Several recent surveys confirm that social media has become the go-to place for Generation Z to find Christmas gifts.
The surveys include:
- According to a May 2024 study by Basis Technologies and GWI, Gen Z was more than twice as likely as the average (20%) to purchase holiday gifts directly from social media (42%), compared to 26% for Millennials, 15% for Gen Xers and 6% for Baby Boomers. Among respondents who planned to purchase gifts directly from social media, Instagram was the most popular platform for doing so at 57%, followed by Facebook (56%), TikTok (43%) and YouTube (38%).
- A recent study by freelance services marketplace Fiverr International found that one-third of Gen Zers in the U.S. plan to find gifts this coming holiday season through Facebook and Instagram ads, and nearly a quarter (24%) will do so through influencer recommendations. Nearly 54% of Gen Zers will find gifts on TikTok.
- A recent survey commissioned by Forbes Advisor found that 40% of Gen Zers use TikTok to find information on “gift ideas” and “hair and makeup,” while 28% and 25% search for such topics on Google, respectively. Other topics that Gen Z searched for more frequently on TikTok than Google included “wellness and fitness,” “recipe and meal ideas,” and “fashion brands.” Forbes Advisor said in the study: “This trend shows a shift toward video-based platforms for information search among younger audiences, suggesting that companies may consider adapting their digital strategies to cater to these preferences.”
- The Shopify-Gallup Holiday Shopper Pulse 2023 survey found that 48% of young adults (18-29) expect to do at least “a small portion” of their holiday shopping on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. In comparison, only a third of all shoppers made the same statement.
Speaking to CNBC late last year, Savannah Wei Shi, a marketing professor at Santa Clara University who studies consumer decision-making on digital platforms, said that Generation Z is increasingly relying on social media platforms to make their purchasing decisions rather than search engines or official brand websites because they trust the information provided by their peers. She said, “They have moved from the wisdom of the crowd to the wisdom of their friends.”
Shi explained that these peers include influencers, who are often more approachable than brands. “You can still communicate with an influencer on an equal footing,” she explained. “It’s not like talking to a brand, where you send a message to an email address and never get a response. They give off the impression of a friend or a trusted source of information. That’s much more convincing.”
