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Gender Fluidity in the Digital Age: The impact of social media influencers on Generation Z
Mallika Lalwani1 Vanshikha Vidhani2 Aditya Mehta3 Abstract:
Gender fluidity alludes to someone whose gender identification shifts over time.
The term “gender-fluid” is growing rapidly as society has become more inclusive and people believe that a person's gender identity can be anything other than the preconceived gender stereotypes of male and female. It has expanded people's perception of how men and women may dress as well as given them a better understanding of the whole constellation of genders. Generation Z, born after 1995, tend to be digital natives, fast decision-makers, and socially connected.
They are adaptive, have discrete and facile ways of communication. Due to increased knowledge in self-awareness and acceptance, this cohort group has used social media as a platform to communicate their journey. Social media influencers are people who wield their influence by creating content on digital platforms about their area of expertise. Influencers have had a significant influence on altering consumer tastes and behavior when it comes to beauty and fashion conventions. Influencer marketing is especially essential for reaching Gen Zers, as they are highly influenced by social media and influencers compared to other generations. The impact of influencers in gender fluidity in the fashion and beauty industries was examined using mixed methods to evaluate Gen-Z perceptions and behaviors via social media. Throughout the study, interviews were conducted to assess acceptability, practice, and changes in consumer perception. Second, according to a consumer poll, customer engagement is minimal when it comes to creating content or attempting to appear as an influencer on a personal level.
Keywords: Gender - Fluid; Influencers; Generation Z; Fashion and Beauty, Online Communication / Digital Platform; Social Media
Introduction: A new generation has emerged:
X , Y and Z are the theory of mathematics but now people use it to define our generation as well. Words like zommers, digi group, genzers, and generation z are currently trendy.
These are the terms used to describe Generation Z. Generation Z, is a group of people who were born during the mid-to-late 1990s. Gen Z is one of the most diverse groups of people that marketers have ever encountered. It is a generation where material and information are more open and shared, where the pool of human knowledge has grown with the mapping of the human genome, and where one-click internet shopping has become the
1 Freelance Fashion Designer, Ahmedabad.
2 Freelance Fashion Designer, Ahmedabad.
3 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Design, GLS University, Ahmedabad.
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norm. Because they are more technologically inclined and prefer fast, flawless experiences, they have brought an altogether new set of consumer behavior. Although Gen Z is the smallest of the generations, its significance much outweighs its number.
Gen Z has become a generation of demanding customers as a result of their daily exposure to so many brands—banner ads on mobile applications, suggested posts on social media, commercials, and so on. While being demanding does not imply possessing power, being demanding and always linked to the outside world does. If Gen Z has a positive or negative experience with a company, they will not keep it to themselves; they will tell everyone.
They'll express themselves through mobile devices, social media, and the internet.
Furthermore, they are rejecting old identities and discovering new methods like social media platforms to express themselves outside of traditional gender standards as a result of their high degree of acceptance. The study's major purpose is to figure out how Gen Z views social media influencers and how it affects their fashion and beauty preferences. In this study Influencers are defined as "those who have created a reputation for their knowledge and skill on a given topic”. Understanding the impact of influencer marketing on this generation, and more specifically, understanding this generation's tastes and relationships with influencers, which is a crucial component of the marketing industry.
The Social Period
Social networking platforms have become an indispensable aspect of people's lives as the number of individuals using them increases. Consumers on the internet are increasingly turning to items or services recommended or supported by celebrities, influencers, or famous persons in a particular sector, in addition to seeking advice from relatives and friends. Currently, social media is used in conjunction with influencer marketing to reach a brand's target market, rather than as a continuation of traditional media communication. Working with influencers may help many brands enhance brand awareness and sales. Consumers in Generation Z have more personal relationships with influencers. Credibility, PSI, and confidence in the influencers themselves were given more weight than physical attractiveness. An influencer must consider their online image, as well as whether they are knowledgeable about the product they are promoting and whether their image is directly related to it (Majumder et al., 2021). Influencers aren't going away with this generation, and they wield a significant amount of power, especially as buying directly from Instagram becomes more popular.
Transferring confidence and credibility, as well as building a relationship with followers, are the most important aspects of influencing this generation on Instagram. PSI is created by responding to comments and interacting with followers, which encourages this generation to be concerned about what happens to the influence.
