The new generation isn't just environmentally and socially conscious. These investors are also fully subscribed to everything digital and seeking experiences that benefit their long-term health and wellbeing.
«Gen Z», as this new generation is known, describes individuals born between 1996 and 2016. It’s a cohort that has never known a world without the internet and is therefore more likely to be connected for much of the time.
Given that Gen Z is an «app» and social media savvy generation that spends more time online than any other generation1, it’s perhaps unsurprising that there has been a constant and steady increase in the number of industries and companies that use subscriptions to monetize their products and services. After all, a part of the online entertainment industry related to e-sports, gaming, music and video streaming has a big Gen Z audience.
Meat Is Increasingly Off Gen Z’s Menu
Subscribing to a service means not actually owning the product. What the new generation values more is the experience. So, while Gen Z values the experience of watching the movie, for example, there’s no need to buy a DVD if it can simply watch it on a video streaming service.
Consumption habits are changing more broadly too, in favor of products and services that are more local, more natural, and more beneficial for our health, as well as for the planet’s health. Certainly, meat is increasingly off Gen Z’s menu2.
Better Glasses And Hearing Aids
Equally, tech innovation has facilitated the development of apps and wearables to track and monitor our health, but also improve products such as glasses and hearing aids. These advancements allow us to monitor our own health on a daily basis to anticipate and detect any health concerns quickly in order to limit their consequences as much as possible.
Pre-pandemic, the world had already begun to witness health-conscious individuals actively seeking to make healthier choices regarding exercise, diet, self-care, and looking after their downtime and mental health. Today, wellness is a daily concern – whether that’s through regular physical activity or active social life, the increased consumption of vitamins – even the practice of yoga.
Meet The Needs of Gen Z
As we all learn to live with COVID-19, companies are adapting to meet the needs of Gen Z as customers, while investors are looking to have exposure to both the real economy and the more digital world that we now live in.
1 Source: Generation Influence: Reaching Gen Z in the New Digital Paradigm, Center for Generational Kinetics
2 Source: BofA Thematic Proprietary Survey n=14,592, conducted Aug 2020 ‘What are your meat-eating habits?’
3 Source: Glasgow Caledonian University Research, April 2021
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