Generation Z wants more freedom instead of luxury

Generation Z is focusing more on group activities than on luxury brands. This poses challenges for the industry.Premium and luxury companies must adapt to the new demands of young consumers if they want to inspire this increasingly important target group. Around 80 million people worldwide belong to Generation Z, which already has a purchasing power of around 40 billion euros. By 2025, they will make up 75 percent of the workforce and generate around 30 percent of gross income.Function comes before fireThe study by Ey, Keylens and Inlux examines the role that luxury plays in the lives of the new generation. According to the experts, the representatives of Generation Z are realists who increasingly associate luxury with immaterial values. Freedom, leisure and experiences are more important to Generation Z than material status symbols. They want to travel and discover the world, be financially independent and healthy; only then come cars, handbags or jewelry from well-known brands. Carefree living and personal happiness are considered the most important luxury goods and are not taken for granted by the Realists. In the survey, 21% of Generation Z representatives associated luxury with abundance, and young consumers have clear ideas about what they expect from luxury brands. While image, prestige and tradition used to be decisive factors for a purchase, functionality and innovation play a decisive role for Generation Z. The study shows that Generation Z identifies significantly less with brands overall. Brand loyalty, the typical emotional attachment to luxury brands, is declining.Generation Z doesn't just rely on celebrities and influencersIn addition, this generation generally tends to focus on more conservative values. The question "Who do you follow on social media?" yielded interesting results. Respondents prefer to follow news and information sites (44.5%) - in line with the neo-conservative lifestyle. Brand (28.1 percent), influencer (24.7 percent) or celebrity (21.5 percent) offers are followed less frequently, even though Z'ers expect luxury brands to make greater use of influencers. according to the survey, the channels have clearly shifted from offline to online. Generation Z decides for itself how and when information is consumed. At the same time, they expect relevance and authenticity. For companies, this means that content must be transported in a channel-specific way. However, the end of brick-and-mortar retail is not in sight for the time being - the generation prefers to buy luxury offline.