Dive Brief:

• Generation Z, people roughly 14 to 24 years old, are coming of age during tough economic times and are a thrifty and enterprising group, research shows.

• 26% of people in this age group have sold something on a resale website, 27% have sold or traded items to a consignment shop, and 16% have sold something they’ve made themselves, according to research by Noise/The Intelligence Group’s Cassandra Report. Noise, an agency aimed at research and strategies to reach millennials, recently merged with business research firm The Intelligence Group.

• Half of “gen Zers” hunt for deals, participating in webrooming and showrooming, and 63% say they want unique things. The study found that sharing things they like on social media can sometimes replace actual ownership of those things, when it comes to self-expression.

Dive Insight:

Young people appear to be less ownership-oriented than their older siblings and parents. It’s not necessarily that they’re less materialistic; it’s more that “ownership” means something different to people who can stream music they don’t own or rent cars or bikes for an afternoon.

They appear to be keen on social good — gravitating to goods and services made in environmentally sound and humane ways. This all means that retailers will have to think creatively to reach this bunch.