Research firm Piper Sandler has released its 44th biannual survey of Generation Z (born 1997-2012) seeking to uncover their brand preference and priorities. Some 14,500 teenagers were interviewed for the “Checking in with Teens” report.
And here’s a headliner: teenagers are iPhone fanatics; 87% of respondents say they own one.
Here are the main results:
Demographics and spending:
- Our 44th bi-annual Taking Stock with Teens survey was conducted between August 12 and September 23
- Regional responses were 41% in the South, 20% in the West, 32% in the Midwest, and 7% in the Northeast
- 39% of teens are working part-time – stable from last spring and up from 38% in fall 2021
- “Self-reported” teen spending rose 3% year over year to $2,331, down 2% from last spring; parental contribution was 61% compared to 60% last spring
- Women led the increase in teenage spending, with all female spending up 10% yoy, led by clothing (+10% yoy) and footwear (+7% yoy). year-on-year)
- For high-income teens, food was the number one wallet priority for male spending with a 23% share, and clothing reached its highest level of female wallet share since 2012 with a 30% share .
- Teenagers spend 7% of their shopping time at flea markets; 47% bought second-hand; 58% sold used
- Shopping channel preferences, among all upper-income teens, shifted more to discount channels (13% share, +483 bps Y/Y) and less to off-price channels (9 share %, -346 bps Y/Y)
- Core beauty portfolio (cosmetics, skincare, fragrances) is $264/yr (+20% Y/Y), led by cosmetics (+28% Y/Y)
- Skincare held the highest priority of beauty spending at $103, followed by cosmetics at $96 and hair care at $91
- Daily makeup wearers are now at 41% (from 33% LY), of which 50% of high-income teens wear makeup daily
- Weekly use of VR devices has fallen from 17% last spring to 14%; 26% of teens own a virtual reality device (fixed from spring 2022)
- Video games make up 12% of teens’ wallet share (compared to 14% LY), and 30% plan to buy a NextGen console within 2 years
Teenagers are iPhone fanatics – 87% of respondents say they own one
Rankings of brands and preferences:
- 52% of teens cite Amazon as their #1 favorite e-commerce site; SHEIN, Nike, Lululemon and Pacsun took No. 2-5 spots
- Nike remains the #1 brand for all teens, for both apparel (31% share) and footwear (60% share)
- Crocs went from No. 6 favorite shoe brand to No. 5 while Hey Dude went from No. 9 to No. 7
- Converse gained 200 basis points from Y/Y share, maintaining the No. 2 ranking, and Under Armor dropped out of the top 10
- elf maintained its position as the #1 cosmetics brand, gaining 500 basis points of Y/Y market share to 16% of teenage girls
- Bath & Body Works became the #1 fragrance brand among teenage girls (38% share) in a new question in this survey
- Ulta remained the #1 favorite beauty destination with a 42% share, and it also held the highest beauty membership with 62% of teenage girls with a membership
- Chick-Fil-A remains the No. 1 restaurant with 18% market share (-200 bps Y/Y), followed by Starbucks at 17% (+600 bps Y/Y) and Chipotle at 13% (+300 bps Y/Y) )
- Teenagers plan to eat less plant-based meat; of the 14% of teens who eat plant-based meat, 23% of teens plan to eat less plant-based meat, up from 17% in fall 2021
- Teens report the highest intentions to eat more or the same amount of Nature Valley (GIS) and Clif (MDLZ); Goldfish (CPB) remains the favorite snack brand for teenagers
- TikTok improved as the preferred social platform (38% share) by 400 bps from last spring, and SNAP was #2 at 30% (-100 bps from spring 2022) while Instagram was No. 3 at 20% (-200 bp vs spring 2022)
- Teens spend 32% of daily video consumption on Netflix (fixed vs. LY) and 29% on YouTube (-200 bps vs. LY)
- The phone is teens’ preferred method of interacting with customer service; Text/SMS Shows Top Multi-Year Earnings
- 87% of teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone to be their next phone; 31% of teens own an Apple Watch
