New Roblox report finds Gen Z users prioritize styling their virtual avatars over themselves in the physical world
On Nov. 9, the gaming platform Roblox released its 2023 Digital Expression, Fashion & Beauty Trends report that analyzed how Gen Z users are styling and designing their avatars.
Roblox has millions of user-generated universes — referred to as “experiences” — and games. While Roblox was founded in 2004, the program exploded among preteen and teenage users during the pandemic and has an estimated 43.2 million daily active users. Of those active users, more than half are under the age of 16.
Roblox is often compared to Minecraft, another popular gaming platform, because of the similar blocky graphics. But Roblox is described as “more social” and “immersive.” The Sims, a life-simulation video game in which users can fully customize characters (known as “sims”), doesn’t have any clear goals for players and doesn’t allow them to play their sims in first-person.
Part of the appeal to users, in juxtaposition to other mainstream social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, is the ability to customize an avatar.
“For Gen Z, we learn that there is a symbiotic relationship between digital and physical fashion,” Ben Barry, associate professor of equity and inclusion at the Parsons School of Design, explained in the newly published report. “We also learn how important digital fashion is for Gen Z users’ mental well-being and self-expression.”
According to the 2022 study, which was done in collaboration with Parsons, Gen Z users reported that having the option to choose every physical element of their avatar plays a “critical role” in why they love Roblox.
“Whether it’s a safe space to play with fashion or carry over their style from the physical world, digital fashion is critical for Gen Z to explore, express and expand who they are,” Barry concluded.
Roblox has collaborated with popular brands such as Crocs, Nike and Forever 21, as well as luxury brands like Ralph Lauren and Gucci. Roblox also works with beauty brands, and allows users to experiment with Charlotte Tilbury, Maybelline New York and Urban Decay.
Players can shop for accessories, clothes or products using Robux, the platform’s virtual currency. Users can pay for Robux with real-world currency or purchase premium memberships that provide monthly stipends. Or players can resell items through the marketplace or earn Robux through creating experiences.
Luxury items such as Gucci bags are sold on Roblox for about 475 Robux when they launch. There are limited units of each product on the site, so resellers can push the price of high-demand pieces into the thousands of Robux. In May 2021, Polygon reported that the average price for a Gucci purse on Roblox was 134,257 Robux or about $1,600 in real-world money.
Key insights from the report found that more users said they believed their looks were judged less in the metaverse than in the physical world, and more users said they felt like building an avatar felt “more me” than posting photos on other social media.
Maisy Fifield, a 20-something creator on Roblox, told In The Know by Yahoo that the platform serves as a blank canvas “to represent your true self, whether it be culture, gender identity or personality,” she says. “I try to pack that personality into every creation I make.”
To obtain its findings, Roblox drew on behavioral data from the last nine months of 2023 as well as self-reported survey data collected from 1,545 participating Gen Z users (which Roblox classified as being users between 14 and 26) living in the U.S. and the U.K.
A whopping 56% of Gen Z users surveyed reported that styling their avatar was more important to them than styling themselves in the physical world; 84% of respondents said their physical style is “at least somewhat” inspired by what their avatar and other avatars wear on Roblox.
Notably for brands, 51% of respondents said they were “very or extremely likely” to consider looking into a brand for themselves after trying on a brand’s item virtually.
Model Karlie Kloss, who launched her own experience on Roblox called Klossette, wrote a blurb for the report outlining her belief that the platform was the future for “taste-making.”
“In the past, a fashion publication used to play that curation role,” she said. “But the next generation is going other places for that influence.”
In an interview with Mashable, Kloss reiterated her view: “This is not just some kids game [or] cute little metaverse thing, it’s a real business.”
Kloss evidently knows of what she speaks — in September 2022, she wore a Carolina Herrera gown on the runway and then had a Roblox creator recreate the dress within the metaverse. Vogue Business reported the virtual version of the dress sold for 188,257 Robux, or about $1,900. One player resold the dress on Roblox for more than $5,000.
It turns out that the divide between Roblox’s metaverse and the physical world isn’t that large. In October, young users who claimed that they were unable to participate in protests over the Israel-Hamas war took to Roblox to participate virtually.
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