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Social media is far from new to the world of advertising. What began as a way to stay connected to friends and family online has steadily evolved into a multi-billion-dollar marketing industry, where targeted advertisements command attention as users scroll. In recent years, the rise of the influencer has changed the face, literally, of social media advertisements, as the percentage of Americans who have purchased something because an influencer promoted it on social media has risen nine percentage points since 2020 alone.
Although it comes as no surprise, Gen Z leads in making purchases as a result of seeing a product promoted by an influencer. This demographic has increased their influencer-related purchases to 56% from 41% in 2023, the highest share since we began tracking. And this is just the beginning of the unique behaviors Gen Z demonstrates in media consumption. That’s why CivicScience launched a new content series exploring Gen Z adults’ media consumption habits and what they mean for brands, marketers, publishers, and media partners. The first installment dove into the ever-evolving world of podcasts, while this second installment examines the impact of social media influencers.
Social Media’s Grip on Gen Z Is Growing—and So Is Their Spending
As the data show, Gen Z is more than 20 percentage points more likely than adults aged 30+ to say social media is one form of advertising that most influences their choices (55% vs 32%), including influencer content and in-app advertisements. While social media influence surpasses internet ad influence for Gen Z, the reverse is true for adults aged 30+, who are more likely to be influenced by the internet than by social media.
Fresh data on social media users continues to align with trends seen in an earlier study. For example, those who are more likely to have made a purchase recommended by an influencer include:
- Lower-income U.S. adults
- Americans who say they are financially better off post-pandemic
- Those who have an increased desire to leave the house over the past six months
- U.S. adults who are concerned about a recession
However, additional data paints a stronger picture of the grip that social media has on Gen Z users–specifically, adults aged 18-29 are nearly twice as likely as adults aged 30+ to spend four or more hours per day on the platforms.
But this time on social media isn’t only being spent watching and scrolling through content. Social media has also emerged as a key landscape for e-commerce too. In fact, more than half of Gen Z aged 18-29 (52%) say they’ve made a purchase directly from a social media platform. Not only does this outpace older adults by 20 percentage points (52% to 32%, respectively), but it’s also grown by nine points over the past year alone. And these Gen Zers haven’t been slow about spend recently. Additional data reveal that younger adults who have made an influencer-inspired purchase are 12 percentage points more likely than their older counterparts to say their spending has been ‘much higher than usual’ in the past week–indicating, once again, the impact of social media influencers on higher spending habits among Gen Z.
What’s Trust Got to Do With It
As a foundation of purchases, big and small, trust plays an interesting role in the world of social media influencers and consumers. The gender breakdown reveals that Gen Z men trust influencers more than women (64% vs. 36%)–a potentially surprising insight for those who assume that influencers are designed to appeal primarily to female consumers.
But is trust essential? With 51% of Gen Z expressing ‘neutral’ sentiment towards social media influencers, it’s clear that trust isn’t a necessity when taking a product recommendation online. However, that isn’t the whole story, as 19% of adults aged 18-29 do trust influencers–a figure that jumps to 28% among Gen Z adults who use social media 4+ hours per day. This suggests that with increased exposure and content consumption, younger consumers are swayed by influencers’ advice.
Influencer Content Isn’t Disruptive for Gen Z—It’s Default, and Older Adults Are Catching On
While trust in influencers may not be a given, regardless of age, the correlation between age and interest in content creators is a different story. As the data show, 27% of Americans aged 18-29 follow eight or more content creators online–and those following three or more have increased by five percentage points (57% to 62%) since 2023.
Meanwhile, although 12% of adults aged 30+ follow eight or more content creators online, the percentage of those who follow three or more has increased 12 percentage points (19% to 31%) in the same timeframe–indicating that for the slightly older crowd, influencer content may be more about quality than quantity.
That said, Gen Z adults still are much less likely than their older counterparts to say they ‘rarely’ consume content from influencers (27% vs 61%) further strengthening the narrative that influencer marketing is nearly ever-present for younger consumers, who can tune into any one of their content creator’s lives on platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, any time of the day or night.
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Social Media as a Whole Is a Growing Influence and Not Just Among Gen Z
Ongoing CivicScience tracking reveals just how much of an influence social media as a whole has on the purchasing decisions of consumers aged 18-29. More than two-thirds of this age group report their purchases in the electronics, clothing, and food categories are influenced by social media at least ‘a little.’ While this is far higher than their older counterparts, social media pull among the 30+ crowd is also notably on a gradual upward trajectory. These trends clearly demonstrate that for food, tech, and clothing brands looking to catch the eye of consumers, social media is increasingly the place to target.
With Americans spending extended amounts of time online, the impact of social media influencers is not just clear but visibly growing. While younger adults continue to lead the way in influencer engagement, it isn’t just Gen Z whose attention–and wallets—are captivated. This means that influencers could hold the ticket for companies looking for a seamless and evergreen way to stay in front of consumers–and front of mind when they reach for their wallets.
Stay tuned for the next installment of this series exploring Gen Z media consumption trends in 2025.
