5 emerging trends in 2024 amid the rise of the influential Gen Z

Those trends are the influence of Gen Z, the rapid growth of the “solo economy”, artificial intelligence (AI) technology, business messaging, and short videos.

The study was conducted by Meta, and Bain & Company, a management consulting firm.

The results were disclosed in a report titled “Bold Moves: Leading Southeast Asia’s Next Wave of Consumer Growth”, which provides insights into consumer trends across the region and the areas that businesses are focusing on to expand their growth in the market.

Meta is the US-headquartered company which owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Generation Z, aka Gen Z, refers to people born between 1997 and 2012. They have grown to become an important group of consumers.

In the Asia-Pacific region alone, Gen Z numbers over 500 million and soon they will account for a quarter of the region’s total population.

With their growing size and spending power, Gen Z is an influential segment for businesses. They embrace digital-first and value individuality and authenticity, requiring marketers to tailor their messaging and how they engage with them, the report said.

According to Meta's latest survey, Gen Z will become the primary group influencing digitally driven lifestyles in Southeast Asia, with 82% of the respondents saying they are already part of an online community.

It was found that 91% of Gen Z consumers used Facebook to receive news and view various media content, 85% viewed content via Messenger, and 83% via Instagram, according to the Meta Gen Z Shoppers Thailand Report.
 

Single households are rapidly increasing in Southeast Asia, establishing them as a significant market that businesses must address. Known as the "solo economy”, this group brings with it distinctive preferences and behavioural shifts in consumption, living, and leisure models that businesses will have to cater to, the report said.

Thailand and Southeast Asia have seen a rapid growth of the solo economy, as the number of one-person households is increasing rapidly across the region. In Thailand, it is expected that the rate of people living alone will increase by 20% by 2030.

This trend will lead to higher demand for pets, housing, goods and electrical appliances for single residents. The demand for small products will increase and become more frequent, and in the future, there will be a group of customers who will spend more time online, according to the Meta report.

As Southeast Asian consumers increasingly embrace AI and use cases expand, the region is well suited for the technology to take off at pace, Meta said. AI has already evolved into an accessible tool for marketers and plays an important role in driving highly engaging consumer journeys.

2023 saw much development of generative AI technology. Widespread adoption of AI by businesses is expected to continue this year, particularly for marketing and advertising tasks.

Business messaging is another emerging trend of consumer growth in Thailand, according to Meta. Every day there are over 600 million conversations between users and businesses on the Meta platform, the report revealed.
 

A recent global study found that 71% of Meta platform users opted to message a business page rather than look for information on websites, and 69% of customers would shop or do business with companies they can contact via messaging.

In Thailand, business messaging continues to be a highly popular trend. According to the Meta survey, 81% of Thai respondents feel closer to a business they can directly send messages to. It was found that more than 78% of the Thai online users surveyed sent messages to businesses at least once a week.

Short videos called “Reels” on the Facebook platform have become increasingly popular across the world, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

A recent survey of consumers aged 13-64 in the region found that after viewing Reels, 77% of Gen Z consumers are more likely to follow the featured businesses, 72% tag the brands or products, and 72% purchase the products. Also, 84% of respondents in the region said they shared Reels with friends or family members.

Facebook Thailand’s country director Prae Dumrongmongcolgul said that the digital landscape continued to evolve while creating a new definition for how business was conducted online today. She described 2024 as a year for businesses to adopt marketing strategies that could be easily adapted to cope with rapid changes amidst fierce competition.

“An important thing that marketers still pay attention to is a holistic marketing strategy that leverages the full potential of every aspect of your full-funnel marketing strategy to ensure that your brand values and offerings meet the changing needs of new demographics that have more influence in the market, such as Gen Z or the single-resident population,” Prae said.

She also pointed to the continued growth of AI and its potential to help marketers and brands improve efficiency and effectiveness in their brands and marketing efforts.