Fashion: The way of expression
Fashion allows people to express themselves. The apparel worn can produce a silent reflection of one's self by showcasing aspects of one's personality that cannot be expressed in words. The new generation of consumers is defying stereotypes and breaking down barriers to provide endless possibilities for expression that aren't constrained by gender norms. The elimination of gender-based clothing limits has sparked a whole new fashion
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movement, allowing for far greater creativity and expression. Due to which in recent years Gender fluidity in fashion has exploded in popularity among both brands and customers.
Gen Z is shunning labels in favor of focusing on the emotional side of fashion and what it can do for self-expression. This study contains an overview of the current situation of the industry in terms of fluidity.
Methodology
The purpose of this study is to determine how social media influencers influence generation Z's perceptions of gender fluidity and how influencers influence consumer purchase decisions. For the accomplishment of the goal, core research processes of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, and questioning were used. The research is based on data from journals, magazines and articles in order to build a theoretical foundation for the subject. Synthesis and analytical approaches are used primarily in this theoretical segment. An online questionnaire was used as a data collection method to understand the market segment. The method of cognition is another inductive-deductive approach that we utilized in the questionnaire evaluation and created suggestions and recommendations based on the results.
The researchers aim to collect information using two methods: qualitative and quantitative data collecting. A group of ten people between the age of 16 and 24 were chosen for the focus group discussion method. The survey of 19 questions was answered and filled online by 118 respondents. 63.6% of the respondents belonged to the age group of 20-25 years, and most of them were females (fig 1,2). Majority of the respondents invest most of their time on Instagram and YouTube. The analysis and findings are backed up with primary research, which will reveal current consumer perceptions of gender fluidity in the fashion industry. There's a question of whether they'd buy gender-neutral apparel, as well as the difference between what's socially acceptable for women and men.
Results and Analysis Findings
This research wants to assess the impact of social media influencers on Generation Z in the fashion and beauty area, as well as how much influencers influence customers' purchase decisions. This study revealed people's perceptions of places where they place a high value on influencers' opinions and regions where influencers' opinions are seen as the most trustworthy.
What is your Gender?
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Figure:1Characteristics (Gender) of interviewees
Your Age?
Figure:2 Characteristics (Age range) of interviewees
Which social media platform are you most active on?
Figure: 3 Consumer participation intention on social media
How much time do you spend on social media in a day?
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Figure: 4 Time spent on social media
In reference to time consumed by people on social media platforms in a day, 34.7 percent said they spend 2-3 hours, 33.1 percent said they spend 1-2 hours, 16.1 percent said they spend more than 3 hours, and 16.1 percent said they spend less than an hour. (Fig: 3,4) What type of content do you prefer watching?
Figure: 5 Type of content they watch.
In context of the content people prefer watching,71.2 percent prefer memes, 70.3 percent prefer short videos, 60.2 percent prefer fashion and beauty content, 50 percent prefer news, 44.1 percent prefer vlogs, 33.1 percent prefer innovation content, and 39.8 percent prefer other types of content. (fig:5)
From where do you get motivated to try products or purchase them?
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Figure: 6 Consumer incentive for product purchases
Do you know about the term "Gender Fluid" ?
Figure: 7 Awareness about gender fluidity
When it comes to purchasing the product,social media influencers motivate 59.8% of respondents (fig 6). As a generation, gen z is drawn to influencers that share their interests or have something in common with them, are authentic, and provide excellent content.
They trust them and opt to utilize things that their favorite influencers recommended.
Ads on social media motivate 40.2 percent of respondents (fig 6). When asked if they know about the term gender fluidity, the majority of respondents answered positively (fig:7). Gender fluidity, for them, may have been a way to experiment with gender before settling on a more stable gender expression or identity. (Chhtrapati et al., 2021) Others may experience gender fluidity for the rest of their lives.
Do you follow any Influencer who Promotes Gender Fluidity?
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Figure: 8 Consumer assessment on promoting gender fluidity.
Do you follow any of these Fashion & Beauty Influencer ?
Figure: 9 Consumer preference on influencers
Have you considered using Pronouns in your bio?
Figure: 10 Consumer awareness about pronouns
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Some people identified themselves as "gender-fluid." When asked about the pronoun on social media, the majority of respondents knew about the pronoun but only 11%
respondent considered using the pronoun on their social platform. (Fig:10)
Would you buy anything for yourself from the opposite gender section if given the chance?
Figure: 11 Clothing purchasing evaluation
52.5 percent of respondents said yes, 25.4 percent said maybe, and 22 percent said no if they were given the opportunity to buy items from the other gender. (Fig:11)
In the last 6 months have you ever recreated any style/look created by any influencer?
