Gen Z and the Digital Nostalgia
Why does Gen Z have digital nostalgia for a time they never lived?
In a time when the Internet is only getting better, the generation that is now setting the trends is longing for pixels and glitch.
The Oxford Dictionary describes nostalgia as a “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past”.
Marketers have always played on this longing to create sentimental bonds with their products. Mad Men’s most famous 5 minutes revolve around nostalgia in The Carousel Pitch where Don Draper swears on this “delicate but potent” feeling to create a sentimental bond between the consumer and the product.
In consumer behaviour it has been proven over and over that something called false nostalgia has a similar power to trigger sentimental bond.
False nostalgia is the longing for, or reminiscence, of an era in which you didn’t actually grow up in, yet have only experienced it through its movies, TV shows, music, etc; not based on actual life experiences. In the dairy industry, for example, ads are creating a sentimental longing for the peaceful, car-free countryside with its green hills and happy cows, while many food brands will take you into somebody else’s childhood memory and trigger feelings associated with the kitchen you grew up in.
But lately, there is a new nostalgic kid in town. A whole generation longing for a virtual world they never experienced, a world that is remembered for its slow modems, poor internet connections, scratched CD’s and high pixels. It’s the era in which the Internet began. So when and how did this become cool again ? (and most importantly, was it ever?!)
More and more brands who want to connect to Gen Z’s (sorry, Millennials, you’re out!) use Y2K aesthetics and gaming images of the 90s, or early 00s in their communications. The huge popularity of Lo-Fi reveals a passion for things that are intentionally imperfect and distorted.
When CDs were the mainstream means of listening to music, people turned back to vinyls, primarily because of the sound quality. When cities get overcrowded and over-polluted, people long for nature and the country side. When our food gets dodgy, we want organic farms. When responsibilities get overwhelming, we want to return to the simplicity of childhood.
So the question is — Given that technology has come this far and perfect sounds and images are literally at our fingertips, why does a large group of young people long to turn back to something aesthetically and functionally inferior? How is the latter the “better” option one should long for?
The answer must be connected to the Gen Z’s desire for realness. The “no-filter” generation sees imperfection as something real that is part of life, not as flaws that need to be corrected. They embrace the unconventional and everything that feels raw and unpolished. “Diversity” and “inclusion” are not buzzwords but an approach to society.
So maybe the pixels and broken sounds millennials grew up with are embraced again as a token of uncompromised authenticity, as a reply to a digital world governed by fake news and unrealistic ideals.
