Generation Z, or who are the Zillennials, and why all companies are “hunting” for them

They grew up with a smartphone in their hands, entered the labor market and have their own money, because they often spend it only on themselves, because they still continue to live with their parents. An ideal combination of a class of potential consumers who are targeted by advertising and the “attention” of retailers.

This is the so-called “micro-generation”, the so-called “zillennials” (or in other words “zennials”), the age group born between 1990 and 2000. As you can see, the name comes from a combination of millennials and generation Z. The oldest will be 33 this year, the youngest will be 23. In short, these are those who were born in the 90s. There are about 30 million in the US.

Who are Zillennials and why all companies are “hunting” for them

According to a recent survey by financial website PYMNTS, what sets Zillennials apart from their older and younger peers is their purchasing power. They love technology, but still live with their parents. According to the same survey, almost a third of U.S. Zillennials — about 11 million people — still live with their families. The real number could be higher: The latest data from the US Census Agency shows that 48% of Americans aged 18 to 29 still live with their parents. This means that a large percentage of young consumers do not pay rent or have no credit. Most of them have entered the labor market (54% work full-time) and are well acquainted with the Internet. According to a survey of approximately 4,000 American consumers, 85% of millennials use social media platforms and video streaming, while 81% use music platforms and video games.

Millennials are different from both Millennials and Zoomers. They use game consoles 6% more than millennials, while they are 25% more likely to read news online, 10% more likely to play on consoles, 14% more likely to play online casinos and (mostly P/9%) shop compared to Generation Z.

“Hunting” the Zillennials

Everyone wants to “have” Zillennials as clients. If you take into account all of the above (they grew up with a smartphone in their hands, they have their own money and the ability to spend “for themselves”), then zillennial consumers are … a “gold mine” for all advertising and retail companies, and e-commerce. And apparently this generation has weakness for luxury goods. Young consumers living with parents are responsible for the explosion in luxury goods sales in recent years, according to Morgan Stanley. The reason lies in the fact that they do not spend as much money on bills and daily expenses (for example, on a supermarket) in contrast to their parents who maintain a house.

Analysts believe that this trend is extremely positive for retail. Expected that U.S. luxury goods trade to grow 21% in 2023, driven largely by younger consumers who start buying luxury goods three to five years earlier than previous generations, according to a recent study by Bain & Company. In fact, it is expected that by 2025 millennials and zoomers will make up 70% of luxury buyers worldwidecompared to 44% of that market in 2019, according to Quartz.

Retailers are clearly not left out. Nike’s CEO said this month that the company is focused on attracting new consumers who “want the most innovative products and brands known around the world.”

JD Sports, which owns well-known sports department stores in the US, said sales over the Christmas holidays were up 20% thanks to young shoppers. In particular, over the holidays, the Finish Line chain sold 2 million pairs of Nike Air Force 1s, which cost $110 (102 euros) in the US. “I believe that the purchasing power of our consumers is much higher than before. They have no bills, no rent, no loans,” the CEO of JD Sports told Reuters.

How is it in Greece?

In Greece, 30- and 40-year-old “young people” who live under the same roof with their parents are not uncommon. Sociologists believe that Greek youth is accustomed to living with everything ready and is afraid of difficulties, which was greatly facilitated by the long crisis. For example, in Thessaloniki and Athens, renting an apartment and paying for utilities is often comparable to a whole salary. So I have to go back to my parents…

According to Eurostat, two-thirds of Greeks aged 18 to 34 live with their parents, which puts Greece in sixth place among 35 European countries.

In Germany, young people typically leave their parents’ homes at an average age of 23.7 – very early compared to the European average. In Slovakia, Malta and Italy the rates are very close (32 years). In Spain and Greece – according to data provided by ANA-MPA – young people stay in their family home at the age of 30 and over, according to statistics EU.

Ioannis Zaimakis, Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology at the School of Social Sciences at the University of Crete, notes that this “A very serious problem that stems from four interrelated factors.

First, there are the economic difficulties faced by young people, whose survival is now largely dependent on their parents. That is, young people with little or no income are still economically dependent on their family environment.

The second factor is their inability to meet the demands of the labor market associated with many factors, such as austerity policies, with the broader economic conditions that currently exist, even with a type of work that may not correspond to the real needs of young people.

The third factor is that many of the young people who work are part-time (flexible) with low wages and therefore live in perpetual poverty. For them, the family environment is a refuge.

Finally, the fourth factor is social. It is closely connected with the climate, the cultural context of the era, when young people, disappointed in their expectations, experience a feeling of general insecurity, which leads to a defensive reaction (to return back “under the wing of mother”).

Those who are not ready to take risks and feel that they cannot cope with the problems that have piled up decide that “the family environment will provide him (the child) with a temporary refuge. This is a worrying factor, since others are more justified, and we should worry about this.”

PS Apparently, this is how, right up to retirement (overage children), Greek parents will carry on their flimsy shoulders “hefty bulls” who do not hesitate to spend everything they earn “on themselves, their beloved”. And advertising companies and manufacturers will fuss and slip “ideas” under their noses where they can lower their next salary: for another expensive “trifle”, interest in which will disappear, if not the next day, then certainly in a week. Yes and feed all sorts of “newfangled” rubbish do not fail.

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