences, enabling Gen Z to find an immediate sense of belonging amid different subcultures. So, it’s not surprising that 74% of GenZers said they prefer brands that align with and cater to their interests and identities in ways that aren’t just personalized but make them feel special.
Satire plays a significant role in Gen Z’s engagement with online content, the report indicates. In many cases, brand marketing that was not meant to be funny is taken as such and inadvertently creates an unintentional but powerful connection. Memes have become a language of their own, and brands that embrace the sort of satirical expression they use can inspire affinity and product purchases. The report states that 41% of GenZers pay more attention to brands that use humor or satire in their marketing and 35% say such expression makes them like a brand more.
The idea of a person having a third place in their lives beyond home and school/work, which has been deemed important for maintaining a healthy social life, doesn’t quite apply to Gen Z.
Rather, GenZers have what the report dubs a Zegosystem, defined as Zegos + Ecosystem, that represents the seamless transition they make between real life and online communities. So, GenZers tend to build their world around their pursuits as they fill gaps between the psychological satisfaction of a virtual community and the positive effects arising from in-person connections.
When asked to rank their motivations for recent non-essential purchases, 21% of GenZers ranked either validation/positive reviews by a peer, validation/positive reviews by influencers, or having seen it in a TikTok community or in a similar context as their top motivation.
Just over half of GenZers believe social media participation is more about finding and engaging with communities and/or content tailored to their specific interests than it is about connecting with friends or sharing their lives online.
Surprisingly, Facebook is the social media platform where Gen Z feels most comfortable being their true selves, rated as such by 31% of the group, followed by X, at 11%, and TikTok, at 11%, even if those numbers don’t reflect where they spend the most time.
Gen Z sees comment sections as critical in establishing connections, and that can offer a unique opportunity for brands, the report points out, as 43% of GenZers are comfortable with brands commenting and reacting to them in those forums.
Other report findings include the observation that GenZers will embrace and patronize brands that give them something extra, with 58% saying they would rather buy an item they’ve had their eye on than go on a trip, at 42%, if they got a surprise reward. As for social dynamics, 65% of GenZers agree that staying on top of popular trends has become more difficult in recent years, but 45% say that missing out on a popular trend has social consequences. When given a set of four favored experiences to choose from, 53% of GenZers said they prefer intimate experiences that enable them to easily connect and interact over traditional experiences, such as going to a bar, concert, or similar destination, at 21%. After that, GenZers prefer visually appealing “Instagram-worthy” experiences that they can share on social media, at 15%, or immersive experiences that leverage cool technology, at 11%.
With reference to a nationally representative survey of over 2,000 Gen Z adults conducted in partnership with YouGov, the Acceleration Community of Companies, a marketing and media network, and graduate students at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism produced the report to inform public relations students.
“When we initiated this research directive, our primary objective was to ensure that the Gen Z voice was genuinely heard,” said Monica Chun, ACC chief client officer, in introducing the report. “Despite being the subject of extensive studies, this generation often feels misrepresented. We focused on the critical domains they wanted to share and deemed important. Over time, I realized that many of my previous assumptions were misinterpretations.”
Professor Matthew Le Veque, who led the USC Annenberg course, said, “This group has an extremely keen awareness of marketing tactics and tropes, so brands that want to resonate need to learn new languages and navigate the nuances of the many communities that they live in. The Gen Z consumer expects a brand to relate to them on a more personalized level, and they are experts at recognizing when it doesn’t. They crave engagement that celebrates their sense of uniqueness.”
