Hello UniqueGood Experience Trend Letter, this week we'd like to tell you about 'Generation Zalpha' as trend-setters who lead trends. While some criticize it as another meaningless buzzword following the MZ generation, it's also being evaluated as a sufficiently reasonable 'distinction'.
Generation Zalpha is more open to communication and plays a key role in viral content, and most importantly, they prefer experiences in the real world, the Realworld, rather than digital spaces. Let's take a detailed look at who Generation Zalpha is and why we should pay attention to them!
Look here! Generation Zalpha,
Digging deep, that's Generation Zalpha!
Generation Zalpha combines Generation Z and Generation Alpha (Z+alpha), serving as a generational term that completely distinguishes digital native generations. Simply put, it refers to today's teens and twenties (as of 2024). We've barely gotten used to the term MZ generation! And now Generation Zalpha?
Generation Zalpha is a term that clearly distinguishes between 'digital immigrant generations' and 'digital native generations', representing a fundamental difference. Millennials are a generation born in analog and migrated to digital. In contrast, Generation Zalpha are digital natives - a generation born in digital and walking out into the real world.
Shift from trend setters to viral setters
In an era with too many choices, what do people choose? When there's too much 'information', people don't make decisions based on information, but rather choose based on the choices of people they trust, or the reactions and choices of peer groups (regarding subjects of interest). Simply put, they 'react to people's reactions'.
This means that 'viral spread of people's interests and experiences' becomes far more important than the production and distribution of information. The forces that lead and dominate viral content end up dominating trends. The reason we should pay attention to Generation Zalpha is because they are the protagonists of this change. So shall we look at the characteristics of Generation Zalpha together?
They easily interact and participate even with people they meet for the first time
Since Generation Zalpha has been accustomed to forming relationships through smartphones from childhood, for them, there's not much difference between digital friends and real-world friends. According to the Generation Z relationship survey by University Tomorrow's 20s Research Lab, the response 'I can easily interact with people I meet for the first time if we have similar tastes' appears higher compared to previous generations. They also prefer 'following' and 'comment conversations' where connections can be formed and broken based on interests rather than forming lasting relationships. Interestingly, while they're reluctant to share phone numbers or messenger IDs, they actually prefer meeting in person. We can see this connects with SNS structures used in daily life and actual meetings and interactions. Considering that previous generations needed some time to form relationships, this is definitely a changed pattern.
They're enthusiastic about 'stories' they can enjoy together
However, Generation Zalpha doesn't gather just because there's a communication space. 'Things to do together' are important, with 'stories' being particularly key. For example, looking at Realworld's 'Realworld Clue' series, a multi-player role-playing game that's hugely popular among teens to early thirties, it's completely natural to look for 3-6 players needed for the game through online communities. Since Realworld Clue requires immersive role-playing for usually 2 hours up to nearly 6 hours, players need to be face-to-face or communicate through voice chat online, but the process of exploring what kind of person the other party is gets completely skipped.
This means they share, communicate, and meet centered around their own interests and purposes. While some people view this negatively, thinking it's 'inhuman' or 'selective, disconnected relationship style', conversely, we need the perspective that they form healthier and more productive relationships rather than 'exhausting relationships where you have to form unwanted connections and hide yourself'. Of course, FOMO (Fear of missing out) syndrome, where they're always connected but also feel the fear of being left out of connections, is also a characteristic of Generation Zalpha.
Empty metaverse criticized as failed business that only wasted budget
Recently, news of closures and layoffs at metaverse-related companies has been continuous. From large corporations you've probably heard of to small startups, almost all metaverse-related businesses are closing down.
The reason is extremely simple. The core users of the metaverse are Generation Zalpha, but they're actually barely using it. According to the 2022 Korea Media Panel Survey, only 4.2% of total respondents had ever used the metaverse, with main users being those under 10, characterized by enjoying exciting 'content' on platforms like Roblox, Minecraft, and Animal Crossing. In contrast, most platforms claiming to be metaverse are criticized for lacking content, providing only basic functions like movement, jumping, and conversation. The mocking saying 'if it's fun, it's a game; if it's boring, it's metaverse' shows how Generation Zalpha perceives the metaverse.
