More Than 1 in 10 Gen Z’s Buy What Influencers Recommend

Generation Z is often portrayed as a disruptive force, reinventing money, work and consumption.

Yet PYMNTS Intelligence’s “Gen Z Decoder Ring” report suggests something more subtle, and in some ways more telling.

The real story isn’t that this generation is different. It’s that they are making the digital revolution feel ordinary, weaving once-radical technologies into daily routines so seamlessly that they become invisible.

The study, which draws on more than 25,000 U.S. consumer responses between 2022 and 2025, finds that Gen Z’s digital footprint is unrivaled. They log 425 digital activity days each month, more than one-third higher than the average consumer.

However, the takeaway isn’t their intensity. It’s their selectivity. After years of chasing novelty, Gen Z is entering what the report calls a “curated” phase, paring back apps and platforms to those that genuinely solve problems, not just promise buzz. In doing so, they are setting the direction for how all consumers will use technology in the years ahead.

• Savings Discipline: Despite earning less money, Gen Z saves 36% of their income compared to 27% for everyone else. Unlike earlier cohorts, they distribute those savings across traditional bank accounts (42%), digital wallets (13%) and cryptocurrencies (6.3%), having grown up watching Bitcoin move from internet joke to institutional asset.
• Healthcare as Maintenance: Gen Z logs 63 digital health activity days a month versus 43 for the average consumer. They use telemedicine three days more per month than others, while also turning to apps for preventive care and mental health support. They expect healthcare payments to mirror Amazon checkout, with clear prices and instant processing, not opaque statements.
• Side Hustles as Lifestyle Design: More than half of Gen Z takes on side hustles, but fewer cite covering basic expenses as the primary reason. Instead, 20% say they use extra income to fund specific experiences, while 9% use it to pay down debt. Platforms from Etsy to DoorDash have transformed gig work into a portfolio strategy, closer to investment diversification than economic desperation.

These patterns hint at a broader economic shift. Rather than seeking novelty, Gen Z is optimizing, choosing the tools that give them control, efficiency and transparency.

They buy groceries from Amazon three times more than older consumers, not because it’s trendy but because it’s practical. They treat health like preventive maintenance, not emergency response. They build credit through secured cards and buy now, pay later, not for rewards but to create financial histories in a system they see as stacked against them.

They also trust influencers to tell them what to buy. The report finds that 14% of Gen Zers say they regularly make purchases based on influencer recommendations, 20 times more than their parents and grandparents. However, they aren’t replacing expertise with personality; they’re accessing expertise through different channels.

A gaming influencer on Twitch is a subject matter expert whose credibility comes from demonstrated knowledge rather than institutional credentials. Instagram and TikTok have created new pathways for expertise to reach audiences, where a makeup artist can build authority through consistent results rather than formal training credentials.

The report also reveals that while Gen Z’s digital engagement is starting to plateau, their habits are already bleeding into the mainstream. All generations are showing more than 20% growth in digital health, mobility and travel activities. What looks like a generational difference today may soon be universal behavior.

For businesses, the lesson is less about catering to Gen Z quirks and more about recognizing them as early adopters of what everyone will soon expect, including seamless digital systems, transparent costs and platforms that collapse friction.

Gen Z isn’t rewriting human needs. They’re fulfilling the same desires as past generations, only faster, cheaper and more digitally. In the process, they are normalizing innovations that once felt extraordinary.

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