People from 13 to 24 years old currently have the entire marketing, research, innovation and strategy industry intrigued by theirstrong contradictions. Some examples are:
- On the one hand, it can be argued that his energy, his electrifying personality and his desire to live andarrangethe world are immense. On the other hand, they are rather emos and apathetic.
- They are recognized because they are totally involved with brands, content and different ways of seeing the world, but also for their ruthless criticism of many aspects of those worlds with which they relate.
- They want to save the world and are fully involved in activism and management of the climate crisis, but most believe that there is no future.
And more than the contradiction,The fundamental insight of this generation is the integration of perspectives, the addition of layers and meanings that make everything more complicated from the eyes of other generations: for the Z, this and the opposite is true, something that blows the mind of the rest of society.
What is most used to explain them ARE YOUR TASTE:They are excited about hundreds of things(anime, video games, music, sports, etc.). FOMO dictates your choices; They don't want to be left out of anything that's happening because it's a way to overcome apathy and add more perspectives to their own vision.
But what is really relevant to them ARE THEIR EMOTIONS. If we analyze the lyrics ofIn songs created by Gen Z, desolation, hopelessness, even hints of suicide are perceived.When read by an adult, they could shock, but for them it is catharsis. They are growing up in a very pessimistic world affected by major upheavals, so it is likely that through cultural content they will “get it out” and be able to move on to something else. Have you seen HBO's Euphoria? If you haven't seen it, take a look to understand them a little better.
Despite that hopelessnessGen Z refuses to give up leaving its mark, a generation with little desire to live would not focus on taking advantage of all the resources they have and also do so in an intelligent and realistic way.
- Increasing behaviors such as saving or planning occur recurrently, unlike their older brothers, millennials.
- They are the generation that adds more color, desire and diverse styles to their looks. The one that most mixes influences and trends in an outfit or in a music video.
- Those who go the most for their passions, those who consume the most around them.
- Those who undertake more professionally from a younger age.
In this commercialof 2020, with Billie Eilish as the banner of a generation, the idea that Gen Z are apathetic and absorbed in their cell phone is refuted; resignifies and the discourse is rather that they are purposeful and creative.They will save the world.
But at the same time, by saying that they are the generation that best capitalizes on their hobbies, they are saying that they are the best trained in thecapitalism. The most comfortable with selling their time online, with creating “selfish” ventures and with more sensitivity towards mental health.They will destroy the world.
But then, what implications does it have for the generation to be more indefinite or moredefined by opposites? We have to say that psychologically the middle points are difficult for us. A “strong” psyche comes from delimiting spaces, having things clear, naming them, even pigeonholing them. The psychological biases that facilitate information processing continue to tell us that we prefer what is certain to what is uncertain.
By not knowing how to position ourselves, we do not know how to move forward. What happens to a generation that does not make a clear position? How will you transmit your ideals, your dreams, build a proposal that really makes you advance as a generation? As if they are politically apathetic? (And who blames them?)
We don't have the definitive answer, butIt seems that they have more elements to save than to destroy the world: Never before have there been young people with so many skills. Educated from childhood with “truths” and not with “bubbles”. Aware of their mental health, of savings. They have a lot going for them to build a world where they are the first to find a way to be well. And be truly sustainable.
Do you have a proposal to replace capitalism? No. But they certainly have more tools than all previous generations