The key point is reality, not virtual; content, not graphics; an environment where you can invite and enjoy together, not alone!
For Zalpha, viral is everyday life
What would it be like if all your thoughts and experiences were exposed to others in real-time? It feels somewhat eerie and scary, right? The movie 'Chaos Walking' starring Tom Holland is a sci-fi film set in 'New World', a world infected with 'Noise' where all thoughts are exposed in real-time. It's an interesting premise where you can hear what someone is thinking without filter just by being near them.
However, Generation Zalpha voluntarily, even proactively, exposes their daily lives almost in real-time. You can learn about their interests, what happened that day, their conflicts and resolutions by examining their accounts. What to eat this morning, what clothes to wear, what to do, what happened - there are no exceptions. When they go to a restaurant and really pretty, appetizing food comes out, or when they visit a newly opened brand pop-up store in Seongsu-dong, they immediately share these 'events' on Instagram, blogs, and communities. While previous generations mainly shared and communicated with friends, Generation Zalpha captures all their daily life in their persona-filled hideouts (Instagram, blogs, TikTok, etc.). This contrasts sharply with the old days when thoughts were carefully pressed into diaries and locked away.
Verification is courtesy - everyone operates their own broadcasting station
Have you heard of 'courtesy shots'? It refers to the 'Twitter courtesy' of taking photos and sharing them on SNS when eating something delicious, saying 'Wait! I need to take a photo!' You could say table manners have now completely shifted digitally to 'courtesy shots'. Initially, courtesy shots spread when K-POP fans would place photos of their favorite stars or characters alongside food when eating, sharing the meaning of being together in every moment of daily life. Now it has expanded to fan culture using various objects like works, characters, and charms, but it's becoming a life habit like saying 'Oh, photo!' when eating something delicious. You'll quickly intuit what this means for trends. Countless Generation Zalpha members making verification of their daily lives a habit? It means having an impact incomparable to media-based marketing. What if verification extends to spread, that is, goes viral?
Zalpha - each person is a walking broadcasting station
In short, Generation Zalpha operates their own 'broadcasting stations'. While there are differences depending on each person's connectivity, their daily lives are like raindrops falling on a lake, creating ripples that interfere with and influence each other. Some ripples spread gently and disappear, but others create synergy and generate tremendous viral power. This also means having incomparable strength to conventional viral media.
Heading toward the 'Real World' rather than virtual worlds
According to research by U.S. data analytics company Profitect and UK's Retail Week, Generation Zalpha prefers offline experiences over online ones. Domestically, trend media Careet's survey found that an overwhelming 97.2% of Generation Z respondents had visited pop-up stores. When asked how often they visit, 43.1% responded once every 5 outings, the highest response. Now Generation Z chooses pop-up stores as one of their entertainment options when going out. In other words, while digital natives are a digital generation, we should note that conversely, they're finding interest in and seeking out the Real World, the offline world, as a new continent.
Great transition from the age of information to the age of experience
People's questions have changed. We've moved from an era of asking 'What's there?' seeking knowledge to a paradigm shift toward questions about 'What should I do today? What should we do together? What should I do on weekends and holidays?' - questions about 'what to do'. At the center are experiences worth sharing, daily life worth sharing, contexts that can attract attention and generate feedback. In other words, the results of communication about experiences are appearing as trends. From this perspective, it's important to observe the core subjects creating viral content as the center forming trends - who they are, what behaviors they have, and the changes in new flows where they're gathering. Throughout 2024, more diverse and interesting experiences will be chosen and emerge as new trends, and it would be good to observe markets and trends while remembering that viral setter Generation Zalpha is at the center, and apply this to your work!
Thank you!
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