I was
watching "Say Yes to The Dress" yesterday and once again saw a
bride-to-be talked out of liking a dress by her entourage. I am surprised by how often it happens. And by how rarely they stand up for a dress
that they just loved in private.
Research
tells us that Gen Z are more image-conscious than other generations, with more
than 20% falling into that attitudinal segment. That's 10% above average. Not
surprisingly they show a greater interest in subjects relating to their
personal image, like fashion and style (34%) compared to other generations as
well.
What
may be surprising is the fact that Gen Z is more swayed by other people's
opinions than previous generations (42%) and that over 37% say they would buy a
product/service simply for the experience of being part of the community built
around it. (Gilsenan, 2019)
Why do
you think that Gen Z is more interested in their image than previous
generations? Why would they be swayed by
other people's opinions? How does this
tie into the findings of the Happiness studies? And the Cialdini research?
Why do
you think people are willing to purchase a product/service to be part of the
tribe? Have you bought something for
this reason? What and why? Did it make you happier?
Gilsenan,
K. (2018, October 2) What Does Personal
Branding Mean to Different Generations? globalwebindex.com. Retrieved September 24, 2019, from https://blog.globalwebindex.com/trends/personal-branding/
6 comments:
From the blog, we could point out that Gen Z is more interested in their image than previous generations. I think one of the reasons is because of the big environment. Gen Z was born in 1997 to 2010, and the environment around them is very different from the environment of Gen X and millennials. When this generation of people was born, it was surrounded by a variety of information traffic. In the daily acceptance of information, advertisements from the media will always be shown to this generation. The advertisements from the malls are also endless. This is very different from the era of millennials. Under such a big environment, Gen Z will pay more attention to the content of fashion. Therefore, Gen Z will have more intense information on images.
Buyers try to get approval. Gen Z is about 9 to 21 years old, and a large part is teenagers. From the analysis of the age, a large part of the Gen Z generation has not been able to form its own opinion on right and wrong and aesthetics, more opinions come from their parents, relatives, brothers, friends. Teenagers are more likely to gain a sense of identity, intimacy and life satisfaction from the approval. According to Cialdini's research, people are more likely to be influenced by people they know or like. Therefore, people tend to imitate them when they see the superstars wear fashion clothes. People buy products to join the tribe, which also reflects consistency. People like to be consistent. Once they get a position, they tend to stick to it. I have purchased a uniform class cloth, which made me feel belonging. When I returned to the class again, I was dressed in the same way as other students, and I felt that I was integrated into them.
Huiwen Xu
This demographic will more likely to want to have a sense of social identity because of their ages and the circumstances. As Huiwen pointed out, this age group are on their way to form their thoughts and understandings. A successful social proof will help them to build their confidence.
Based on the happiness studies, people are more likely to spend the money to purchase the marital goods than the experience. But the experiences will produce more long-time value and happiness. Under this situation, Gen Z made these influenced purchase to get the experience. This fit the social proof and liking according to the Cialdini research. First, the social proof is a symbol of get along well with others. It is very critical for teenagers. Second, people are looking for the likeness from the people who are in the community. It will help them make friends and prove their self-worth.
However, I think the sense of belonging is human nature. Other than Gen Z, the previous generations are all be swayed by other people's opinions. Each decade has its unique fashion taste, if we are wearing the modern clothes and back to the 1990s, people were definitely looking us as the strangers. Indeed, the fashion trend is the perfect example of being part of the tribe. Actually, it has a strong relationship with our ancestors. They figured out living with a community is an effective way to repopulate the earth.
I think there is nothing wrong to purchase a product to be part of the society. And, there is always some people want to be different than the rest of the group. I also purchased a lot of different clothes for this similar reason. I think it eventually make me happier because it gave me another level of belongs.
