Introduction to Generation Z
This section of the paper will focus on examining exactly who Gen Z is, and what characterizes members of this generation.
Gen Z’s Values - Self-expression and Authenticity
Gen Z is the most ethnically and racially diverse generation to date with 48% of members being ethnic minorities (Fry & Parker, 2018). Fromm & Read (2018) argue that every generation has a defining cause that serves as the foundation for their behavior, and for Gen Z, that cause is human equality (Fromm & Read, 2018, p. 27). Studies show that issues such as racial equality, gender equality, and sexual orientation equality rank higher in importance to Gen Z than they do to e.g. Gen X, Millennials, and Boomers (Fromm & Read, 2018, p. 27).
Gen Z is a generation defined by change. According to Fromm & Read (2018), every generation is defined by impactful moments of their early lives (Fromm & Read, 2018, p.15) which, consequently, impacts how members of the generation view themselves and the world around them. Gen Z’ers grew up in times when the world was rapidly changing with various global revolutions and democratic movements along with social influencing online (SlideModel, n.d.). Subsequently, Gen Z stands out from previous generations by veering towards a more socially conscious and diverse era (Fromm & Read, 2018, p.16). They are more cautious about their future and more vocal and socially conscious about corporate social responsibility and politics overall (SlideModel, n.d.).
One of the core values of Gen Z is the idea of manifesting individual identity and they see consumption as a means of self-expression (Francis & Hoefel, 2018). They are willing to pay more for products that they feel highlight their individuality, and 58% of Gen Z consumers say
that they are willing to pay a premium for products from brands that embrace causes those consumers identify with (Francis & Hoefel, 2018). Gen Z has been known as ‘identity nomads’, valuing individual ways to express oneself and shape one’s identity. Something quite unique for this generation is that 48% of them say that they value brands that don’t classify items as male or female (Francis & Hoefel, 2018), which is arguably a new phenomenon on the market.
Gen Z’ers are realistic in their worldview and value authenticity. It is a generation that demands and expects to see real-life reflected in an authentic way in content created for them (Fromm
& Read, 2018, p. 24). Gen Z’ers tend to trust brands less than some previous generations (Fromm & Read, 2018, p. 65). They do not want advertising that portrays idealistic, unrealistic, or fake narratives. They want to see something original and real, and they demand transparency (Fromm & Read, 2018, p. 44).
Diversity and Inclusivity
Gen Z has grown up in a world with more diversity in leaders and high-profile individuals than perhaps young people did a generation ago (Seemiller & Grace, 2019). One of the most significant influences on their attitudes towards ethnicity and skin color was the election of Barack Obama as the President of the United States (Witt and Baird, 2018, p. 25). His election showed that anyone could grow up and become the President of the United States, regardless of race, gender, or background (Witt and Baird, 2018). For Gen Z’ers under the age of 15, Barack Obama was the only president they knew of until Donald Trump. That consciously and unconsciously shaped their understanding of opportunity regardless of race (Witt and Baird, 2018). Gen Z cultivates a strong desire for inclusion and equality, all of which in their minds is fundamental to making the world a better place (Seemiller & Grace, 2019). Gen Z is characterized by taking pride in diversity and inclusivity because they are growing up in a time where the white majority has seen a steady decline, and more and more people are multiracial (Fromm & Read, 2018, p. 17). They demand diversity and inclusivity from older generations, brands, and each other. In fact, 76% of Gen Z’ers said they feel diversity and inclusion is an important topic for brands to address, compared to 72% of millennials, 63% of Gen X’ers, and 46% of Baby Boomers who felt the same (Sanchez, 2021). A survey found that 83% of members of Generation Z rated themselves as above average in their “ability to see the world from someone else’s perspective” and 87% in their “ability to work cooperatively with diverse
people” (Seemiller & Grace, 2019, p. 31). Hence, by growing up in an increasingly diverse world, Gen Z’ers are more likely to be accepting of people from backgrounds different from their own.
Technology and Social Media
One of the most influential factors that characterize Gen Z is the development in technology.
