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How to capture Generation Z with online reviews
By: Morgan Ho
Candidate for M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications
Northwestern University
May 11, 2016
This blog was published as one of the Medill Spiegel Research Center’s series of articles
written by the student Marketing Impact Team.
Link to blog online:
http://spiegel.medill.northwestern.edu/news/how-to-capture-generation-z-with-online-reviews-.html
The Spiegel Research Center studies how consumer engagement drives purchase behavior.
Join the conversation and follow Spiegel on Twitter: @SpiegelResearch
For more information about SRC please visit: http://spiegel.medill.northwestern.edu/
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This is the second blog post in a series of articles on how to market to Generation Z.
Read the first article, “3 Tips to capture Generation Z on a mobile app”, here.
Generation Z, the generation typically defined as those born between 1996 and 2010, controls
$44 billion dollars in spending and wields a considerable amount of influence in household
purchase decisions. In fact, 93% of parents report that their Gen Z children influence family
spending. But what makes their spending patterns unique? And what can marketers do to
capitalize on Gen Z’s spending habits?
First, it is worth noting the world into which Generation Z was born. This generation has never
known life without smart phones and social media. This, along with other major world events
such as coming of age post 9/11 and during the Great Recession has greatly influenced their
worldview and purchasing behaviors.
Growing up with uncertainty and technology, Gen Z understands the value of money and
spends a considerable amount of time researching products. Here is what marketers should
know to attract these young shoppers.
Concerned about money and financially savvy
Gen Z has learned about money by witnessing the hardships of the Great Recession from their
parents and older Millennial siblings. A study in 2014 showed that 50% of Gen Z teens say they
know more about money at their age than their parents did. More recently a survey
conducted by Marketing Week reported that nearly 7 in 10 teenagers agree that saving money
while they are young in preparation for the future is important to them. Northwestern
student, Durrell Gil, 19, remarked, “I’m quite frugal with my spending. I try my best to not buy

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things I won’t use.” North Park University student, Ransom Clark, 17, echoed similar
sentiments: “I’m a saver… I spend nothing on a whim.”
Action Item for Marketers: Emphasize the value of your product
Gen Z has a clear understanding of the value of money and many are not as impulse-driven as
teens of the past. When setting up a review platform for your products it may be helpful to
have question prompts that guide reviewers to write about the specific value and functionality
they get out of a product, thus appealing to the pragmatism of Gen Z buyers.
Online reviews matter more than you think
With technology at their fingertips Gen Z knows how to find out anything they want to know
quickly. 85% report conducting research online and 52% report using YouTube or other social
media sources as a research source for a typical school assignment. A Knowledge@Wharton
article also observed that Gen Z is more likely to “crowdsource” opinions on products. This
could be from online review websites or via various social media platforms. The propensity to
seek opinions from others shows the power of influencers in their lives. “Online reviews are
simply the fastest way to get another consumer's report,” says Ransom Clark, in response to
why he uses online reviews. Similarly, Durrell Gil comments, “I feel like [online reviews] give
you a more objective opinion.”
Action Item for Marketers: Prompt, monitor and manage your online reviews
Reviews are an important factor in Gen Z’s decision making. To encourage buyers to leave
reviews marketers may want to implement a post-purchase email plan that prompts verified
buyers of a product to write an online review. Consider also identifying and using Gen Z
influencers instead of celebrities to do product reviews on popular social media platforms like
YouTube. YouTube personalities are likely to resonate with Gen Z because they are more
relatable and appeal to Gen Z’s propensity to seek peer opinions.
To learn more about SRC’s research on the merits of self-motivated vs. verified buyer reviews
click here.

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Source from Links in Article (in chronological order of the links in the text)
1. Alex Williams, “Move Over, Millennials, Here Comes Generation Z,” September 18, 2015,
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/fashion/move-over-millennials-here-comes-generation-z.html?_r=1, accessed April
2016
2. Sparks & Honey, “Meet Generation Z Forget Everything You Learned About Millennials,” June 17, 2016, LinkedIn SlideShare,
http://www.slideshare.net/sparksandhoney/generation-z-final-june-17/6-They_love_to_shop_especially, accessed April
2016
3. Ernest & Young, “The Rise of Gen Z: New Challenge for Retailers,” http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-rise-of-
gen-znew-challenge-for-retailers/$FILE/EY-rise-of-gen-znew-challenge-for-retailers.pdf
4. Better Homes and Gardens, “Move Over Millennials, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Reveals Homebuying Dreams of
Gen Z Teens,” Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, September 9, 2014, http://www.bhgre.com/move-over-millenials-
better-homes-and-gardens-real-estate-reveals-homebuying-dreams-of-gen-z-teens/, accessed April 2016
5. Jonathan Bacon, “Inside the financially savvy minds of Gen Z,” Marketing Week (blog), February 29, 2016,
https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/02/29/inside-the-financially-savvy-minds-of-gen-z/, accessed April 2016
6. Spiegel Research Center “Self-Motivated vs. Prompted Reviews,” http://spiegel.medill.northwestern.edu/studies/self-
motivated-vs-prompted-reviews.html, accessed April 2016
7. Kristin Purcell, Lee Rainie, Alan Heaps, Judy Buchanan, Linda Friedrich, Amanda Jacklin, Clara Chen and Kathryn Zickuhr,
“How Teens Do Research in the Digital World,” Pew Research, November 1, 2012,
http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/11/01/how-teens-do-research-in-the-digital-world/, accessed April 2016
8. Sparks & Honey, “Meet Generation Z Forget Everything You Learned About Millennials,” June 17, 2016, LinkedIn SlideShare,
http://www.slideshare.net/sparksandhoney/generation-z-final-june-17/28-They_multitask_across_5_screens28Age,
accessed April 2016
9. Knowledge@Wharton, “’Millennials on Steroids:’ Is Your Brand Ready for Generation Z?” September 28, 2016, University of
Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/millennials-on-steroids-is-your-
brand-ready-for-generation-z/, accessed April 2016
10. Spiegel Research Center “Self-Motivated vs. Prompted Reviews,” http://spiegel.medill.northwestern.edu/studies/self-
motivated-vs-prompted-reviews.html, accessed April 2016