What Gen Zers Are Gifting This Holiday

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Welcome back to Morning Consult’s new newsletter on young consumers: We’ll put the headlines you’re reading about Gen Alpha, Gen Z and millennials into context with our high frequency survey data to help you better understand exactly how they’re spending their time — and their dollars. 

Let’s dive in with what presents Gen Zers want to give for the holidays. Plus, even more influencer content? Zoomers say yes.

🎁 Expect a sentimental gift from the young people in your life 🎁

My neighbors have put up their incredibly aggressive Halloween decorations, which means that in approximately 2.5 days, it’ll be Christmas. Early estimates show that this holiday season will yield blockbuster online shopping sales for retailers, and we’ve got new research on the types of gifts Gen Zers and millennials are planning to give.

In line with the rest of the population, Gen Z adults and millennials are most likely to say they'll give fun or entertaining presents, but after that, slight differences emerge. If you have a Gen Zer in your life, perhaps you may get a sentimental gift, which is their next most likely gift-giving category. Millennials are just about as likely to give gifts that are related to comfort or relaxation as they are to give sentimental ones. (After all, millennials are tired and probably need some relaxation of their own.) 

In addition, Gen Zers and millennials are more likely than the rest of the population to say they will “definitely” or “probably” shop secondhand for their presents.

▶️ For more data on holiday gift giving, including older generations’ gifting plans, read our full analysis here. 

▶️ For our upcoming report on what to expect for holiday 2024, publishing October 9th, make sure to sign up for retail content alerts. 

💅 Gen Zers want even more influencer content 💅

Though we’re in an era of peak influencer, Gen Z still can’t get enough. Our latest research shows that over 1 in 5 Gen Z adults report following more than 50 influencers, double the share of U.S. adults who said the same (11%). Plus, 31% of the cohort said they want to see more content from influencers and content creators on social media, 10 percentage points higher than U.S. adults. 

They’ll likely get their wish because influencers aren’t going anywhere, and if anything, their power and, ahem, influence is only getting stronger. And young adults aren’t just turning to influencers for fashion and lifestyle content, they’re also looking for information on meatier subjects like finance, news and current events and entrepreneurship.

▶️ For more on the expanding impact of influencers, read our research memo here. 

What Else We’re Reading

Conscious unbossing: why Gen Z are refusing to become managers (The Guardian)

Money Gen Z and millennials are increasingly ‘doom spending' (CNBC)

The 27-year-old economic advisor for Gen Z (Wall Street Journal)

Wasteful consumerism has a new worst enemy: Gen Alpha tweens (Business Insider)

The Happy Meal of beauty? Ulta targets Gen Alpha with mini brands beauty collab (Global Cosmetics News)

In a first among Christians, young men are more religious than young women (New York Times)

Coming Up

10/9 What to Expect for Holiday 2024. A look at how shoppers are feeling about their finances and what items they plan on gifting ahead of the holiday season. Sign up for retail content alerts here.

10/16 Introducing the Digital Side Hustler. In this report, we’ll look at which American consumers currently have a digital “side hustle,” and how they feel about traditional corporate careers. Sign up for workforce trend alerts here.