Figure: 12 Consumer assessment on recreating content
The 68.6% of respondents have not tried to recreate the looks or styles inspired from influencers or celebrities, only 31.4% respondents have tried to create the looks and style or are influenced with the looks. (Fig:12)
What are your thoughts when you see a man dressed as a woman or vice versa? (For eg:
a guy wearing pearl necklace or doing makeup)
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Figure: 13 Consumer perception on gender-neutral clothing
When asked about their thoughts on when you see a man dressed as a woman or vice versa, the majority of respondents responded that it is normal for them (78%), other 22.8% respondents said that they are trying to adopt the culture, and 8.5% respondents responded that it is atypical for them. (fig:13)
Finally, the findings of the data content analysis reveal that female consumers are more active on social media platforms, are more involved in adjusting to changes, and are more influenced by social media influencers when it comes to purchasing items or recreating looks. Males are similarly engaged on social media, but they are less engaged in content related to fashion and beauty, with fewer customers experimenting or striving to stay up with the fashion and beauty category.
Discussion and Recommendations
The goal of the study was to see how influencers in the fashion and beauty industry are influencing Generation Z in terms of gender fluidity. We may derive the following findings and recommendations after analyzing the data. The gender role we were schooled in, Male and female roles are supposed to impact how they think, speak, dress, and interact in their communities. Men and boys were expected to be stoic, competitive, demanding, and uncompromising; we were taught. These traits were supposed to help them become better soldiers and engaged family caregivers. Females, on the other hand, were supposed to be adoring, gentle, and obedient to everyone.
One's gender describes how individuals define the body and mind as masculine, female, agender (neither), or fluid (not adhering solely to one end of the spectrum or the other).
In the current society, gender is a sensitive topic. The notion has been compounded by the emergence of other genders (Nash, 2015).Consider how, in the past, women didn't wear pants (at all, then at school/work, etc. ), bright hair colors were rare and daring, and men could only pierce one ear—which was strange and which ear mattered a lot—and how, but nowadays, clothing is much more gender-neutral, both boys and girls dye their hair a rainbow of hues, with plenty of guys pierce both ears, and no one considers any of this revolutionary. Standards change over time. Language evolves and also of the increase
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in gender fluidity, one could argue, is simply acceptance of the term used to describe it.
People who felt gender fluid have always existed; they just didn't have the language to express it.
Social media platforms have grown in popularity, there has been a lot of discussion and analysis about self-identity, gender, and other topics. As a result, beauty, makeup, and gender-bending fashion are gaining appeal and acceptance in society; yet, there is still a long way to go before these notions' gender-neutrality is normalized in human civilization.
Conclusion:
Based on the data collected, Gen Z consumes information and data at a faster rate than any other generation, which is why it's critical to generate content that's both interesting and relatable to them. When it comes to choosing whom to follow, what to enjoy, or where to locate new things, the digital natives consider authenticity to be the most crucial factor.
Generation Z yearns for real experience. It's essential to be able to connect with an influencer on a personal level and to realize that they, too, are genuine people. Influencer marketing has grown in popularity over the years but identifying the desired audience with specific messages is crucial to a marketing strategy's success.
Generation z has seen a rise in rejecting traditional gender roles, in rather than hiding their feelings, they choose to express themselves without any restrictions in terms of creativity. This has aided the fashion brand's modularization and development, with multiple designers coming up with innovative high-street collection concepts that are attractive and fluid. Several brands have begun to follow suit. Men's and women's clothing distinctions are no longer significant, with many consumers preferring a more neutral approach to fashion and expression.
The following limitations should be noted when evaluating the paper's conclusions. The factor to consider is that web-based surveys limit the number of potential responders to those who use the social media platform via which the poll was shared. Second, because the issue under consideration, namely gender-neutrality in the fashion business, is still relatively new, there is a significant void in the literature on the subject.
Future experiments on the topic, with no funding or time constraints, could allow for the compilation of a statistically significant sample, or perhaps the establishment of a more qualitative style of research, in order to deepen and improve the conclusions of this study.
In the context of future research, it may be particularly interesting to examine the impact of a gen z influencer on gender fluidity through the eyes of brands. Because the research design and statistical analysis appear to be easily repeatable, future researchers may want to examine changing the variable of interest to investigate different aspects of the same problem. Furthermore, if there are fewer time limitations, it may be easier to choose scales that are better suited to the research area.
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