The Generation Gap That Isn’t

Picture a Gen Alpha 15-year-old at the kitchen table scrolling on her phone while her mom builds a Walmart order across from her. Ask each to name their favorite brands, and you'll hear nearly the same list: Amazon, Nike, and McDonald's.

That's the picture from the Gen Alpha Household Influence Study by HarrisX and Allison Worldwide, which surveyed 705 teens (ages 13-16) and 750 parents this May. The top brands for teens are the top brands for their parents. So much for the generation gap.

Influence Runs in a Loop

Eighty percent of teens say their parents shape which brands they like, and mom (73%) outranks dad (58%), along with every social platform, creator, and celebrity. Meanwhile, 91% of parents say their teens influence what brands they like, more than any other factor measured. Preferences don't trickle down so much as circulate.

The differences sit at the margins. Teens alone (excluding pre-teen members of Gen Alpha) put Chick-fil-A second, and they initiate roughly 75% of e.l.f. and Sephora purchases.

A Caveat, and a Takeaway

This is one study, fielded by a research firm and a communications agency, and thus deserves some skepticism. Still, the finding fits what we know and is supported by similar data reported by PwC and LEK Consulting.

This makes sense, given that these teens are being raised by Millennials, the first internet-native parents, so households share screens, feeds, and digital carts. If you're a marketer accustomed to segmenting by generation, consider segmenting by household instead. In marketing terms, segmenting by household means treating the family as the buying unit instead of slicing audiences into generational personas.

The teen and her mom are at the same table, liking the same brands. There is little reason to think this will change as today's younger Gen Alpha members become teenagers themselves.