Gen Z: Fractured, Fluid and Flexible

The most common refrains about Gen Z center around negatives – they’re “not doing this,” or “not buying that.” They’re not drinking, reading print or buying new cars or expensive jewelry; they aren’t planning to own homes or have kids. Everything from fine dinnerware and greeting cards to cable TV and fabric softener is in danger of disappearing forever because of what Gen Z isn’t doing.

For marketers and brands, this makes Gen Z a problem. How do you market to a demographic that seems immune to traditional approaches and sell to a generation that doesn’t buy anything?

But dwelling on what they aren’t doing isn’t helpful. The truth about Gen Z’s buying habits – what they are buying and why – is more nuanced, and “Gen Z” as a label has become too broad to be actionable. Because Gen Z isn’t one thing; they’re a collection of identities that they move fluidly between, depending on context. But brands can reach this dynamic demographic – just not in traditional ways.

Adaptive Flexibility

Gen Z has never known stability. Many of them came of age during a pandemic, extreme political polarization, climate change, uncertain economics, high unemployment, wage stagnation, inflation and AI disrupting careers even before they’ve begun. They’re also the first digital native generation, making them guinea pigs to the world’s new imperatives around communication and media consumption.

All of this requires researchers to look through the prism of adaptive flexibility. Because the traditional markers of stability (homeownership, family formation, retirement) feel unattainable, they’ve built psychological and behavioral flexibility as a coping mechanism.

By synthesizing data from a broad range of sources, including Material’s own research, we’ve constructed a new way of thinking about Gen Z. Fractured, they float between a set of identities depending on social context, category and need.

The Many Faces of Gen Z

The Pragmatic Survivalist

When in Pragmatic Survivalist mode, Gen Z favors financial security and survival over brand loyalty, seeking dupes and private label alternatives to higher-cost brands. Many still live at home (a million more than pre-pandemic) and spend $1,200 less per year than peers who left home. They have a strong sense of economic nihilism and have largely given up on traditional markers of success like homeownership and retirement savings. But rather than internalizing these as failures, as previous generations might, they see their situation as a systemic inevitability.

The categories most connected to Pragmatic Survivalists include CPG, food, household goods and personal items.

The Creative Expressionist

Gen Z often uses consumption as a part of their identity construction. When identity markers like career, marriage or homeownership are delayed or feel permanently out of reach, aesthetic choices can play a significant part in self-definition. When they jump from micro-trend to micro-trend – like the clowncore, balletcore or blokecore aesthetics – they aren’t being fickle, they’re actively exploring their identity.

The Creative Expressionist isn’t interested in high-end fashion, though. They’d rather look “more” than look rich. When shopping, they’re looking for items that are unique, sustainable or that conjure nostalgia.

The categories most connected to Creative Expressionists include apparel, sportswear, beauty and lifestyle.

The Anxious Agent

Gen Z face acute anxiety about political division, climate change and social injustice. They are hyperaware of systemic problems and actively try to align their behavior with their values. But there’s a defining tension between what they should do (or buy) and what they actually do (or buy). When they can’t afford sustainable products or break a boycott due to convenience, they experience psychological distress that contributes to their fatalism.

While most of them (84%) prioritize ethically sourced products, the struggle between intent and action is real; half of them pressure employers to embrace sustainability while still buying fast fashion.

This expression of identity is also driving the Damp Lifestyle and Sober Curious trends, limiting their alcohol intake to maintain control over their mental health and online image. And when they do partake, many (53%) favor brands that take a stand with carbon-negative production or sustainable packaging.

The categories most connected to Anxious Agents include alcohol, beverages, health & beauty and sustainability.

The Immersive Co-Creator

Immersive Co-Creators are deeply embedded in online culture. They spend more than six hours a day online, are 82% more likely than the average consumer to be influenced by digital ads and value authentic connection within digital environments; they consider their online relationships as valid as offline ones.

As Immersive Co-Creators, Gen Z is the least likely to report anxiety around politics or the climate because they’ve largely disengaged from those narratives in favor of algorithmically curated digital communities and experiences. They’ve also blended shopping and gaming, treating platforms like Roblox and Discord as discovery engines and testing grounds for the physical products in CPG, beauty and retail. They use AI tools for personalized recommendations and nearly 20% of their online sales occur through social platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

The categories most connected to Immersive Co-Creators include entertainment, tech, gaming and social commerce.

The Importance of Context and Adaptive Marketing

Gen Z’s fluidity between these identities is triggered by four general kinds of context.

• Category fluidity. Different segments dominate different product categories based on what values matter most in that context.

• Temporal fluidity. Individuals shift between segments as their day-to-day circumstances change, e.g., when they move away from home, marry, get their first job or a promotion.

• Social fluidity. Gen Zers may shift into one segment when alone, another when with family and yet another when they’re around their peers.

• Economic fluidity. As financial circumstances fluctuate, segment expression shifts accordingly.

While a Gen Zer may act as a Pragmatic Survivalist in grocery and household goods, the same individual may shift into other identities when buying items tied to their values or sense of self, like fashion or sustainable goods. In other words, their pragmatism is category-specific and doesn’t define their personalities.

A sober Anxious Agent might cast aspersions on a beverage brand’s traditional marketing, then shift into Immersive Co-Creator mode to engage with an energy drink while gaming. But a static, traditional persona would never reflect this behavior and the opportunity it presents.

Gen Z’s adaptive flexibility requires equally adaptive marketing. It’s about timing and channel placement and aligning categories with context; it’s about adaptive content ecosystems that respond to behavior in real-time, algorithm optimization for AI search and LLM recommendations; first-party data strategies that track cross-category behavior; flexible value propositions that can emphasize price, identity, purpose or community based on context; and making the most of the identities that are willing to show up for your category, brand and product.

Numbering 2 billion strong globally, with a buying power approaching $12 trillion, pursuing Gen Z is a necessity. But how to do it? Look for ways to create journeys and experiences that are as dynamic as they are. You do this by ensuring your research is as nuanced – and your data is as diverse – as Gen Z’s approach to consumption. Because there’s nothing more important than building a deep understanding of who you’re trying to engage with – especially when who they are is constantly changing.

This article originally appeared in The Drum.