Kidult, more fans than consumers between nostalgia effect and social media

Understanding the consumption habits of young people, starting from their interests and framing them more as fans than consumers. It is with this objective in mind that Bva Doxa and Mld Entertainment have shaped the first mapping of theKidult - an attitude, rather than a target, shared between different generations in which passions, nostalgia, scarcity and desires merge, giving voice to new forms of consumption - that will be presented tomorrow in Milan on the occasion of the K-Marketing Forum 2025 entitled "Becoming Great".

"The analysis aims to focus on Generation Z, those born between 1995 and 2010 on whom we have ongoing Tribe research, from the point of view of passions, leisure, entertainment," explains Cristina Liverani, kids & special project unit manager at Bva Doxa. "By posing graphic stimuli, which described a certain profile, such as, for example, retrocinemaniacs (fans of vintage films and TV series) or resellers (economic plus-value), we asked the young people interviewed which attitude they most recognised themselves in. What emerged were 12 tribes for four macro areas: film/TV series, publishing, fashion, consumer goods'.

Kidults can be defined as people who go out of their way to beup-to-date on new topics and skills (46%) and strive to be able to do what they want (47%). They inform themselves about technology and innovation (41%) and the environment andclimate change (34%). They spend about 30% more on their passions than non-Kids and tend to be satisfied with the time they spend on their passions (63%).

"The clustering of tribes stems from a non-simple clustering ofconsumption phenomena, whether they are purchases of objects or leisure activities. Qualitative observation has begun to have a quantitative measurement capable of giving weight to the Kidult phenomenon on both the consumer and corporate side," clarifies Paolo Lucci, founder and managing director of Mld Entertainment, citing the example of Lego, where today about 25% of purchases are made by consumers over 15 years of age, and of Hasbro and Mattel who have opened two online containers where limited edition series are offered to fans every 15/20 days. "The products become objects of desire in alogic of scarcity that at the beginning operated only on the niche, while today it is passing heavily into the mainstream with, for example, the manga novelty of the moment determining the fashion collection," adds Lucci.

The quantum leap was made possible by digital tools because Kidults are more reliant on social media and videos created by influencers or creators (42% vs. 17% of non-Kidults), independent blogs or articles (43% vs. 17%) and podcasts (44% vs. 18%). The online environment, on the other hand, is used to feed one's desire to know and stay informed (38%). "Digital has accelerated the transition from nicchia to mainstream with an amplifier effect that has increased the involvement, especially of Generation Z, in the creation ofcontent," Lucci and Liverani point out.