Gen Alpha – What Sets the Future Generation of Consumers Apart?

According to McCrindle Research, around 2.6 million children are born every week worldwide, and the Gen Alpha population is expected to exceed 2 billion by the end of 2024. Gen Alpha, or  Generation Alpha, is predicted to soon become a core consumer group, driving significant changes in the economy and emerging as a highly promising target audience for brands.

According to a report by DKC, Gen Alpha in the U.S. is estimated to spend approximately $2,340 per year on themselves. The volume of consumer goods attributed to this generation is expected to grow as they gain full autonomy over their purchasing decisions in the future. At present, their influence on consumption is primarily reflected through the purchasing behavior of their parents, mainly from Generation Y. Statistics show that about 49% of Gen Alpha parents are influenced by their children's opinions when making household purchasing decisions.

Meanwhile, Gen Alpha stands out as a generation that grows up alongside technology, much like Gen Z. From birth, their access to technology has been entirely different from previous generations. According to McCrindle Research, items such as the Nokia 1100, landline phones, DVDs, CDs,... have largely disappeared from their world, replaced by iPhones, Apple Watches, AI, 5G,.... From an early age, Gen Alpha has been exposed to emerging technologies as well as social media platforms. As a result, they are often referred to as “digital citizens,” developing in tandem with technology.

Therefore, social media platforms represent a promising space for brands to observe and monitor this generation in a more direct and visual manner. So, what is Gen Alpha in Vietnam doing on social media and what are their defining characteristics? Are there any similarities or differences among Gen Alpha, Gen Y and Gen Z that brands should pay close attention to? Let’s explore more about Gen Alpha in this article!

In addition to insights on Gen Alpha, Buzzmetrics also provides a wide range of market reports across various industries and target customer segments. You can explore more in our Market Insight Library.

1. Who is Gen Alpha?

Generation Alpha (Gen Alpha) is a demographic term coined by Mark McCrindle to describe children born between 2010 and 2024. He explained that the reason behind the name is that Gen Alpha represents the first generation of the 21st century, a beginning of something new, rather than a return to the old. Therefore, there was no reason to cycle back to the letter A in the Latin alphabet as with previous generations. Hence, the name “Alpha” was chosen, it is the first letter of the Greek alphabet (α), symbolizing the beginning of a new era.

In 2010, the birth year of Gen Alpha also marked the launch of the first iPad and the official debut of Instagram. This is a generation that grows up with technology, able to access information quickly, and is shaped by progressive lifestyles, mindsets, and perceptions.

Because Gen Alpha has been using social media from a very young age, their thoughts and perspectives are also expressed through social media. The Gen Alpha group, aged 9 to 13, already has an independent voice on social media.

2. Gen Alpha and their behavior on social media

Gen Alpha has established an independent voice on social media early on. Their interaction style online shares many similarities with both Gen Z and Gen Y, as all three generations enjoy engaging through comments on fanpages and online groups. Among these, fanpages see the highest interaction rates (73.9% for Gen Alpha, 80.7% for Gen Z, and 64.4% for Gen Y).

However, when examining discussion behavior in more detail, each generation possesses its own distinct characteristics. Specifically, Gen Alpha and Gen Y tend to prefer creating content on social media, in contrast, Gen Z is more inclined to follow existing content.

(+) On personal pages, Gen Alpha and Gen Y tend to create original posts more often, while Gen Z prefers to comment on or share posts from other platforms. If one tries to understand Gen Z’s lifestyle based solely on their personal pages, it may be difficult, whereas the opposite is true for Gen Alpha and Gen Y.

‍(+) In groups, Gen Alpha and Gen Z mainly prefer to engage through comments. For Gen Y, in addition to commenting, creating their own posts is also a common form of interaction.

3. Gen Alpha and their discussion platforms

At first glance, Gen Alpha might seem to share similar discussion platforms with Gen Z. However, the top fanpages that attract the most engagement from Gen Alpha are quite different. Specifically, in addition to general information pages like “Cao thủ” and “Theanh28 Entertainment”, Gen Alpha also actively engages in discussions on pages focused on love topics (Luv Sad) and gaming (“Liên Minh Huyền Thoại: Tốc Chiến”). Moreover, the top five most popular discussion channels among Gen Alpha do not include astrology-themed pages, unlike those favored by Gen Z.

As for Gen Y, their interests are not as unified as those of Gen Alpha and Gen Z, but rather dispersed across different subgroups. However, social news pages still attract significant attention across most of these groups, notably “Chửi Thuê”, “Theanh28 Entertainment” and “Hóng Hớt Showbiz”,...

4. Gen Alpha and their top interests

Although Gen Alpha has only recently joined social media, data collected from 300 Facebook discussions shows some of their key interests. Similar to Gen Z, Gen Alpha prioritizes three main topics: emotions, memes, and idols. In contrast, the topics that Gen Y is interested in are quite different from those of Gen Alpha and Gen Z. This generation is more segmented into smaller groups with varied interests. For instance, single individuals tend to focus more on social news or romantic relationships, while those with children are primarily concerned with parenting topics.

Delving deeper into the data reveals an interesting insight, although Gen Alpha is still of school age, discussions related to education account for only 7.3%.

(+) Romantic Topics: Among Gen Alpha, romantic topics receive the most attention. Discussions often revolve around finding a partner, expressing emotions, and raising questions about love. For instance: "Why are we online but not texting each other?" or "Once you genuinely like someone, it's hard to stop..."

(+) Meme Topics: Meme remain a hot topic for both Gen Z and Gen Alpha. However, each generation has distinct preferences. Gen Alpha prefers using meme that feature screenshots of text messages and real people. In contrast, Gen Z tends to favor animal meme and meme from iconic animated series like Tom & Jerry, as well as Disney and Ghibli films.

5. Conclusion

Gen Alpha has already begun making their first moves on social media. In the next 3-5 years, they are expected to become an important customer group for brand development, thanks to their active presence on social platforms.

This customer group will share many similarities with Gen Z, as both generations grew up alongside technological advancements. However, the data reveals some distinct differences in the platforms and discussion topics favored by each generation, reflecting their unique interests and characteristics.

Most members of Gen Alpha are being raised by parents from the Millennial and Gen Z. Discussions around the topic of parenting from these two generations reveal more open-minded and distinct perspectives compared to previous generations. This suggests that Gen Alpha’s values, interests, and ways of self-expression will carry many unique traits.

Today, Gen Alpha has become a key customer segment for several industries. As a result, brands are already beginning to research and monitor the behavior and psychology of this generation, especially on social media in order to take timely and appropriate steps to stay ahead.