Youth Consumer Insights

Trend - Plush keychains and "blind box"-style collectibles are gaining traction among Gen Z consumers. Often attached to purses, backpacks, and other accessories, these toys infuse individuality into everyday items, allowing consumers to tap into their inner child through cartoon aesthetics and characters.

Insight - Gen Z consumers often seek comfort in the "cutesy" aesthetics and characters reminiscent of their childhood, using them as a grounding force in times of change and uncertainty. These consumers turn to plush toys and collectibles, which offer a sense of community and a way to express their unique personalities while navigating everyday life. Businesses that align with this desire for personal expression and nostalgia are well-positioned to attract and engage younger consumers.

Trend - Self-care brands are partnering with popular cartoon properties to increase the appeal of their products with younger consumers. The collaboration also functions as advertising for the cartoon brand, leading to a mutually-beneficial partnership.

Insight - Young children are often disinterested by personal care. Certain children do not enjoy bath time, and do not yet understand the importance of brushing their teeth or washing their face. Parents of these children seek ways to make personal care more engaging and fun for their kids in order to build good habits early. One such method these parents seek out is co-branding, searching for products with branding familiar to their kids, leading to personal care brands partnering with cartoons.

Trend - Study tools are adopting social media aesthetics by combining educational content with "oddly satisfying" background videos and ASMR elements. These tools convert traditional study materials into more engaging formats that align with Gen Z's content consumption preferences.

Insight - Today's students have grown up in an environment of constant digital stimulation, leading to evolving expectations around how they consume and process information. The rise of "brainrot" content - videos that are simple yet oddly engaging - points to a broader shift in how younger generations maintain focus and absorb information. Rather than viewing multitasking as a distraction, many now see it as a tool for enhanced engagement. This behavioral adaptation reflects a larger tension between traditional educational methods and the reality of modern attention spans shaped by social media algorithms.

Trend - Personal care brands are increasingly focusing on marketing probiotic gut health products to younger women. From products with packaging targeting younger women to full-on marketing campaigns, these brands are aiming to help women get a head start on proper gut health practices to improve comfort.

Insight - Younger women, namely those of the Gen Z and younger Millennial age groups, often do not worry about the perimenopause and menopausal life stages, as these come far later in life. However, in part due to health influencers on social media, these younger women are paying more attention to proper health practices that can help reduce symptoms of menopausal life stages later in life. In response to this, personal health brands are releasing gut health supplements designed for younger women.

Trend - Bubble tea restaurants are launching new seasonal flavors inspired by traditional pumpkin spice lattes. This blending of a traditional fall dessert flavor with the bubble tea format is designed to offer more variety to fans of both respective products.

Insight - Younger consumers ranging from younger Millennials to Gen Alpha, are more drawn to loaded dessert-style beverages, such as bubble tea, than those of previous generations. These consumers treat bubble tea as a social experience. As these drinks continue to become ritualized in consumers' lives, demand for new flavors and experiences goes up in turn. In order to cater to the ever-growing demand for flavor diversity, bubble tea restaurants are looking to popular seasonal flavors for inspiration.

Trend - Snacks that combine hot and sweet flavors are being released to diversify snack offerings. These snacks, referred to as 'Swicy' in flavor, are made by mixing traditionally sweet foods with spicy ingredients, such as hot sauces or peppers. This results in unique flavors for younger consumers.

Insight - The recent boom in popularity of spicy foods in the west has led to younger consumers, namely Gen Z and Gen Alphas, growing up more accustomed to spicy flavors than other generations. As a result, these consumers desire more adventurous flavors in all dishes, whether it be a snack, meal, or dessert. Brands are capitalising off of the popularity of spicy foods and the desire for strong flavors by mixing spicy and sweet flavors into countless unique products.

Trend - Incremental games are titles that progress over time without user input. This progress can be accelerated by actively playing the game. The passive progression model leads to consistent progression for the players, which is often satisfying and addicting, regardless of the players' busy schedules.

Insight - One of the fastest-growing markets in gaming is mobile gaming. With nearly every consumer having a gaming-capable smartphone in their pocket, the potential user base for these games is incredibly expansive. However, not all consumers have the time to actively engage with games. For these busier consumers who desire the satisfaction and relaxation of gaming with minimal free time, brands are releasing incremental progression games that automatically play themselves, even when the app is closed.

Trend - Brands are introducing new experiences to foster the creative growth of Generation Alpha consumers. These experiences promote hands-on engagement with the physical world, encourage real-time social interactions, and inspire exploration of their surroundings without using digital devices.

Insight - As Generation Alpha's presence in the digital realm grows, brands are recognizing the need to balance screen time with real-world engagement. To address this, these organizations are now launching in-person events and activities designed to engage Gen Alpha in a different, more tactile way. Businesses that meet the desire for screen-free activities can attract parents and children who prioritize tangible skills and real-world experiences.

Trend - Smart home companies are releasing baby monitors with artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features. Rather than acting as cameras and recording devices, these monitors use AI features for non-intrusive monitoring of breathing or sleeping patterns, body temperature, and more.

Insight - New Millennial and Gen Z parents are tasked with balancing full-time work with social lives and raising their newborns. Rising costs of living have led to these parents often having less free time than previous generations. To alleviate the strain of home tasks, many of these parents turn to smart home or AI-powered products, such as robot vacuum or AI washing machines. In recognition of this demand, smart home and infant care brands are releasing AI baby monitors with time-saving features.

Trend - Brands in the beauty industry are making less-traditional procedures more affordable and accessible. Through marketing and increased availability, these procedures are being destigmatized, and are in turn becoming more commonplace. These factors result in fewer barriers for interested consumers.

Insight - Millennials and previous generations grew up in a society that stigmatized purely cosmetic procedures, such as bodily injections or lifts. In part brought on by the shifting nature of the beauty industry and by North American society trending in a progressive direction, the stigmas around such practices are fading. As a result, brands are more openly advertising these services in order to appeal to consumers who may have previously considered or been on-the-fence about such beauty practices.