Study Shows Gen Z’s Preferences for Beauty and Cosmetics

Study Shows Gen Z's Preferences for Beauty and Cosmetics
Tracey Greensteinhttp://tgreensteinwwd.wordpress.com
As retailers and brands chase after and woo Generation Z, it's becoming clear that this cohort does not look to traditional advertising for beauty advice or purchase decisions, which raises many questions on how to reach them as consumers. To better understand college-age female cosmetic and shopping preferences, WWD collaborated with Chegg, an online textbook rental company, that runs a panel of 15,000 high school and college students located throughout the U.S. The partnership resulted in the survey, "#College Matters: 2016-17 Apparel & Beauty Trends," which Chegg distributed online in March 2017 to 619 female college students among its "Cheggheads" panel. One emerging theme is that beauty is big on campus. Forty-nine percent of students surveyed said they wear some cosmetics every day, and 44 percent will make "a real effort" with makeup or cosmetics on weekends and special occasions. Freshman students are less likely to wear makeup, as 48 percent of first-year students said they rarely wear any makeup at all. Seniors in college prefer high-end beauty brands. Thirty-two percent said they mainly shop at drugstores for cosmetics, a percentage that was higher among first-year students compared to fourth-year students, at 36 percent and 23 percent, respectively. Fourth-year students care about product quality, are almost twice as likely

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