What Brands Can Learn From Gen Z's Take on Love
“It allows us to value life more when we’re aware of its time limit.”
Gen Z’s Dating patterns are as erratic as our creative outbursts. Our lack of commitment is due to factors that differ for each of us, but one thing is certain—we love to keep our options open. There is such beauty in accepting impermanence! It allows us to value life more when we’re aware of its time limit.
I held a couple of polls on my social media with the question, “Do you think Gen Z values love more or less than our parents?” Initially, an average of 62% of the sample population believed Gen Z values love more. As the duration of the poll increased, more people began to vote that Gen Z values love less. Final average poll results showed that 51% voted “more” and 49% voted “less”.
I really wanted to understand their reasoning, so I reached out to 5 of the people in Gen Z that voted “less”. In short, their perceptions, as well as our own, of love were shaped by their upbringing and the environment they learned or experienced love in. It allowed them to accept how love comes and goes, whereas those who voted that Gen Z values love more, believe this because they have hope that love is on the horizon, but it’s certainly taking a backseat in the present day.
Do You Think Gen Z Values Love More or Less Than our Parents?
You can compare our love for the temporary with limited edition releases. Compared to regular releases, limited edition items (such as the UGG x Telfar collab and Rihanna’s newest fragrance by Fenty Beauty) sell out almost immediately and are consistently asked for restocks across Instagram and Twitter. Though we desire these products among others to restock, we’ve accepted they probably won’t, and have since moved onto the next item that catches our eye. Ultimately, there’s no stopping this mentality either. I spoke to my sister about why the temporary rush is so enticing to people our age, and she told me, “It is very unrealistic for us to search persistently for ‘the one’ AND expect to find them just because we’re looking.”
“Our pragmatism and self-awareness has allowed us to understand that we’re not entitled to things or to people because we put in active efforts to seek them out.”
She was definitely onto something. Our pragmatism and self-awareness has allowed us to understand that we’re not entitled to things or to people because we put in active efforts to seek them out. I’ve found in many cases that it made it harder to get what I wanted when I put every fiber in my body to work for it. According to the laws of attraction, the harder you search outside of yourself for what you lack, the further it’ll travel away from you.
If your sole focus is finding the one, when will you accomplish your other life goals? When will you chase your dreams? It’s become common knowledge that things will come to you when you’re not looking—ask your car keys or loose scrunchies, they’ll tell you the same! Gen Z has decided that bettering ourselves is the key to our own happiness, because you can’t expect another person to make you happy.
In addition to the polls I also posed the question, “When do you feel the happiest?” I received answers ranging from “being in nature or on vacation” to “getting money”, not to forget “sleeping”. Most of the answers had to do with being with people or pets that love you, or solo time in a meditative sense. Having a period to sort out our thoughts and feelings. Gen Z has found comfort in solitude, even if that solitude is you and a friend doing your own things silently on FaceTime. Life is a journey, and though it’d be joyous to have a partner to experience it together, not everyone’s story is written that way.
“You can change your shoes, add tools that’ll come in handy later, you can add or remove abilities from your skill set. But no matter how prepared you find your character to be, the only way to level up is to start your story and gain experience.”
You can think of it like setting up your character before you start a video game. You can change your shoes, add tools that’ll come in handy later, you can add or remove abilities from your skillset. But no matter how prepared you find your character to be, the only way to level up is to start your story and gain experience.
“Tell us how the brand experienced itself and learned, what it’s challenges are as well as its wins. Showcase how your story runs parallel to ours, and that we are all learning.”
As Gen Z prioritizes self-knowledge, self-awareness and fluidity, brands can learn to communicate with us in the same way we communicate with life – through sharing experience. Brands can take a cue and not focus on the fairytale and perfectly polished stories as their main messaging, but by meeting us with reality as it is, no filter. Tell us how the brand experienced itself and learned, what it’s challenges are as well as its wins. Showcase how your story runs parallel to ours, and that we are all learning.
Products and campaigns can be created around ideas of self acceptance—for those who are wondrous, pragmatic, and all other traits in between. Products that also encourage Gen Z customers to learn about themselves and what they want out of the life they’re going to create. This will allow Gen Z to determine what they like about brands based on their commonality and shared realities, rather than solely what products are sold and their exclusivity.
