Generation Z (or Gen Z) is on the rise. And they’re increasingly influencing how households are purchasing and consuming. 

This was the central theme of the Zoom webinar held last February 17 by Araneta City for its lessees. Titled "The Gen Z Shopper", the webinar tapped JP Yamsuan, Associate Director for Consumer Insights of Nielsen Philippines, to help the City of Firsts’ lessees garner the attention of this young, up and coming subsect of society.

According to Nielsen’s data, Gen Zs makes up one-fourth of the global population and they will comprise 27% of the global labor workforce by 2025. Though this demographic is still quite young, 70% of them are already driving family purchase decisions. 

In the Philippines, Gen Zs comprise 30% of the entire population. This is why, according to Yamsuan, it is imperative to capture the attention of this generation of people. “It is definitely a sizable market, it’s a sizable segment. We definitely have to make sure that we are seen and heard by the Gen Z population.”

Yamsuan also delved deeper into four characteristics that make Gen Z unique: digitally connected, visual creatures, craving authenticity, and woke. “It is important that we are aware of these macro level influences for us to identify how we can better attract them,” Yamsuan said. 

He added that the attention span of Gen Z is very short, shorter than Millennials who have also grown up and matured around online content. According to data, Gen Z only has an average attention span of eight seconds, much shorter than the attention span of Millennials at 12 seconds. They are also faster when it comes to browsing content at just 2.5 seconds when using a desktop computer and 1.7 seconds when on mobile devices. 

Yamsuan noted that this is where bite-sized media can help capture their attention. “That means we need to be more creative, we need to be more exciting. A shorter attention span means that we need to capture their attention faster than your typical marketing strategies,” Yamsuan added. 

In designing content, Yamsuan reminded that shorter is better given the short attention span of this demographic. Using slanguage such as FoMO (fear of missing out) and YOLO (you only live once) can also help a brand become more attuned to how Gen Z speaks. Also, using platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube can reach more Gen Z than Facebook. 

Another key characteristic of Gen Z is their longing to create a better world. They are socially aware because they have access to unprecedented information about social issues. They are inclined to support causes that promote social justice. This makes them favor brands that care about the issues they care about. This is why, Yamsuan said, brands should embed sustainability in all its endeavors and that they should be very sensitive to social issues. 

“Gen Z are very discerning, because they are exposed to digital media and it makes them a population who will think about what they will buy or where they’ll go," Yamsuan stressed. "We should make sure that whenever we communicate with them, we provide them with the right and necessary information to make their decisions.”

Meanwhile, the webinar also served as a platform for Araneta City to introduce to its lessees the soon-to-open Gateway Mall 2, and the commercial hub's marketing plans for 2023.