Retail Wire Mentions First Insight | As Boomers ‘Age Out of Peak Purchasing,’ How Can National Brands Retain Interest With Gen Z?
According to a recent First Insight study titled “Is Gen Z Still Choosing Your Brand,” while Gen Zers and baby boomers still choose national brands at No. 1 across most categories versus private label, DTC, and premium alternatives, a major gulf is emerging when it comes to interest, desire to learn or know more, and perhaps even future purchase intent.
“Gen Z still picks national brands when you put four options in front of them. What this data shows is that they’re noticing them less, exploring them less, and in categories like vitamins, they’re a coin flip away from choosing a challenger instead,” said Viki Zabala, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at First Insight, via a press release.
“The brands that will win the next decade are the ones that understand exactly where they stand in the Gen Z value hierarchy — by category, by channel — and take action before that gap becomes permanent. As Boomers age out of peak purchasing, this isn’t a cycle. It’s a handoff. And right now, challengers are on the receiving end,” Zabala added.
In a summary attached to the report, three embedded signals indicated that the current lead being held by national brands is in danger of eroding.
- The attention gap is widening: Younger U.S. consumers are affording national brands 24% less shelf attention than their boomer counterparts. Filling that gap are store brand, DTC, and premium brand challengers.
- Then, curiosity is shifting: More than one-third (38%) of Gen Z purchasing decisions rest on factors which “most national brands don’t measure or under invest in,” per the report. Further, “challengers are built for exactly those signals.”
- Preference is undergoing rapid change: A majority (59%) of Gen Z consumers are trading down in staples. In particular categories, notably vitamins, a former 20% national brand lead has broken down to just 2% with zoomer buyers.
With Gen Z buyers trading down to private-label food and beverage options (31% said as much) and household goods (24%) at much higher rates than older Americans — in favor of splurging on the pet, health and beauty, and wellness categories — yet another gulf has emerged: When asked “which product stands out to you first?” on the shelf, Gen Z shoppers reliably choose established national brands far less often than boomer buyers. On multi-purpose cleaners, boomers selected the national brand 68% of the time (versus just 44% for Gen Z); and on facial cleansers they chose the national brand 79% of the time (against 52% for zoomers).
“Instead, Gen Z consumers more frequently noticed private-label, premium and direct-to-consumer brands. This shift suggests traditional brand recognition may be losing its advantage among younger shoppers. Visual packaging, clarity, modern design, and contemporary positioning are driving first
attention,” the report claimed.
“The shelf functions like a social feed — and Gen Z scrolls past what feels dated,” it added, pivoting to note that when it came to purchase intentions across CPG categories, “The moat around legacy brands is shrinking with the generation that matters most for long-term growth.”
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