To build a brand that feels authentic to Gen Z, make its promises easy to verify in the product, price, policies, customer service, and people customers encounter. Authenticity is not a tagline or a borrowed tone of voice; it is the consistency between what a brand says and what people can observe. Because Gen Z is not a single global audience, test your approach with the specific customers, market, and category you serve.
What makes a brand authentic to Gen Z?
There is no single formula that will feel credible to every Gen Z customer. A useful working definition is alignment: the brand makes accurate claims, explains relevant facts clearly, and behaves in ways that match its stated values. This applies to ordinary interactions as much as to campaigns—what a product does, how a complaint is handled, and whether a policy works as described.
Ipsos’s May 2024 Generations Report says 92% of Global Gen Zs indicated that being authentic and true to oneself is extremely or very important. That is a finding about personal authenticity, not a direct measure of preference for authentic brands. The report also summarizes that 67% are open to new brands or products if they align with their values. This is an indication of openness, not a forecast that a values-based campaign will convert customers.
Turn values into operating commitments
Choose a small number of values that can guide actual decisions. For each one, identify what customers should be able to see: a product choice, a service standard, a sourcing explanation, a pricing policy, or a partnership decision. If a value does not affect what the business does, presenting it as a defining brand commitment can create a gap between message and experience.
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- Make the claim specific. Replace broad language such as “ethical” or “transparent” with a clear explanation of the relevant practice and its scope.
- Keep evidence close to the claim. Link to the information a customer would need to assess it, and make the explanation understandable without specialist knowledge.
- Include limits. If a commitment applies only to certain products, suppliers, or markets, say so. A precise qualification is more credible than an absolute claim the business cannot support.
- Check the customer experience. Compare public promises with product quality, customer support, returns, and other points where people encounter the brand.
Clutch’s December 2, 2025 survey release reports that more than half of respondents named a mismatch between a brand’s values and actions as a trust-breaker. The release does not provide sample size or full methodology in its accessible text, so treat this as a reported survey indicator rather than a precise estimate for all Gen Z customers. Its analyst Jeanette Godreau put the principle plainly: “Authenticity isn’t a tagline. It’s demonstrated through everyday behavior,” and people define authentic brands by honest communication and actions aligned with stated values (Clutch).
Make relevant facts easy to find and understand
Transparency is useful when it helps customers assess a claim. Depending on the category, that may mean explaining materials, sourcing, production, pricing, limitations, or policies. It does not mean publishing every available detail without regard to whether a reader can find or understand what matters.
A 2024 Psychology & Marketing study conceptualizes perceived brand transparency through observability, comprehensibility, and intentional disclosure. Its reported studies found positive relationships between perceived transparency and brand authenticity, trust, and related evaluations; they do not establish that every transparency intervention causes commercial success in every market. The article also warns that excessive information can overwhelm. Prioritize relevant evidence and organize it so customers can inspect it without digging through undifferentiated detail (Montecchi et al.).
Clutch’s 2025 release reports that respondents identified transparency about processes or materials (69%) and unfiltered reviews (62%) as indicators of authenticity. These are survey-reported results; the accessible release does not state sample size or full methodology, and the figures are not a Gen Z-only measure. Use them as prompts to make evidence accessible, not as universal benchmarks.
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Use representation that reflects the people and experiences the brand actually serves. Ipsos’s report specifically notes global Gen Z pushback against unrealistic beauty standards. That finding supports care in beauty-related imagery; it should not be generalized into a claim about every category or every Gen Z customer.
When telling customer stories, secure permission and provide enough context to avoid implying that one person’s experience is typical of everyone. Avoid editing out details that materially change the meaning of a testimonial or review. Representation feels more credible when it is part of how the brand communicates over time, not a one-off campaign disconnected from its products and practices.
Work with creators without treating influence as proof
Ipsos reports that 63% of Global Gen Zs trust product or brand recommendations made by influencers more than what brands say about themselves. This is a relative reported-trust finding, not proof that every influencer campaign performs better or that creator endorsement makes a claim true. Choose creators whose experience and audience fit the product, and make paid relationships clear. An independent opinion and a paid endorsement are different kinds of evidence.
Clutch’s 2025 survey release also reports that 42% of respondents viewed human involvement as an indicator of authenticity. Since the release does not provide full methodology and is not a Gen Z-only measure, do not treat that figure as a universal rule against automated tools. If generative AI helps produce social content, apply human editorial review and do not present synthetic material as a real customer experience. A 2024 experimental paper examines how generative AI use in social media content relates to perceived brand authenticity, but the available evidence here does not support a claim that AI always diminishes it (Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services).
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Keep a recognizable voice without imitating a generation
A distinct, consistent voice can help people recognize a brand, but adopting slang, memes, or trends is not a substitute for a clear point of view. Clutch’s 2025 release reports that 55% of respondents named a distinct brand voice and 41% named consistent messaging as indicators of authenticity. It also reports that 59% named generic or robotic messaging as a trust-breaker. These are broad survey results with limited methodology disclosed, not a prescription for how every Gen Z audience speaks or responds.
Set a practical voice standard: how the brand explains a mistake, answers a customer, describes a limitation, and talks about its products. Language can adapt to a community or platform while the underlying standards—clarity, accuracy, and respect—remain recognizable. Do not force casual language where it obscures important information.
Adapt to the market instead of assuming one Gen Z
Gen Z preferences and constraints vary by geography, category, and survey context. For example, the Ipsos report says that in Thailand, 43% of Gen Z expect to cut back on non-essential spending and 51% prioritize their finances as a result of rising prices. These Thailand-specific figures may matter when positioning value for customers in that market; they should not be presented as global findings.
Use audience interviews, feedback, and customer-service patterns to learn which claims people want substantiated and which explanations they find clear. A May 2025 Journal of Business Research article describes active, passive, and dormant ways consumers engage with transparency information, suggesting brands may need to accommodate different information needs. Make useful details both easy to notice and available for deeper inspection rather than assuming every customer will read a long disclosure (Journal of Business Research).
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Use a credibility check before publishing a claim
- Is it specific? State what the brand does, for whom, and within what scope.
- Can the business substantiate it? Identify the evidence a customer could inspect, not just the internal intention behind the claim.
- Does behavior match the message? Check products, service, policies, partnerships, and any relevant customer experience.
- Can people find and understand the evidence? Put relevant information near the claim and explain it in plain language.
- Is the messenger credible? Give customer stories accurate context and disclose paid creator relationships.
- Has the intended audience weighed in? Ask customers in the relevant market and category what feels convincing, then address mismatches between the promise and what they experience.
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