Generation Z likes to spend, though not in the same ways as its predecessors. Born between ​​1997 and 2010, this post-millennial demographic is projected to have significant luxury purchasing power, which will continue to grow as more of the cohort enter the workplace. In the US alone, their estimated spending currently equates to $360 billion, and is anticipated to account for 25 to 30 per cent of all luxury purchases by 2030, according to Bain, as they become more financially independent.

While millennials are digital migrants, Gen Zs are digital natives. The oldest Gen Z was barely 10 years old when the iPhone launched in 2007, heralding a new era of constant connectivity. The explosion of digital touchpoints in the years that followed resulted in a complex customer decision-making journey, prompted mostly by Gen Z’s unbreakable bond with technology — and more importantly, social media.

As the largest demographic among the world’s largest economies (the US, China, Germany and Japan), Vogue Business and Snapchat surveyed 755 luxury consumers in the US aged between 16 and 25, to understand what makes this emerging consumer group tick.