New research from First Insight, the AI powered consumer intelligence platform used by over 600+ brands and retailers worldwide, reveals a sharp generational shift in how Gen Z allocates spending across CPG categories. The study, Is Gen Z Still Choosing Your Brand? is based on responses from 2,151 respondents aged 18 to 80+ and finds that national brands, while still preferred at the point of purchase, are losing the attention battle to private label, premium, and DTC challengers at the top of the funnel.
Gen Z Is Spending Strategically, Not Loyally
The headline finding is a spending trade off that national CPG brands cannot ignore: 59% of Gen Z consumers actively trade down in one category to fund a premium purchase in another, cutting spend on food, beverages, and household goods to splurge on health and wellness (25% willing to pay a premium) and skincare and beauty (22%). Nearly 31%…
say they are most likely to buy private label food and beverages to save money, and 24% say the same for household goods. National Brands are Being Ignored The more troubling signal for established brands is not hostility but indifference at the top of the funnel.
When shown photos of multi purpose cleaners, 68% of Boomers said the national brand stood out first versus just 44% of Gen Z. For facial cleansers, 79% of Boomers selected the leading national brand compared to just 52% of Gen Z.
The gap widens further in the “learn more” stage: CeraVe stands out to 52% of Gen Z but only 33% want to learn more, a 19 point drop. Meanwhile, DTC cleaning brand Blueland stands out at just 18%, but 30% want to learn more, a 12 point gain.
Three Gen Z Buyer Archetypes Brands Need to Understand The research identifies three distinct Gen Z buyer archetypes that can operate within the same shopping trip: The Value Seeker: Shops for the best deal and dominates food and household categories, with 31% choosing store brand food and beverages to save The Identity Shopper: Prefers natural, eco friendly, and premium options and dominates health, skincare, and pet categories The Creature of Habit: Buys…
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