LH
I think that Gen Z is more interested in their image than previous generations because they were brought up in the age of social media. Nothing is private and everything is publicized (uploaded by their own hand or another’s) and unprotected against worldwide criticism. I believe that Gen Z focuses on their image so much, because they are subconsciously addicted to exposing themselves to the world via social media platforms and crave acceptance from those to which they present themselves, which is why I believe they will be swayed by other’s opinions. This ties into the findings of the Happiness studies by Gen Z’s acquiescence making them feel happy by promoting a “responsible and generous self-image, which in turn makes them feel happy… people with strong social ties are generally happier than people who don’t have strong relationships;” they agree outwardly to solidify their relationships. (Miller, 2019) Cialdini’s reciprocity, social proof, authority, and liking principles can be credited to the influence of Gen Z. I think people are willing to purchase a product/service to be part of the tribe because it’s a human characteristic to want to belong and that is a method to do so. I have bought things for a related reason; I have an affinity toward Black-owned products and Adidas; not to be part of a tribe, but because I feel they represent the “tribe” to which I inherently belong well enough for my support and I actually like their products. Buying from these companies didn’t make me happier, but I did feel content after my hard-earned money was spent.
Gen X grew up with technology. They are used to have access to the information they’re looking for within seconds. Although, accessing this wide and various amount of information on a daily basis can have severe consequences. When teenagers keep seeing models and sportsman exposing their bodies on instagram, some of them tend to feel insecure about themselves. When you keep seeing people with big houses and expensive cars, some people find motivation and want to reach that lifestyle, some others think “why not me?” and fall into depression.
In fact, according to a report from health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield, depression rates have spiked by 65% among adolescent girls and by 47% among adolescent boys leading Gen Zs in becoming the worst mental health of any generation.
This is the reason Gen Z is more interested in their image than other generations. They want to fit in, have the brand new clothes, the brand new accessories and have as much followers as possible on instagram. The product they buy will not necessarily make them happier but what they get out of it will: the appurtenance to a tribe.
I personally never bought a product just to fit in. I believe in staying true to myself, purchasing or behaving a certain way because I actually want to and if the person facing me doesn’t share the same lifestyle as I do, it’s ok, we’re not a match and we will simply move on. The fact that I’m not very active on social medias can also subconsciously play a role in the way I behave.
Cialdini principles states people are more likely to be influenced they know - therefor some people might purchase articles so they resemble to their celebrity or idol. They might feel happy about. I personally don't see any happiness in this sort of behavior.
Allan C.
I find out this research does make sense. Form my perspective, Gen Z is more concerning about their images because they are born in such a unique background of times. Starting from late 1990 to mid 2000, Gen Z is living in a era with higher transparency and lower restrictions comparing with the preceding generations. They are exposed under various culture and trends. One day everyone is chasing the overwhelmed hip-pop style, and another day, minimal Nordic style suddenly sweeping all over the world. No body knows what is coming next. At this point, it’s hard for them to stay conservative about their images.
We can attribute this phenomenon that Gen Z is relatively easier to be swayed by other opinions to the same reason as well. They don’t even have a stable aesthetic, but the trend, the information varies. The social media plays a inevitable role in this phenomenon. As a Gen Z myself, sometimes the dazzling information makes me curious but tired, since I cannot stay stable to my aesthetic. For example, since last summer, the bike shorts suddenly exploded social media, since a lot of celebrities started to wear them, such as Bella Hadid and Kim Kardashian. At first, everyone was doubt about that, including me, I simply thought it was ugly. However, the miracle of social media and marketing achieved, lots of designers followed and launched those bike shorts in their collection. Right now, I have to admit that my opinion to this style altered. I think this is somehow resulted from social media and public opinions.
Christopher Diaz
I have been experiencing and interacting with Gen Z aged at NYU, but I have noticed an on going trend where they are more concerned with their image or simply a brand. Gen Z have even been studied and determined that one of their main characteristic is preferring the cool product over the cool experience (visioncritical,online). This tells me they are more interested in buying a product for a popular name instead of using their money more wisely to gain happiness instead. I think Gen Z are concerned on how people view them so yes I believe they care how they are viewed from the public. I think its important that marketers pay close attention to Gen Z and study their buying habits because it is anticipated they will consume 40% of the market by 2020 (Oberlo,Online). I have indulged in this type of buying behavior in the past, in fact I remember I bought an Iphone 7 just because of the name. I had the 6+ version of the phone and did not need the upgraded but behaved like most Americans that are constantly upgrading their Iphone every year. A huge reason Apple will become a trillion dollar business.
visioncritical.com, Matt Kleinschmit
Multimedia, online 4/2019
https://www.visioncritical.com/blog/generation-z-infographics
oberlo.com, Tom Law
Multimedia, Online 4/2019
https://www.oberlo.com/blog/marketing-strategies-generation-z
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