Gen Z consumers behave differently towards brands than other demographics, according to a new Edelman Trust Barometer study.
The purchase is often the starting point for the brand relationship, not the final step, running counter to the traditional "purchase funnel" model.
What appeals to Gen Z might alienate more traditional consumers, so it's important for brand and reputation leaders to partner.

The traditional purchase funnel, which maintained that the consumer moves in a liner way from awareness through to purchase, is the age-old marketing model — albeit one that has been challenged as social media and ecommerce have soared. 

Gen Z might just be kill the the old-school purchase funnel for good according to a new study from the Edelman Trust Barometer,

That's because Gen Z's true relationship with brands often begins at purchase, and is "too dynamic for a linear funnel," the report states. 

"Our data showed that that purchase is not an end point. It's the starting point," said Jackie Cooper, Edelman's global chief brand officer. "In fact, 78% [of Gen Z survey respondents] are uncovering and discovering things about a brand after they make a product purchase."

The survey polled 13,802 respondents across 14 countries from May 1-12, 2023, including the US, Germany, Brazil, and Japan.

A typical purchase funnel model.




Viktor Chebanenko/Getty Images

The survey confirms the trend that younger people hold brands accountable for their positive action on causes they care about. Gen Z respondents said, more than other age group, that they wants brands to make their values clear "when I'm about to make a purchase" (64%). Survey takers said  that if brands don't communicate their actions to address social issues, "I assume it is doing nothing or hiding something."  

Not a funnel, but a loop

Cooper says that the new marketing funnel is more like a continuous loop of engagement. "You've got to then have this attraction, interaction, engagement always on, constantly," she said. "Ultimately, that's the only way you're going to deepen purchase.

Edelman's "Trust Loop" reflects the need for continuous engagement.




Edelman

According to the study, 78% of Gen Z respondents say they "uncover things that attract me and make me loyal to a brand after my first purchase," with 50% saying they do most of their brand research after they buy. Some 79% of survey takers said they interact directly with the brand because it gives them opportunities to evaluate a brand beyond its product, to save money through discounts, and to gather information and learn things. 

"It can't be linear," said Cooper. "It now has to be a lateral relationship. So that's changing how brands need to think about their spend, where they show up, how they show up — far beyond just awareness." 

New reasons for brand managers to partner with reputation experts 

Some companies might be wary now of finding new ways to connect with Gen Z consumers, at least around topics related to social issues and purpose, where topics like identity and healthcare can attract a politicized and polarized reaction. Recent weeks have shown how brands like Bud Light and Target have experienced backlash to their efforts to market around social issues.

"Brand and reputation are now inextricably linked, said Richard Edelman, Edelman's CEO. "That's the entry point of brands into politics — not by choice, but because they're symbols of the modern world that can be used one way or another by politicians for attention."  

Edelman said that brands will benefit from increasing collaboration between marketing and corporate reputation functions when considering how best to create inclusive campaigns. 

"This is is where brand marketers are going to have to increasingly think about having the partners from the corporate or public affairs teams at least look at what they're doing, and be conscious of the implications, in a world that's driven by massive divide." Edelman said. "In most companies [brand and reputation] are still separately tracked.