Gen Z Holds Distinct Customer Engagement Expectations

When it comes to customer service and customer engagement through emerging channels, Gen Z has distinct expectations of brands, according to an American Express study that was conducted by Forrester Consulting.

The study, “Raising the Bar: How Gen Z Expectations Are Reshaping Brand Experiences,” reveals that service and engagement through emerging channels. The study findings show that Gen Z is already financially empowered, with 81 percent making purchases on their own, has mobile spending power, with 59 percent having made a purchase via mobile app in the last year and that they have high expectations from brands when it comes to gaining their trust; 46 percent of Gen Z respondents said that data security and privacy is a must-have to keep their business.

Gen Z generally comprises people born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s.

“Over the past few years we’ve modernized our approach to service and increased our investment in mobile technology to best serve our card members, including the always-on, always-connected Gen Y,” said Luke Gebb, SVP, Enterprise Digital, American Express. “Our research shows that Gen Z is two steps ahead when it comes to interest in payments solutions and technology and their expectations of brands. We’re focused on meeting our customers where they are as we continue to reinvent how we deliver an exceptional service experience.”

Gen Z and Gen Y have similar expectations when it comes to trust and service, the study notes:

When compared to Gen Y, Gen Z cares more deeply about the reputation and brand image of the brands they use (50 percent vs. 42 percent).

Gen Z was twice as likely as Gen Y to stop using a product, brand or service due to responsiveness on social media (21 percent vs. 9 percent).

Gen Z interacts with the world on their mobile phones and does not find it invasive to receive texts, notifications or offers from brands via mobile:

When it comes to interacting with brands or retailers to receive offers, incentives and sales notifications, Gen Z is:

22 percent more likely than Gen Y to prefer in app notifications to receive offers, incentives, and sales notifications.

23 percent more likely than Gen Y to prefer interacting via social media to receive offers, incentives and sales notifications.

100 percent more likely than Gen Y to prefer interacting via online chat technology (i.e. WhatsApp).

Gen Z shows increased proclivity toward adopting self-service and automated resources.

More than twice as many Gen Z consumers ranked using text/SMS messaging, searching online resources, and talking over the phone with an automated system (i.e. not speaking with a customer service rep but rather using automated menus) as their top three preferred customer service channels to solve a problem, over Gen Y.

Gen Z’s brand loyalty is closely tied to seamless customer experiences:

Gen Z respondents said they were more likely than Gen Y to become disloyal to a brand due to:

Poorly designed mobile features

Slow response during online chat for sales or customer service issues

Poor features/responsiveness on social media

Gen Z was two times more interested than Gen Y in features that embody instant gratification such as 1-hour delivery made by drones, ability to purchase products or services via chat apps or social media (i.e. making a purchase via Facebook Messenger) personalized experiences via bots and AI and the ability to pay using a watch or other wearable device.

Gen Z is active in managing their finances and has high expectations of financial institutions. They also show a level of readiness when it comes to mobile payments:

81 percent of Gen Z survey respondents report that they make purchases on their own, 77 percent carefully track finances and 72 percent have a checking/savings account.

33 percent of Gen Z respondents have used a device specific mobile wallet (i.e. Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or Android Pay) in the past three months, compared to 22 percent of Gen Y.

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