The news: Only 11% of Gen Zers feel like brands really understand them, according to a recent Rival Technologies study of over 900 Gen Z consumers in the US and Canada.

• About 64% of Gen Zers feel neutral about brand marketing, more than those who feel positively or negatively.
• Gen Zers feel misunderstood by brands, but those who feel understood are about nine times more likely to be unconditionally loyal to a brand (45% vs. 5%). Additionally, two in three stick with brands they like.
• But negative feelings toward brands increase with age. Only 21.8% of the youngest Gen Zers (18-20) felt negative when seeing communications or marketing messages from brands, compared with 34% of Gen Zers between 25 and 29 who felt this way.

Why it matters: Gen Zers are an essential demographic for many brands, given their growing purchasing power and outsized influence on digital behavior.

• Gen Z is highly likely to discover, research, and purchase through social media, and leads in US social buyers across generations, per our forecast.