Understanding the importance of self-expression
When ‘you do you’ hit popular vernacular a few years ago, I admired the sentiment. One absolutely should do them. But what exactly is the ‘you’ we all have within us, and how is our self-expression changing with culture, with tech adoption, and as new generations enter the workforce?
In today’s world, there are many rewards for standing out as an individual: in the corporate world, ‘average’ doesn’t earn promotions, and in social media, it’s the ‘fresh’ content that makes it furthest. We should know this in marketing: when other brands zig, it’s on us to zag.
To help us understand how people are feeling about self-expression today, and how the concept has changed over time, we leveraged data from our proprietary data, identity, and insights platform to analyse people’s responses to questions around this topic both now and 6 years ago.
Let’s delve into the tensions between individuality and cultural assimilation, and how this ‘balance’ is playing out across the population in today’s world.
The individual vs the collective: Navigating self-expression and cultural assimilation
With an abundance of content at our fingertips, (podcasts, social media, tv streaming services, livestreams, virtual reality, augmented reality content...), we now have the unprecedented ability to express ourselves in a multitude of new ways and find the few (or many) who share our passions with us.
However, that abundance also means that no one’s media diet will look the same. For example, I listen to podcasts dedicated to my local football team every week. Yet, I also turn to Hayu to indulge in some Real Housewives drama and scroll through Reddit to get financial advice.
So, could a confluence of public and technological changes have us at peak-individualism? Charged by years spent on screens, and increased time spent at home as we moved through a mandated and then voluntary ‘stay at home’ order, it’s undeniable that now more than ever, people crave connection.
Yet, our curated, personalised bubbles that we’ve created with today’s abundance of content are leading people to feel isolated, encapsulated by the statistic that the percentage of people who claim to have ‘no close friends’ has quadrupled since 1990.
Individuality is not the preserve of Gen Z – it’s an important driver at every age.
I’ve sat through enough presentations on Gen Z to know that the prevailing wisdom is that this younger cohort is obsessed with ‘standing out’.
It makes sense – with so many new avenues with which to express one’s differences, to us (usually older) insight and strategy specialists, it can seem like most Gen Z’ers spend significant chunks of their time trying to work out how to buck the trend.
The data shows that the desire to stand out does indeed rank well above a need to fit in for this age cohort; however, and importantly, it’s also true across all age ranges. In fact, the gap between the two drivers widens in one’s 40s and 50s, perhaps as the effort associated with acting like our peers becomes too much for many.
Preoccupation with individuality remains fairly stable across age cohorts. If anything, it shows signs of increasing as people get into their 70s. It’s fair to say that older generations were standing out from the crowd well before it was cool.
Implication: Could we be confusing Gen Z’s increased ability to express individuality with their need to do so? A proliferation in products, channels and aesthetics (Soft Girl, anyone?) is not the same as an increase in the determination to do things differently.
Understanding the different tribes at play is just as important for a brand with an older target market, and reflecting those tribes could earn you extra points from the generations who are used to being treated as a monolith. On Scenic Luxury Cruises, we segmented the 65+ market based on their passions and found greater response rates when we tap into their individuality.
Fitting in vs standing out
In the last 6 years, people have become more preoccupied with fitting in – particularly those in their 30s.
Whilst ‘fitting in’ ranks well below ‘standing out’ across all ages, there are signs that the need to belong is increasing.
In 2018, 30% of the population said they were doing what they could to fit in – that increased to 33% in 2023. A small increase, however, more significant between the ages of 25 and 44, where there’s been a 15% swing between 2018 and 2024.
This growing desire to ‘fit in’ sits alongside a need for greater belonging. YouGov data shows that 18–34-year-olds are most preoccupied with finding their ‘place in society’, and for 25-34s, that need has increased an incredible 27% in the last 6 years. As self-expression proliferates, it becomes harder to find one’s tribe.
Consider the cultural moments of today - whether it’s the Barbie phenomenon, Taylor Swift’s record-breaking tours, or the nostalgia-driven Oasis reunions. These are not individual expressions, but collective experiences, where millions come together to share in a cultural moment. In the quest for uniqueness, perhaps the need to belong, to be part of something bigger, is just as powerful.
Implication: Take the time to understand what’s next in big, shared moments – they are increasingly important to people, and there’s an opportunity to build reach if you get it right.
However, even shared moments are experienced in different places. Where once you’d reach football fans at halftime on ITV, now you can also find them following the Twitter pundits, the postgame podcasts, and the YouTube highlights vlogs. We worked with Mastercard to show that tapping into shared cultural experiences starts with finding the different creators in that space. Don’t insert yourselves into the conversation; find the people who already have their seats at the table.
Far from being mutually exclusive, the need to fit in and to stand out drive one another.
Writers on status, Alain de Botton and Will Storr, highlight how people seek inclusion in a group, but then experience anxiety about their position within it. Fitting in gains us access, standing out builds our status. Our self-esteem and self-expression are predicated on both.
Our increased ability to express our differences is rewarding. However, it only makes sense to stand out once we feel assured of our place within society. As the ability to stand out proliferates, the need to fit in increases. What’s status without connection?
As our relationship with belonging, self-identity and distinction changes with culture and technology, it pays to understand what’s driving your audience at different times. In marketing, we need to find the balance between connecting with the crowd and speaking to the individual.
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