• by Ray Schultz , December 30, 2021

Gen Z has the lowest receptiveness to email of all generations even while digital shopping is on the rise. Maybe email copy isn’t reassuring  enough — 39% of this cohort seeks that from brands, according to the 2022 US Consumer Trend Report, a recent study by Attest. 

In addition, 57% of all consumers want marketing to amuse and entertain them, up from 4% last year: maybe they are tired of talk about politics and the pandemic and are ready for a belly laugh. 

Of the Gen Zers polled, 53% like getting email marketing at least once a week, versus 66.5% of millennials, 63% of Gen X and 58% of boomers. 

In general, consumers are happy to receive email marketing from brands they like at these frequencies: 

• Daily — 17%
• Several times a week — 19% 
• Once a week — 26%
• Once a fortnight — 10%
• Once a month — 11%
• Less frequently than once a month — 7%
• Not at all — 13%

Consumers are now largely shopping in digital channels. In fact, few purchase only in-store. They shop:

• Always online — 11% 
• Mostly online — 26% 
• An even split between online and in-store — 30%
• Mostly in-store — 23%
• Always in-store — 9% 

Moreover, 37% favor online shopping for non-food products. 

Most Americans are positive, but to varying degrees: 29% are very positive, 37% somewhat so, 20% neutral, 14.5% negative and 3% very pessimistic. . 

In addition, 47% want brands to make them feel motivated, and 34.5% to educate them and help them learn new things. 

Another 34% want brand messaging to be thought-provoking, and 34% seek reassurance. And 18% demand it be inclusive—that it makes them feel “seen and included.”

Many also want brands to take stands, in these areas: 

Poverty and inequality — 36%

Racism — 36%

Climate change — 31%

Women’s rights — 24%

Animal welfare/wildlife conservation — 23% 

Disability rights — 22% 

LBGTQ+ rights — 14%

Ageism — 7% 

Brands also have to take working status into account—29.5% of the respondents do not work at all, and 24% work out of the home. The remainder work from home at least one day a week. 

Gen Xers are most likely to work from home all the time, perhaps because they have attained senior positions: 19% do so, yet 27% never work at home. 

Of the millennials, 27% work at home from two to four days a week,  as do 24% of Gen Z, 15.5% of Gen X and 11% of boomers.  

Attest surveyed 2,000 U.S. consumers in November 2021.