Gen Z and Millennials are now defining how audio is discovered, evaluated, and bought. They are setting new expectations around convenience, identity, value, and feature relevance, while forcing hardware brands to think harder about the lifelong customer journey.
That’s the focus of the next session in the Futuresource Consumer Tech Outlook Webinar Series, a free quarterly program created to help industry leaders understand and act on the shifts in consumer behavior, platform evolution, and technology. The second webinar in the series, The Next Generation Audiophile: How Gen Z and Millennials are Reshaping the Audio Industry, takes place on Wednesday, June 24.
“Gen Z and Millennials are altering the commercial logic of the audio market,” says Guy Hammett, senior market analyst at Futuresource Consulting. “Their purchase journeys are less linear, their definitions of premium are more nuanced, and their expectations of devices are more tightly tied to lifestyle, identity, and ecosystem experience. The future for brands will depend less on repeating legacy propositions and more on aligning with a very different model of consumer value.”
A New Era of Consumer Influence
Selling more audio products is no longer enough. The commercial challenge hinges around persuading a new generation of listeners that better sound, better hardware, and better experiences are worth the upgrade.
That requires a far clearer understanding of how younger consumers move from low-fidelity, highly convenient devices toward more premium purchases, and where brands can intervene along the way. Futuresource’s webinar will examine the changing path to purchase, the role of AI in product discovery and recommendation, and what all this means for future audio product and feature roadmaps.
This session will explore:
- How brands can encourage younger listeners to step up from basic earbuds and speakers into higher-end audio devices
- What the path to purchase looks like for Gen Z and Millennial audio buyers, and where influence can be won or lost
- How AI is shaping the shopper journey, from discovery and comparison to post-purchase engagement
- How product and feature strategies need to evolve around the listening habits and expectations of younger consumers
Futuresource Consulting’s Consumer Tech Outlook Webinar Series is built for the executives, strategists, and commercial leaders who are steering growth across streaming platforms, CE brands, technology providers, telcos, and content businesses. It provides regular access to Futuresource insight free of charge. Each quarterly session focuses on timely market shifts, changing business models, and evolving consumer behavior.
The Next Generation Audiophile: How Gen Z and Millennials are Reshaping the Audio Industry
Wednesday 24 June — 12:00–1:00 PM ET
Register now to attend live or receive the recording after the event.
For more information, visit www.futuresource-consulting.com.
