UNDERSTANDING
TODAY’S
GENERATI
GEN Z
ON
GEN Z
Gen era t i o n Z co mp ri s es p eo p l e b o rn between 19 96
an d 2 0 1 0 . Th i s g e n era t i o n ’s i d en t i t y has b een shaped
b y t h e d i g i t a l a g e , cl i m at e an x i ety, a shi fti ng
fi n an ci al l a n d s c ap e , a n d COVID-1 9 .
You ng peo ple to day hav e co me o f age in th e sh adow of climate
do om, pandemic lo ckdo wn s, and fears o f eco nomic collapse. The
first Gen Zers were born when the internet h ad ju st achieved
widespread use. Th ey’re called “ digital n ativ es”—th e first
gen eratio n to gro w up with th e internet as a part o f daily life.
01 02 03 04
EXTREMELY BEH AVIORA D ECREA SED ID EALISTIC
ONLINE L H EALTH ECO NO MIC
CRISIS O PPO RTUN ITY
WHAT IS
UNIQE
EXTREME
LY
ONLINE
Gen Zers are known for working, shopping, dating, and
making friends online. Digital natives often turn to the
internet when looking for any kind of information,
including news and reviews prior to making a purchase.
Video-sharing social media sites have seen a meteoric rise as
Gen Z comes of age. TikTok currently rules trends, feelings,
and culture for Gen Zers, who make up
60 percent of the app’s one billion-plus users.
BEHAVIORAL
HEALTH
CRISIS
US Gen Zers are th e
least po sitive o utloo k an d the high est p r
evalen ce of m ental illness
o f any generation, and Euro pean
respo nd en ts rep ort stru gg lin g with self-
stigm a.
T h is pessimism is fueled by gro win g
glob al un rest, wars an d d isru ption s,
fin ancial crises, an d GEN Z
edu cation al interrup tions du e to the CO
VID-1 9 p andem ic
. Feelings of “clim ate anxiety”
are also wid ely rep orted: man y Gen Zers
repo rt th at they think ab ou t the fate o f
th e plan et o n a d aily basis.
DECREASED ECONIMIC
OPPORTUNITY
They are already seeing decreased economic opportunity and don’t assume a social safety net
will be there to catch them as pensions shrink, saving for retirement gets more difficult, and the
older population grows.
But Gen Zers also report a more nuanced perspective around the stigma of mental illness than
other generations. European Gen Zers seem less inclined to discriminate against people with
mental illness (although they do stigmatize themselves).
IDEALISTIC
They’re part of a new wave of “ inclusive consumers” and
socially progressive dreamers. Generally speaking, Gen
Zers believe in doing their part to help stop the
intensification of climate change and to establish greater
equity for all.
UNDERSTANDING
TODAY’S
GENERATI
GEN ALPHA
ON
GEN ALPHA
WHILE THEY ARE THE YOUNGEST
GENERATION, THEY HAVE BRAND
INFLUENCE AND PURCHASING POWER
BEYOND THEIR YEARS.
They shape the social media landscape, are the
popular culture influencers, the emergin g
consumers and by the end of th e 2 020’s will be
moving into adulthoo d, the workforce and
household formation, ready or not
THE MOST
MATERIALLY
ENDOWED
GENERATION EVER
Gen Alpha are the most materially endowed
ge nera tion ever, the most tec hnologically savvy
ge nera tion ever and they will enjoy a longer life span
tha n any previous generation.
They will stay in education longer, start their earning
ye ars la te r and so stay a t home with their parents la ter
tha n even their predec essors, Gen Z and Gen Y.
THE GREAT
SCREEN-AGE
Generation Alpha began being born in 2010, the year
the iPad was launched, Instagram was created, and App
was the word of the year- and so from their earliest
years, they have been screenagers.
This great screen age in which we are all living has
bigger impacts on the generation exposed to such
screen saturation during their formative years.
WHY DID WE NAME THEM GEN
ALPHA
There were so many storms that the normal alphabetic names had been used up and so for the
first time, the Greek alphabet was used.
In keeping with this scientific nomenclature of using the Greek alphabet in lieu of the Latin, and
having worked our way through Generations X, Y and Z, we settled on the next cohort being
Generation Alpha- not a return to the old, but the start of something new.
If the nomenclature sticks, then we will afterwards have Generation Gamma and Generation
Delta, but we won’t be getting there until the second half of the 21st Century so there is plenty of
time to reflect on the labels!
