Gen Z, people born between 1997 and 2012, represent 20% of South Africa's population and are gaining significant purchasing power. Yet, this cohort operates by entirely different rules than the generations that came before them. They skip ads reflexively, distrust influencer partnerships, and can spot inauthenticity within seconds of scrolling through content. For an industry built on persuasion and brand loyalty, this presents an existential challenge.
Brand loyalty declining
Research from the University of Johannesburg's Centre for Entrepreneurship reveals a stark reality: 73% of South African Gen Z consumers say they've never felt the same level of loyalty to a brand as their parents did. Instead, their purchasing decisions are driven by real-time social proof, values alignment, and peer recommendation. These are factors that can shift within days or even hours.
"We're observing a fundamental break from traditional consumer behaviour models," says Dr Thandiwe Mkhize, a consumer psychologist at Stellenbosch University who studies generational purchasing patterns. "Gen Z doesn't ask 'What does this brand sell?', they ask 'What does this brand stand for, and does that match who I am today?'"
That last word – today – is critical. Unlike millennials, who might identify with brands for years, Gen Z's loyalties are fluid, shifting with their evolving identities and the relentless pace of social media trends. They're the first generation to grow up entirely within algorithmic culture, where content is personalised, communities are niche, and authenticity is the only currency that matters.
Out with polished campaigns
Traditional advertising creative, with its glossy, aspirational, and carefully art-directed aesthetics, largely fails to resonate. Gen Z craves rawness. They prefer grainy iPhone footage over 4K production values, genuine reactions over scripted testimonials, and brands that acknowledge their flaws over those claiming perfection.
A 2024 study by Nielsen South Africa found that Gen Z viewers are 68% more likely to engage with user-generated content than professionally produced advertising. More tellingly, they're 3.2 times more likely to make a purchase based on a peer's social media post than a branded advertisement.
"The traditional advertising model assumes a passive audience that will absorb carefully crafted messages," explains Dr Mkhize. "Gen Z has been creating, remixing, and commenting on content since they could hold a smartphone. Passive consumption is alien to them."
Influencer content is influential
This explains the rise of user-generated content in brand strategies. Brands like Superbalist and Yoco have shifted significant portions of their marketing budgets towards amplifying customer content rather than creating their own. The logic is simple: Gen Z trusts their peers infinitely more than they trust corporations.
But this creates a paradox for marketers. How do you maintain brand control when your audience demands you relinquish it?
Forward-thinking South African brands are embracing co-creation. They involve their audiences in product development, campaign creation, and brand storytelling. Sportscene's recent 'My Hood, My Kicks' campaign invited customers to design limited-edition sneakers inspired by their neighbourhoods. The result: products that sold out within hours and organic social content worth millions in earned media.
Co-creation powers engagement
Research from the Gordon Institute of Business Science indicates that brands employing co-creation strategies with Gen Z audiences see engagement rates 4.7 times higher than those using traditional top-down marketing approaches. More significantly, these brands report 34% higher customer lifetime value from Gen Z consumers.
This shift extends beyond marketing into product development itself. Beauty retailer Foschini has launched several makeup lines based entirely on social media feedback, with Gen Z customers voting on everything from shade ranges to packaging design. The approach acknowledges a fundamental truth: Gen Z has grown up in participatory digital culture. Passive consumption feels alien.
Gen Z has access to a greater variety of brands, products, and content than any previous generation. Paradoxically, this abundance hasn't led to promiscuity – it's led to paralysis and, increasingly, a retreat to familiarity.
Word-of-mouth wins
Research from the University of Cape Town's Digital Cultures Lab reveals that whilst Gen Z experiments widely, their actual purchasing behaviour concentrates around a small number of trusted brands. But those brands can change rapidly based on social proof and peer recommendation.
"They're simultaneously the most adventurous and most risk-averse generation we've studied," says Dr Sipho Ndlovu, who leads the research. "They'll try anything once, but they need constant validation from their community that it's the right choice."
A longitudinal study tracking 2,000 South African Gen Z consumers over 18 months found that the average participant tried 47 new brands during that period, but made repeat purchases from only seven. The determining factor in repeat purchase wasn't product quality or price – it was whether the brand remained culturally relevant within their peer group.
This creates an opportunity for brands that can tap into micro-communities and niche identities. Generic mass-market messaging often fails, but hyper-targeted content that speaks to specific subcultures – such as gamers, sneakerheads, K-pop fans, and environmental activists – can generate disproportionate engagement.
What this means for CMOs
The implications are profound. Brand building, as traditionally understood, is undergoing a shift. The idea that you can craft a consistent brand message and deploy it across channels for months or years feels increasingly obsolete.
Data from the Marketing Association of South Africa shows that brands targeting Gen Z have reduced their campaign planning cycles by 64% over the past three years. What were once quarterly campaigns are now week-to-week activations, with some brands planning day-to-day because the cultural conversation moves so fast.
This demands different organisational structures, different talent, and different metrics. Reach and frequency matter less than engagement depth and community sentiment. Production value matters less than speed and authenticity. Control matters less than collaboration.
"The brands succeeding with Gen Z share a common trait: they've accepted that brand chaos – inconsistency, messiness, lack of control – isn't a bug but a feature," notes Dr Mkhize. "The old model of brand guardianship is incompatible with a generation that expects participation, not presentation."
The question isn't whether to adapt to Gen Z's expectations. They're entering their peak earning years, and their influence on family purchasing decisions already exceeds their direct spending power. The question is whether South Africa's marketing establishment can move fast enough to remain relevant to a generation that's rewriting the rules in real time.
