This piece was originally published in the Summer 2024 issue of strategy magazine
Strategy recently chatted with Johanna Faigelman, founding partner and CEO of Human Branding, to understand three online trends affecting Gen Z.
De-influencing
The bloom is off the rose for influencer marketing in 2024.
“De-influencing” drives Gen Z towards more mindful consumption, and against buying unethical or indulgent products. It’s a rejection of how Gen Z is encouraged to make impulse decisions by social influencers.
“Think of it as a cleanse for your body,” Faigelman says. “A lot of Gen Z is realizing they have to do a cleanse of influencer culture and get it out of their system, then get back to a more authentic, tactile, trustworthy place.”
Faigelman notes that along with being more honest, brands should only use spokespeople who have a direct connection to their product, citing Ubrelvy as an example, which is promoted by Serena Williams who actually suffers from migraines.
De-influencing dovetails with a larger trend towards wanting to connect in real life, which Faigelman says should encourage marketers to reconsider in-person marketing tactics to capture the word-of-mouth nature that once made influencer marketing novel in the first place.
Money Dysmorphia
As online images of opulent luxury collide with the realities of an economic downturn, young people are reporting that they identify with “money dysmorphia.”
The relatively new trend refers to feeling insecure about your financial situation even when your reality raises little cause for concern. Faigelman connects this feeling with aspirational images of celebrities on social media, juxtaposed against stress about personal finances.
“There’s a huge psychological dimension to money, and that’s where money dysmorphia comes from. It’s marked with feelings of shame, guilt, aspiration and anxiety,” Faigelman says. “Things like the pandemic, housing crisis and recession are attacking our feelings of emotional security.”
Because of this, notions of security, comfort and transparency are more effective in marketing to Gen Z than lavish lifestyles and aspirational messaging. People are cautious about spending money, and so she suggests brands support mindful consumption and offer transparent pricing. She adds that some brands like financial institutions could respond to money dysmorphia by highlighting financial literacy, offering expertise on how to save money and spend wisely.
Quiet Quitting
When “quiet quitting” blew up as a trend in 2022, it was all about setting boundaries and doing the minimum amount of work needed for your job. Now, it exists slightly in tension with money dysmorphia, as many young people feel they need to work more to get ahead in a shakier job economy.
Quiet quitting has been prevalent in changing workplace attitudes for Gen Z, and is pushing companies to prioritize employees’ personal well-being, rather than company loyalty and traditional notions of career advancement. Faigelman says the trend should encourage brands to think about how they can better understand what young people value.
“How are you going to be able to speak the language of this generation, which is engaged in a realization that we don’t want to be pushed beyond what’s reasonable?” Faigelman says. “I think there’s ways that brands can recognize that, and speak to the notion of de-stressing, not burning out.”
