Gen Z has its own language of sorts. So it’s hardly surprising that the biggest generation in history also has its own way to shop.
Bread Financial, which caters to a growing number of Gen Z clients, is paying attention. In a recent national survey of some 1,700 people, the financial services firm explored how consumers from different generations manage and spend their money.
Nick Antonelli, senior VP and chief marketing officer of Bread Financial, sees a few lessons for retailers and other businesses that want to gain Gen Z’s trust.
For example, Gen Zers—born from 1997 to 2012—are more likely to buy things to keep up with online trends. More than 60% of survey respondents from that cohort said they purchased popular or even viral items, versus only about 15% of baby boomers. And almost 40% of Gen Z respondents admitted to buying a viral product—say, a Stanley water bottle—just so they could post about it.
As Antonelli can attest, such behavior is no mystery. Gen Z are digital natives who grew up on social media, with its influencers, FOMO, and other mixed blessings.
For any company that wants to build trust with Gen Z, it pays to be plugged in to the trends they’re following, Antonelli advises. That’s easier said than done, but wellness is important to this generation, along with secondhand shopping and plant-based food.
Antonelli, whose firm’s brand partners span retail, travel, and entertainment, also suggests joining forces with reputable online influencers. For its part, Bread teamed up with Taylor Price, a Gen Z “financial activist” popular on TikTok and Instagram, to develop content on topics such as smarter spending and building a solid credit history.
“You have to lean into the channels and provide an authentic voice and content and tools,” Antonelli tells me from Bread’s HQ in Columbus.
Speaking of authenticity, younger people do their homework on brands, seeking those that align with their value system, Antonelli observes. If a company doesn’t embrace diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, as well as sustainable business practices, it can be a trust buster.
“That’s one core element that really speaks to, ‘Are you an authentic company, an authentic brand, and I’m only going to do business with socially responsible brands.’”
Another survey finding: People are spending extra on convenience, with more than half of respondents saying they had food delivered because they felt lazy. (Fair enough.) At 70%, Gen Z was the age group most likely to do so, compared to roughly 25% of boomers.
Online buying during the pandemic accelerated the shift toward convenience, Antonelli explains: “It’s exponentially driven how we and others have evolved our products around that immediate gratification, lack of patience.”
Gen Z might be even less patient than the rest of us. “Waiting till tomorrow, particularly for younger generations, feels like an eternity,” Antonelli says. “The convenience trend—and particularly, again, with Gen Z—is driven by growing up with real-time everything.”
No matter what it sells, a company risks losing Gen Z’s trust if it doesn’t offer convenience, Antonelli warns. “That then tells the consumer, ‘Well, you’re not meeting my needs, you don’t care about what I need.’”
Increasingly, convenience is table stakes for businesses, he adds: “If you don’t adapt, then you’re going to get left behind from a revenue perspective.”
Gen Z expects products and services to be available and reliable, Antonelli says. When rolling out its mobile app last year, Bread obliged by emphasizing self-service—and providing information in the easily digestible online format that younger people have also come to expect.
“‘I want to be able to do everything I can without talking to a human,’” Antonelli says of that mindset. “Most generations don’t want to pick up the phone and talk to a call center, but Gen Z certainly doesn’t.”
No cap.
Nick Rockel
nick.rockel@consultant.fortune.com
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Companies that want to engage their people must get better at showing appreciation. That’s the takeaway from a new study by graphics design platform Canva, which shows that almost half of workers feel unacknowledged or neutral when it comes to how their employer recognizes their contributions. Meanwhile, 75% of employees wish they felt more valued at work. (Men are more likely than women to feel appreciated or highly appreciated.) Oh, and more folks in the latter category work on-site. Call it an office perk.
Blue horizons
Younger folks are losing trust in white-collar careers. Most Americans have seen them take more interest in the trades, Chloe Berger reports. Sure enough, about half of Gen Z and millennials plan to go the blue-collar route, versus 25% of the population at large. The draw: work-life balance, job security, and, well, an actual job. A big chunk of Gen Z is also leaning toward vocational training or trade school—no wonder, given the high price of college. Not a bad tradeoff, really.
Money heist
Who knew that criminals trust cash more than cryptocurrency? A new report from the Crypto Information Sharing and Analysis Center busts a popular myth, Catherine McGrath writes. Despite crypto’s rep as an engine of illegal activity, the study concludes, traditional finance may be better suited to drug traffickers, terrorists, and other bad actors. That’s because cash is difficult to trace, while U.S. crypto exchanges must follow rules that deter anonymous transactions. As a result, cash remains king for money launderers. We’re all footing the bill.
Out of office
Rest easy, Microsoft employees. For now, anyway, there’s no plan to force you back to the office—in stark contrast to Amazon’s new mandate. A Microsoft VP reportedly told staff that as long as people stay productive, RTO isn’t on the table. Such rules are a pretext to shed workers without severance, experts maintain. For Tesla and some other businesses, making everyone show up also levels the playing field with blue-collar team members. Either way, the RTO push is creating trust issues for WFH fans.
TRUST EXERCISE
“There’s a debate raging between those calling for ‘climate pragmatism’ and others who see it as a corporate excuse to avoid fundamental change. It’s an argument that misses the point.
Having waited so long to get serious about climate action, we need to set ambitious goals. But we’ll never reach them if we don’t focus on the tough, pragmatic choices that will move us forward in the real world. To solve the climate crisis, we need to dive into the ‘messy middle.’
The ‘middle’ does not mean halfway, compromise measures. It’s way too late for that. The messy middle refers to the difficult decisions that need to be made, guided by science and hardheaded economics. It requires bridging the gap between scientific facts and human needs—and understanding the priorities of people who are impacted by this crisis and its solutions.”
When it comes to tackling the climate crisis, the environment and the economy needn’t be at odds, argues Amanda Leland. As the executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund notes, reducing methane emissions from agriculture doesn’t call for shutting down the dairy industry, which employs and feeds billions of people worldwide.
Instead, we should lean on science to help dairy farmers cut emissions. Hey, a similar approach worked for the oil and gas sector, which is on track for a dramatic reduction in methane pollution by 2030. Leland also points to America’s fisheries: Once in a fragile state, they’re now some of the world’s best managed—because she and others worked together to find practical solutions that balance economic reality with environmental protection.
To pull us back from the climate brink, Leland sees another “messy middle” opportunity in hydrogen, a potentially green energy source that also needs to clean up its emissions act. The same goes for carbon markets, which could use scientific analysis to help ensure they do more good than harm. As untidy as it is, this middle might be our best bet for avoiding a much bigger mess.