Members of Gen Z are true digital natives having been exposed to the internet from their earliest youth. In fact, before Gen Z, internet access and connectivity were seen as a privilege and a luxury – but to Gen Z, these things are considered a human right and a necessity (Witt &
Baird, 2018, p. 40). This generation was born and raised during the social media era, and Gen Z has never known a world without the internet. Today’s technology allows Gen Z to be online at any time, making engagement in the digital world an integral part of life (Saunter & Shin, 2019). In fact, 60 % of Gen Z use social media almost constantly, and they spend an average of 9 hours online every day (Saunter & Shin, 2019). Moreover, 96 % of Gen Z owns a smartphone which makes them able to stay online at all hours of the day (Saunter & Shin, 2019). Not only do they spend many hours online every day, but they also navigate between multiple social media platforms. Young people under the age of 24 have an average of 8.7 accounts on different social media platforms (Seemiller & Grace, 2019). Thus, they live up to their reputation of being digital natives and heavy social media users. However, Gen Z does not use each of these accounts and platforms uniformly.
Each account on each platform has a specific purpose that reflects the diverse ways in which they use social media (Seemiller & Grace, 2019, p. 46). Gen Z prefers to use Instagram to share about themselves as the platform allows users to carefully tailor their profile and audience to determine who sees the content posted, something that Gen Z highly values, whereas Gen Z will mainly use Facebook to stay connected with family. Results from a study by Seemiller and Grace (2019), Generation Z Goes to College Study, indicate that 87 % use Facebook to keep up with others, but only 53 % use it to share information about themselves. They will rather use Instagram for this purpose and use Twitter to keep up with short updates and news posts.
Nevertheless, social media is not only a place where Gen Z communicate with their friends, share content, and spend their free time, but it is also a research tool and a voice (Witt & Baird,
2018). For many teenagers, social media serves as a convenient way to post their political beliefs, learn about others’ opinions and educate themselves (Ruhl, 2020). Gen Z finds it impactful to use its voice and power for consumer activism (Ruhl, 2020).
Generational Marketing to Gen Z
At the time of writing this paper, Gen Z comprises 32% of the world population, making it the largest cohort (99Firms, n.d.). Furthermore, Gen Z makes up 40% of U.S. consumers, and by 2026, Gen Z will surpass Millennials as the largest consumer generation (NCR, 2020).
Therefore, companies must understand this powerful generation. To understand how to reach Gen Z and how they interact with brands, this paper will now describe Gen Z from the perspective of generational marketing.
Generational marketing is a marketing approach that uses generational segmentation as a marketing tool (Lister, 2021). The basic thought behind this approach is that different generations respond to some kinds of marketing communications better than others and that this can be explained by the shared values and world views that people of the same generation share.
Gen Z is a generation that is driven by values, and they are putting their money where their values are. Studies show that 53% of Gen Z’ers have purchased a product or supported a brand because they wanted to show support for the issues they stood up for or represented (Sustainable Brands, 2018). Moreover, 40% of Gen Z’ers have stopped purchasing or boycotted a brand or company because they stood for something or behaved in a way that didn't align with their values. Another 49% of Gen Z’ers haven’t done this yet but would consider doing it in the future (Sustainable Brands, 2018).
According to Fromm and Read (2018), content created for Gen Z should be about creating engagement and discovery, rather than interruptive advertising (Fromm & Read, 2018, p. 64).
Gen Z’ers trust people more than they trust brands, and they want to be treated like people, not like numbers – and they expect brands to act accordingly (Fromm & Read, 2018, p. 69).
Therefore, when wanting to reach Gen Z through marketing, Fromm and Read (2018) recommend humanizing one’s brand, i.e. giving the brand a personality that consumers can
engage with (Fromm & Read, 2018, p. 64), adopt characteristics that make them accessible, interesting and relatable. Furthermore, Fromm and Read (2018) argue that brands should create an emotional bond with Gen Z consumers and should show that they, too, care about the issues that these consumers care about (Fromm & Read, 2018, p. 65) and that they should be willing to own up to mistakes. Fromm and Read (2018) state that a brand will never obtain brand love from Gen Z without building trust. In order to do so, they must allow consumers to ask difficult questions and they must respond honestly (Fromm & Read, 2018, p. 94), and moreover, that trust is built and earned through consistency over time.
The Beauty Industry
Having established the main characteristics of Gen Z, this paper will now turn to describe the size and impact of the beauty industry as well as the diversity in the beauty industry. Moreover, this section will elaborate on Black Lives Matter and its relation to the beauty industry. Lastly, Gen Z’s relation to the beauty industry as well as their demands will be described.
