Gen Z's favorite brands, revealed
- Jennifer A. Kingson, author of Axios What's Next
The youngest generation of adults is so crazy for tech companies that YouTube, Google, Netflix and Amazon are their four favorite corporate brands, a new Morning Consult survey finds.
- Gen Z also loves junk food and mass retail: The other brands in their top 10 are M&Ms, Doritos, KitKat and Oreo, plus Amazon, Walmart and Target.
- Two new-ish brands they're wild about? Discord, a chat app popular with gamers, and Shein, a Chinese fast-fashion company.
Why it matters: People ages 18-25 have increasing societal clout and spending power, but their tastes don't always conform to those of their elders — particularly millennials, with whom they're often lumped in.
- Compared with millennials, they're much more likely to favor Discord, TikTok, Crocs, Snapchat and Shein.
- Brands they're more keen on than the general public include Trolli (the purveyors of sour gummy worms), Twitch (the game-streaming platform) and Fenty Beauty (Rihanna's brand).
Driving the news: Morning Consult's poll — conducted May 1-Aug. 21, with about 16,000 adults weighing in on each brand — found that Gen Z's tastes tilt most heavily toward tech, social media and gaming companies, as well as food and beverage brands.
- 86% of Gen Z adults have a "somewhat'" or "very" favorable opinion of YouTube, making it their most-liked brand.
- Among the brands that Gen Z likes better than the general public, six of the top 20 are gaming-related.
- Chow, chow, chow: Some of Gen Zers' highest-ranked brands are Cheetos, Sprite and Skittles.
Gender breakdown: Gen Z women have a more favorable view of social media brands than Gen Z men, with 77% looking favorably on TikTok versus 58% of men.
- Gen Z women also have a more favorable opinion of Pinterest (+22 percentage points), Snapchat (+11), Facebook (+8) and Instagram (+6).
- Twitter is the only major social media platform that outperforms with Gen Z men (+7).
Yes, but: Gen Zers are harder to please than millennials and older consumers, consistently giving lower marks to corporate America in general, Morning Consult found.
- This dovetails with the company's finding that Gen Z takes a more negative view of capitalism, said Jordan Marlatt, a tech analyst at Morning Consult.
- "They're a very political generation," observed Marlatt, noting that Gen Z's attitudes toward climate change and political polarization are likely at play.
Between the lines: The youngest Gen Zers are still in their teens — and weren't included in this survey — and the generation's tastes are still emerging and evolving.
- For example, LinkedIn is becoming more popular with Gen Z adults as they enter the workforce, Marlatt said.
- And the cohort's embrace of TikTok could be politically important, as U.S. officials struggle to regulate the Chinese-owned video app.
What's next: Expect Gen Z's tastes to continue to mature — and to keep diverging from those of millennials and Gen Xers.