Who is afraid of Gen Alpha? Who are the children of the Millennials

With Gen X we said goodbye to the radio, with the Millennials we discovered the Xbox, with Gen Z we said goodbye to Internet Explorer: the evolution of technology has such a strong impact on our daily lives that it has shaped entire generations, but, now that the alphabet is finished, what will the digital natives of the future be like? The expression Gen Alpha, coined in 2009 by sociologist Mark McCrindle in his book The ABC of XYZ, designates the generation born from 2010 onwards with the first letter of the Greek alphabet, drawing on scientific nomenclature. Coming into the world at a time of generally declining fertility rates, the latest wave of unborn children, although still largely pre-school age, is already very different from its predecessors. A generation attentive to diversity and self-representation is taking shape, looking to clothing for self-definition, as if in the age of hyper-capitalism the only way to define oneself is through objects. In a few years, they will enter the consumer world, shop with their own money and interact with brands according to their own criteria. So how should companies prepare today for the technological and social expectations of tomorrow's adults? Infobip, a global cloud communications company and leader in CPaaS solutions, in collaboration with BVA Doxa, carried out a study on the 'consumer of 2030', involving 405 young Italians divided into two age groups, 6-10 and 11-15. 

A growing need for individualism and personalisation profiles a generation more comfortable interfacing with technology than with humans. Indeed, one-child families have gained ground: today 18% of women at the end of childbearing age have an only child, up from 10% in 1976, and as such members of the Alpha Generation are more likely to grow up selfish and expect instant gratification. Some predict that the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will become the defining event of this generation, exacerbating relationship difficulties. Being born at a time in history when human contact was forbidden already conceals within itself the seed of contradiction and opens the way to a series of complications that only time will reveal, but one thing we can ask: in which direction is humanity heading? More importantly, who controls the course?