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RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Generation Z are masters of adaptation

on Social Media

Many 16 to 23-year-olds don’t seem to be driven to The GIM study continues to analyze the role of social
stand out as a personality from the masses in the media in product purchasing, revealing that girls are
context of their social media appearances. On the mainly inspired by fashion and cosmetics, while boys
contrary, the so-called "Generation Z" seems to be are inspired by sports, gaming and technology.
surprisingly homogeneous: as far as aesthetics and
poses are concerned, they are more likely to submit to The source of inspiration for a specific product
the valid norms and rules that receive the most approval purchase is above all Instagram: for fashion, 68% say
from the social media community. they have been inspired to purchase their products
here in the last six months. At the same time, social
At least, this is an overall result of the study “Digital Self media tend to be decisive for product purchases for
vs. Real Self" of the society for innovative market younger people.
research in Heidelberg, that examined how 16- to 23-
year-olds present themselves in social media. Anyway, in the area of social media, a change in user
behavior is already obvious and this development will
According to their findings, the neo-conformism in the continue in the next few years: interest is decreasing,
web produces similar dreams and ideals of beauty for and people spend less time on social media or
the Gene Z. This means specifically that the 16- to 23- deactivate their accounts altogether. For instance, 32%
year-olds try to look as styled and experienced as of all UK and US users say they have disabled or
possible in their posts. To achieve these effects, 66% of closed a social media account in the past 12
them use apps for image editing and girls also resort to months, GlobalWebIndex stated.
increasingly drastic beauty measures, such as gel nails
and artificial eyelashes. So, what does this mean for marketers? First, there is a
clear need to create content that promotes user
The main reason they do that has a lot to do with the interaction, for example, using VR and AR
desire for social recognition: anyone who presents technologies. Second, other channels such as email
himself on the Net Gen Z-compliant receives many marketing and PR are gaining in importance again. In
"likes" from peers. Recognition by the peer group is fact, AI technologies will play an increasingly important
already regarded by Gen Z as an achievement.
role in digital marketing and so we can just keep an eye
on the role social media will play in the marketing of the
Accordingly, many 16- to 23-year-olds see themselves in
the social media world as a professional: one third say future. ◊
that their biggest dream would be to earn money with By Daniela La Marca
posts in social media; at the same time, a high-
performance pressure on the target group relies on the
ideals of social media.

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