🕺 The Nostalgic Majority: 97% of Gen Z feel nostalgic
Just how nostalgic is Gen Z? 1,500 young people said they feel nostalgic this often...
Nostalgia is a Gen Z buzzword. It gets discussed very frequently - but with all the discussion, no research exists on just how nostalgic Gen Z actually is. Until now.
The newest generation has always been the most nostalgic. For a long while, Millennials were the most nostalgic generation ever.
And now that Gen Z is here, we are now the most nostalgic ever.
It is abundantly clear how messed up our current world feels. It seems as if every day we are faced with a new tragedy, one that overshadows the latest in the news. Perhaps greater than the impact of the events themselves on nostalgic longings is the rate at which we are continually exposed to these tragedies through social media. We’re not just seeing them once - we’re seeing them repeatedly on our feeds.
And so it makes sense why a generation spending 6.6 hours per day on our phones (1.9x more than Millennials) would appear to be more nostalgic than previous generations. More digitally connected, and more nostalgic. A lovely little irony.
While the causes of nostalgia are many (one of which we will explore below), we wanted to understand just how nostalgic Generation Z really is.
How frequently are Gen Z’ers feeling nostalgic?
1,498 Gen Z’ers responded to our poll, with results that may astonish you:
We asked: How frequently do you feel nostalgic?
97% of Gen Z reported feeling nostalgic, with 53% reporting those feelings “often” or “always”.
The majority of Generation Z often or always feels nostalgic. That is a mind-blowing number.
Gen Z is the nostalgic majority generation.
Why is Gen Z feeling nostalgic so often?
There are multiple inputs to this relationship - and it would be irresponsible to credit this nostalgic frequency to the interplay of a few different variables. For the purpose of this article, we’re going to examine just one of those variables: music.
Why music?
For all people, music has been a place we go to feel something. To find comfort. To escape. Research from Nonfiction shows 31% of Americans confessed they listened to music just to “feel something”, and 20% said they listened to music to feel emotions that they don’t normally have access to. And for Gen Z, we know this to be even more accurate.
Spotify recently released their Culture Next report, an ad-studio-commissioned-breakdown of Gen Z’s music listening habits. They indicated that 70% of American “Z’s” said listening to and watching media from previous decades reminds them of when things were simpler.
But why are Gen Z’ers seeking these simpler times out so often?
One of my favorite thought exercises around this comes from an article from Megan Cullen’s BBH Labs on Nostalgia. She writes:
So where do we go from here? Because when you step back and take stock of the options available to Gen Z about the type of future they want to subscribe to, they are not only limited, but profoundly uninspiring. It’s either:
Embark on a grueling losing battle with pandemics, climate change, and social and political inequality;
Give up on earth in pursuit of limitless growth in new worlds, while lining the pockets of billionaires; or
Put your fingers in your ears, get dressed up in butterfly clips and lowrise jeans, and listen to Britney.
I know which one sounds most enjoyable to me.
And while Gen Z is certainly not giving up on anything, it seems that no matter what we do or what political party controls the balance of power, things get worse.
In fact, shit has actually gotten so bad in our current world that Gen Z’ers are even nostalgic for COVID and our first lockdown.
And of course, there’s a Spotify playlist for that too.
Why is music so impactful in creating nostalgia for Gen Z?
For Gen Z music allows us to disconnect from reality in the moments when reality is too much. It’s a therapy, an escape, and it can transport us to safe places where we feel comfortable and grounded. And we also know from our research that Gen Z’ers are listening to music all the time. Like literally all the time.
Gen Z spends an average of 2 hours and 40 minutes per day listening to music on Spotify, vs the US daily average of 50 minutes. That’s a lot of music.
In our Gen Z Wrapped report, we asked Gen Z’ers when they listened to music, and the #1 most frequent response was “all the time”.
Music and the streaming services of today give Gen Z’ers the unprecedented ability to tune in to a specific emotion. We make playlists to match these moods, resulting in playlists like:
So what does the nostalgic majority mean for brands?
Nostalgia is not a trend or a “passion”. This is a deep, generation-wide longing that is only continuing to get stronger as the chaos of the world around us grows.
Gen Z is seeking simpler times, with less choice, less chaos, less everything.
And music gives Gen Z the ability to tune out of the world and tune in to those exact emotions we are seeking to feel, transporting us and immersing us to other worlds instantly.
How can your brand give Gen Z the space to escape?
How can your brand make Gen Z’s lives simpler?