Gen Z shoppers aren't looking for the cheapest price. What is important to them?
When Noor Hasan was a teen shopper, she was highly influenced by trends and bought a lot of cheap clothes from fast-fashion brands.
But Hasan's shopping habits have shifted as she has gotten older, and the 23-year old now is deliberate about where she shops and whether that brand or retailer aligns with her ethical and political beliefs.
More shoppers – and Gen Z shoppers in particular – say they are also doing more mindful, purpose-driven shopping, or what Lightspeed Commerce calls "valuespending."
What is valuespending?
In a survey of 2,000 consumers ages 18 and up in the United States and Canada, 92% of all respondents consider themselves somewhat intentional with their purchases, and 40% say they're very intentional.
“Consumers today are balancing cost with conscience,” Dax Dasilva, CEO and founder of Lightspeed, a point-of-sale commerce platform that serves a variety of retail and hospitality clients, said in a statement. “It’s not always about the lowest price − it’s about choosing brands that reflect their values. And when those values align, loyalty can follow more easily. This new era of intentional spending − valuespending − is reshaping retail and pushing businesses to be more transparent and authentic.”
Survey respondents said price (78%) and quality (67%) remain key priorities, but more shoppers (62%) said it was important that their purchases align with their personal values or identity.
Additionally:
- 27% have made purchases based on national pride.
- 18% supported brands for charitable or social causes.
- 18% chose products for their sustainability.
- 15% factored in a CEO’s political alignment.
Gen Z shoppers leading trend of socially conscious shopping
As Gen Z shoppers have come of age and with it their buying power, there has been a shift in how and from whom they are buying, Dasilva said.
"They're the trendsetters. ... They've come into target as the consumer that everybody wants to sell to," he told Paste BN.
Hasan, who lives in Los Angeles and will be entering law school in the fall, said she shifted her spending habits as she became more financially independent.
Now, instead of looking for the cheapest fashion finds, for instance, Hasan said she is willing to spend more on clothing from brands that she knows pays fairer wages to their workers.
She is not spending more overall but is adjusting her shopping budget to buy less, because she acknowledges she often has to pay more for brands she believes in.
"I'm paying more and getting less of it, which I think is an ethical exchange I'm willing to make as a consumer," she said.
Hasan, a Palestinian American, also said she will support companies that align with her political beliefs and boycott those that don't. She has joined boycotts against companies that have not shown support for Palestinians.
Gen Z shoppers fear being judged or canceled
In the Lightspeed Commerce study, nearly 1 in 3 Gen Z respondents (32%) said they feared being judged for buying from the "wrong" brands.
In the past six months, Gen Z shoppers said they had made buying decisions either to support or avoid brands based on sustainability/environmental impact (37%), localism or national pride (29%) and religious or cultural alignment (26%).
"There's that element of peer pressure that we make statements with the things we purchase or the things we wear," Dasilva said.
Dasilva said environmentally conscious Gen Z shoppers and others also have helped the rise of pre-owned and vintage shopping.
This story has been updated to fix a typo
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here.