The Growing Beauty Industry
In 2019, worldwide cosmetics sales amounted to US$ 89.8 billion (Statista, 2020a). The growing beauty industry includes classic brands founded during the 1900s such as Estée Lauder, Chanel, and Lancomê, that have been joined by newer brands founded during the 21st century such as, for instance, Tarte, Uoma Beauty, and Fenty Beauty. Most of the production of cosmetics and beauty products is controlled by a handful of multinational corporations including L'Oréal, Unilever, Procter & Gamble Co, and The Estee Lauder Companies (Statista, 2020a). The revenue of the cosmetics and personal care market in Denmark has increased from 2012 and is forecasted to increase even further until 2023 (Statista, 2020b). Denmark is ranked the 10th country worldwide to spend the most cosmetics based on revenue per capita in 2019 (Statista, 2020a). Matas, Normal, and L'Oreal Denmark are the top 3 companies in Denmark in the cosmetics, perfume, and hairdressing industry as of April 2020 based on turnover (Statista, 2020b).
Black Lives Matter and the Beauty Industry
Black Lives Matter, or BLM as it will be referred to from now on in this paper, is a decentralized political and social movement formed in the United States in 2013, that is
dedicated to fighting racism (Britannica, 2020). The basic sentiment of the movement is that the lives and humanity of Black people matter just as much as that of white people. The BLM movement gained attention on June 6th of 2020, kickstarted by yet another case of police brutality and murder of a black man by the name of George Floyd (NY Times, 2021), which sparked national protests that ultimately gained international attention. Consequently, BLM went from being a primarily American grass-roots organization to becoming a global phenomenon (Kidwai & Shaw, 2020) with international media attention and protests. The impact of the BLM can be seen in many different aspects of society, even in the beauty industry.
Several cosmetics brands released statements expressing their support for the BLM movement (Bauknecht, 2020) which sparked a demand by consumers for the brands to do more than what many perceived as “performative activism”, i.e. surface level activism done in order to increase the social capital of brands, rather than actually being devoted to the cause (Ira, 2020). This gave rise to The Pull-Up Or Shut Up Plan Of Action, which is a campaign founded on June 3rd, 2020 by Sharon Chuter, the owner of cosmetics brand Uoma Beauty (Cox, n.d.). The motivation behind this campaign is to hold brands accountable and encourage transparency regarding the diversity of their staff (Cox, n.d.). Thus, the campaign called on brands who claimed to support the BLM movement to disclose a breakdown of Black employees in their companies (Cox, n.d.). Using the hashtag #PullUpOrShutUp, beauty brands started sharing these statistics, regardless of whether the numbers presented the brand in a positive way or not.
With this, beauty brands promised to do better and ensure more black employees in leadership roles. The underlying logic of demanding this was to combat systemic racism in retail, and moreover, that brands should not be able to show BLM public support without also supporting black people in their organizations. Furthermore, Chuter argues that consumers need to be aware of which beauty brands truly value representing black people, in order to make informed purchasing decisions (Bauknecht, 2020).
Brands and Diversity in the Beauty Industry
Rihanna launched the beauty brand Fenty Beauty in 2017 (Witt & Baird, 2018). The success of Fenty Beauty’s 40-shade foundation range and what has since been known as the “Fenty Effect” (Fetto, 2020b) has inspired a host of other brands, such as Tarte and Smashbox, to follow suit and launch inclusive products. This has helped to create a new norm for diversity
and ethnic diversity (Saunter & Shin, 2019, p. 12). Other brands that have successfully followed up on this new norm included Milk Makeup, MAC, NYX among others (HighLifeNorth, 2020).
According to Witt and Baird (2018), Fenty Beauty was undoubtedly relevant to young consumers, who themselves are an increasingly diverse population, and who applaud brands that want to make a difference in the world (Witt & Baird, 2018, p. 49).
