The Beauty Industry… Understanding Gen Z
09 May 2017
Written by: Rachael Ryan

The beauty and skincare industry conduct research and lots of it. As a result, no beauty or skincare product can come onto the market without a lot of scientific research behind it. In particular, these industries are renowned for doing focus groups and testing product concepts through qualitative research. However, we’re looking at the importance of understanding your target audience beyond focus groups. Let’s look at the upcoming generation, it’s time to start understanding Gen Z.

Who is Gen Z?

Gen Z consists of those born from 1995 to 2009, the generation after millennials. As a result, Gen Z often gets overlooked in studies because of the prominence of millennials in the world. However, Gen Z is already very accomplished and growing into adulthood. Celebrities from the generation include Kylie and Kendall Jenner, Billie Eilish, Jordyn Woods, Malala Yousafzai, Saoirse Ronan, Zendaya, and the list goes on. To sum up, what a talented and famous group of people changing the world! For the most part, their media consumption differ from previous generations, as they watch the least television of any generation. In addition, they prefer cool products over cool experiences, as they are focused on material items. Subsequently, they are very tech-savvy and even entrepreneurial,

The industry is rapidly changing

There is an increasing demand for anti-aging products, there are more and more people that are chemical conscious and who only want organic or natural products and finally, competition is higher than ever with the sheer volume of beauty products that are available on the market today; it’s a multibillion-dollar industry.

Not only have these changes occurred but the landscape in which these beauty products are available in is ever-changing. For instance, ten years ago if you launched a product solely through digital advertising or by paying influencers (who did not exist at the time), your product wouldn’t get very far. Now, beauty and fashion magazines, which were once the be-all and end-all, are becoming irrelevant. Today, bloggers are getting paid anything from $100 to 7 digit figures for ads and sponsored posts. ‘Something Navy’ (a digital influencer) spoke about a product on Snapchat recently and within 24 hours that product sold over 500 units or $17,000 worth of product.

Know Your Audience

Considering that and the fact that ad-spend on digital will outspend television in 2017, it’s important that the beauty and cosmetic industry is reaching the right audience and knows who to target and how. Millennials and Gen Z are different and need to be understood differently. By 2020, 40% of consumers are going to be Generation Z. So now we must understand the complexities and differences between Gen Z and their older relative Millennials.

The focus groups and product concept sessions have been helpful, but it’s time to find out more. What is it that each person wants from their beauty products or skincare routine in 2017. In other words, we know that 24% of women often use products and don’t get the results that they want from them. Isn’t it time to find out why and conduct widespread research to fully understand the industry and know how to best deal with the evolving marketplace.

This post is part of the industry-specific blog series on Provoke Insights. Read more about other industries like jewelry and technology.

Check out some of our most recent posts from our strategy and advertising research blog here:

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  6. What’s the Difference Between Quantitative and Qualitative?

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