What Gen Z Really Thinks About Promo in 2025
Did you know that promo buyers who work in the advertising and marketing industries count inflatable paddleboards and carry-on duffle bags among the best branded merch they’ve ever received? Or that 84% of end-buyers in Gen Z say it’s important that the promo products they receive are socially responsible? And how about this nugget: 93% of end-buyers from the U.S. South view promotional products and apparel as an effective medium for improving brand awareness.
These are among some of the key findings from ASI’s 2025 end-buyer research series. Broken down by markets and other demographics, the series reveals what end-buyers value most in promo and how they use it.
“Being conscious of who your audience is and what they want is so important when pitching products or campaigns to clients,” explains my colleague Hannah Rosenberger, ASI Media’s data analytics editor. “That’s part of what we were hoping to show with this research – that each market segment and demographic is a little different in terms of what they prioritize in promo.”
Launched in 2024, this exclusive research series is a comprehensive deep dive into everything from how long end-buyers keep promo items to their feelings on artificial intelligence. We’ve even broken down the preferred term various markets and demographics use when referring to promotional products. For instance, 33% of government end-buyers prefer the term “swag,” whereas 30% of tech end-buyers prefer “merch.” Switching over to age groups, 40% of baby boomers prefer the term “promo products,” while 46% of Gen Z prefer the term “merch.” Talk about a generation gap.
In 2025, ASI Research looked at five niche markets: advertising & marketing; government; tech; nonprofit; and real estate. We also broke things down by age group, with dedicated infographics for Gen Z, millennials, Gen X and baby boomers. In addition, we sliced the data by gender and geographical region – segmenting it by the Midwest, Northeast, South and the West.
For anyone looking to get some insider insight on how promo products are viewed by the various groups buying them, the entire series is worth a glance. But if you’re still not convinced, scroll below to see a few infographics from the series.
Click to enlarge. | Credit: ASI
Click to enlarge. | Credit: ASI
Click to enlarge. | Credit: ASI
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Theresa Hegel is the executive editor, special projects & sustainability, at ASI, where she oversees various strategic initiatives for the company’s editorial department and also serves as editor of Promo for the Planet, ASI’s award-winning educational resource hub for sustainability. She writes regularly for Counselor and PPM magazines and the ASICentral news site, with a focus on apparel, technology and sustainability. She’s won multiple regional and national awards for her writing and reporting, including three Jesse H. Neal awards for Best Range of Work By a Single Author.