Since Fenty Beauty’s launch, “inclusive beauty” has become an industry buzzword, encompassing new demographic markets that are becoming increasingly important for the beauty industry to target (CB Insights, 2019, p. 13). “Inclusive beauty” refers to the already defined term “inclusivity” and implies that beauty brands value diversity in all forms (Saunter
& Shin, 2019). Inclusive beauty has in many cases referred specifically to skin color as many products are still available in three shades: light, medium, and dark (Abelman & Dall’asen, 2020). Consequently, there has been a major focus on brands offering ‘inclusive shade ranges’, meaning to offer products to match a broad range of skin colors, especially being aware of catering to people of color (Abelman & Dall’asen, 2020). When targeting people of color in the beauty industry, companies must be mindful of the risk of overlooking the complex consumer behavior dynamics across particular ethnic groups (CB Insights, 2019). Ultimately, brands that can cater to these demographics without oversimplifying the nuanced dynamics of their communities will be more likely to succeed in the increasingly saturated beauty market (CB Insights, 2019, p. 15).
Colorism in the Beauty Industry
According to Frisby (2019), there exists a bias, colorism, within many of us related to skin color. Colorism is a demonstrated bias toward lighter skin tones and often refers to explicit discrimination based on skin color (Frisby, 2019, p. 39). The beauty industry continues to marginalize people with darker skin tones, preferentially catering towards a lighter demographic (Sadangsal, 2020). Colorism can be seen in the lack of shade ranges in the beauty industry that inaccurately reflect the true variety of skin tones, especially darker skin tones (Sadangsal, 2020). The idea that light skin is cleaner than dark skin still fuels the beauty industry, but it is not known whether or not colorism has been addressed and showing signs of improvement in the beauty industry (Frisby, 2019).
Colorism can also be seen in the enormous popularity of skin bleaching and skin-lightening products. Although some brands have begun to change their products that are catering towards the beauty of lighter skin. For instance, The Indian arm of the consumer goods group Unilever claims it will change the name of its skin-lightening cosmetics range, ”Fair & Lovely”, and stop using terms such as “whitening” in its marketing, but will continue selling the popular product (Safi, 2020). This was received with criticism with many arguing that by not dropping the products entirely, Unilever is still profiting from an industry that has anti-blackness at its core (Fetto, 2020a). Dr. Ewoma Ukeleghe, a global brand consultant and skincare specialist, says her largely Millennial and Gen Z clientele “are very adamant about not lightening their skin”. Moreover, she believes the driver of change will be this new generation, not the skin-whitening industry (Fetto, 2020a).
Colorism is not limited to preferring white over black, but it also entails preferring light-skinned black over dark-light-skinned black within the same ethnic group. This can be traced back to slavery times in America when slave owners gave preferential treatment to slaves with lighter skin tones and complexions (Frisby, 2019). This phenomenon is still relevant today as light-skinned have advantages and privileges that dark-skinned cannot achieve with the same effort (Nittle, 2021). Thus, mixed skin has been favored and glorified compared to dark skin.
Moreover, light skin has been viewed as superior to dark skin in Europe due to ruling classes typically having lighter complexions than peasant classes (Nittle, 2021). Dark skin became associated with lower classes and light skin with the elite as peasants became tanned by working outdoors (Nittle, 2021).
Gen Z’ers Demands in the Beauty Industry and on Social Media
The characteristics and behaviors of Gen Z are highly reflected in their demands in the beauty industry. Brands, including beauty brands, are expected to have a societal voice (YouGov, 2018). According to Saunter and Shin (2019), Gen Z is driving the shift towards a more inclusive visual culture, leading retailers to acknowledge consumers with different abilities.
Brands must adapt to the demands of this generation in order to successfully gain their positive attention. Gen Z strongly believes that a brand must take responsibility for both its social and environmental impact (Saunter & Shin, 2019).
To Gen Z, it is important to embrace diversity. If a brand approaches Gen Z as a homogeneous entity and fails to appeal to the multiple diverse groups it comprises, the brand will be downgraded to a limited view of both their world and the motivations behind their decision making (Witt & Baird, 2018). Gen Z demands authenticity and transparency across the beauty industry (Saunter & Shin, 2019). They want real people, real skin, and real stories. Gen Z is the most self-educated generation to date with information and tutorials instantly available online at any time. Not only related to the beauty industry but also in general. Gen Z will quickly sense when something is not authentic or real. Gen Z’ers are aware that social media provide wider exposure to evolving global conversations, and they demand that people of older generations engage in these conversations. According to Statista (2020a), Gen Z has increased its discretionary spending on cosmetics, and the growing influence of social media channels has been one of the key drivers of the market growth (Statista, 2020a).