Organisation:
Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India
Resource Link:
Published in 2022, Link
My Key Takeaways
Let’s talk a bit about upcoming leaders in Singapore and Southeast Asia (SEA) – the Gen-Zs.
Here are some of my Gen-Z takeaways from Vertex Ventures’ report on this up and coming generation.
Who are Gen-Zs?
Born between 1997 and 2012, the oldest amongst Gen-Zs are aged 25 and moving up in their careers.
They’re true digital natives – growing up with social media & have never known a world sans Internet. Gen Zs have an even shorter attention span of 8 seconds (like that’s even possible!) versus 12s for Millenials (Pg 8)
35% (854 million) of Gen-Zs live in Asia Pacific (APAC). By 2030, Gen-Zs would comprise 23% of the region’s total population and their average gross income would rise significantly from US$2,000 – 5,000 to US$10,000 – 12,000! (Pg 14).
What drives Gen-Zs’ purchasing decisions? (Pg 17)
- Affordability – 62% of Gen Zs (compared to an average of 53% for the overall population)
- Brand authenticity – 32% vs 24%
- Brand transparency – 25% vs 16%
Take a look at the charts on Pg 15 and 16 to see the top growth sectors and their CAGR rates, driven by Gen Z’s increased income in the coming decade.
Top Gen-Z spend categories are dining out/food delivery (25% of income versus 10-15% for millennials) and entertainment (25% versus 16-20%)
In Creator Content We Trust (Pg 51)
Southeast Asia’s social media penetration is amongst the highest globally at more than 70% compared to the world average of 60% (Pg 11).
11% of Gen Zs trust recommendations from social media influencers or content creators versus 7% for millenials and 3% for Gen-Xs.
The above trends have spurred interesting categories like Massively Open Online Courses, Cohort-based Courses (e.g. learning on Zoom) & Social Investing.
➡️ Pg 12 highlights different Gen-Z consumer archetypes across China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea ane Thailand. An example is “Ethical Confidents” who prefer environmentally responsible & socially ethical brands.
Gen-Z could become financially independent much earlier than their older generations
Gen-Z save almost twice their monthly incomes compared to Millenials who save a median of around 10%. They are also the youngest generation to start retirement planning, embarking on this journey in their early 20s (Pg 30).
75% of Gen-Zs also started investing before the age of 21 versus 26% of millennial investors.
Not all’s rosy though.
1 in 5 Gen-Z investors admitted to making more speculative investments to make fast profits.
Social media buzz ranked higher in importance for Gen-Zs than the stock’s historical stability and fundamentals like EPS, P/E ratio! (Pg 34). Nearly two-thirds also claim that a significant investment loss would have a fundamental impact on their current or future lifestyle.
The risk of investment misinformation is very real for Gen-Z investors.
Gaming their way into the Metaverse (Pg 37)
81% Gen-Zs are gamers (7h20m of gaming time per week) compared to 60% for Gen X (4h25m).
Half of Gen-Z gamers use games as an outlet to hang out, WITHOUT playing the main game (Pg 39).
51% envision doing some work in the metaverse in the next 2 years, higher than all older generations.
➡️ See Pg 41 for ideas of metaverse revenues streams
Attracting Gen-Z Talent
49% of Gen-Zs make choices over the type of work and the organisations they are willing to work in based on their personal ethics (Pg 12).
➡️ If your SEA leadership and HR teams do not articulate well your company’s positive impact on the world, you’re going to have a talent attraction problem real soon.
—
It’s easy for older generations to stereotype Gen-Zs as “youngsters” overly glued to their phones and unfamiliar with “hardship”.
Yet, the data calls for greater attention on an outspoken, hyperconnected and maturing population in Singapore and Southeast Asia who are potentially becoming the most well-informed and educated generation in modern times.
Follow my LinkedIn post here.
About Zhilin SIM
Having worked and lived in Singapore, the Nordics, China, Spain, UK, I’m now based in Paris.
I’m fluent in English, French and Mandarin, and I’m learning Arabic because it’s a beautiful and fascinating language.
My team creates and supports one-many initiatives connecting corporate and startup ecosystems in Europe to business and innovation opportunities in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
I’m passionate about horticulture, watercolour, startups/tech as well as French cuisine, Peranakan kueh techniques and other global cuisines.
Feel free to connect with me if you think my network in Europe and Asia could be of benefit to your business and innovation activities.
