Here's something that is bit controversial: Gen Z are worse at making digital decisions than their parents. Significantly worse.
The generation that grew up with smartphones, that can switch between TikTok and Instagram and Snapchat faster than most people can unlock their phones, can't handle choice overload as well as people who learned to use email at 40. Which sounds completely incorrect, right? Digital natives should be BETTER at navigating digital complexity. They've been doing it since middle school.
But the research tells a different story. And honestly, when I first dug into this data, it kind of blew my mind.
Gen Z's Bias Problem (It's Bad)
18–24 year olds score significantly lower on decision quality compared to adults over 45 when making digital choices. Significantly lower.
They make worse choices, take longer to decide, and feel less satisfied afterward. The data's from recent studies comparing how different age groups handle decision-making in digital environments, and Gen Z consistently performs worse across basically every metric that matters.
Confirmation bias hits them the hardest. Research from 2024 shows it's the single strongest influence on their decision-making, especially online. They find information that supports what they already believe and ignore everything else. Social media makes this worse (obviously) because algorithms feed them content that matches their existing views, and they mistake this curated reality for… actual reality.
And it's not just confirmation bias. Gen Z also struggles with herd behavior (if everyone's doing it, it must be right), FOMO (which drives impulsive choices), availability bias (recent information weighs way too heavily), and hindsight bias (convincing themselves they "knew it all along").
The mechanism's pretty straightforward. Digital environments create cognitive overload - too many options, too much information, too many social signals hitting you at once. When Gen Z hits that overload point, they default to mental shortcuts. Those shortcuts activate biases instead of systematic thinking.
Here's what really got me: younger adults are reporting serious challenges with memory, concentration, and decision-making at increasing rates. Researchers actually call it "brain rot" (I wish I was making this up). It's the cognitive toll of excessive digital exposure. So Gen Z isn't just vulnerable to choice overload. They're experiencing measurable cognitive difficulties that make the whole problem worse.
Which is… not great?
Meanwhile, Older Adults Are Doing Fine
Adults over 45 show way better resistance to cognitive biases when making digital decisions.
Cognitive maturity works as a shield. They can evaluate information more critically, they're less susceptible to social proof and peer pressure, and they've made enough bad decisions in their lives to recognize another one coming. Your 50-year-old manager has navigated thousands of complex choices. That builds mental infrastructure for handling new ones.
Actually, let me be more precise about this - it's not really about older adults being "smarter." Research shows that cognitive abilities like strategic control and delayed memory matter more than age by itself. But older adults tend to have developed these abilities through years of practice. They filter information faster, dismiss irrelevant options more efficiently, and resist the manipulation tactics that work on younger users.
And they bring something Gen Z hasn't had time to develop: deep skepticism of shiny new things. They've seen enough "revolutionary" products fail. That skepticism counteracts the FOMO and herd behavior that trips up younger users.
The irony is that we spend so much time designing "simplified" interfaces for older adults because we assume they can't handle complexity. But they're making better decisions than their kids.
What This Means for Building Products
You can't design the same interface for a 22-year-old and a 52-year-old and expect both to make good decisions. I mean, you CAN, but you shouldn't.
Gen Z needs more structure, not less. The paradox here is wild - they want customization and control, but they actually perform better with guardrails. Smart defaults matter way more for younger users. They need the product to do some of the thinking when cognitive load gets high. Progressive disclosure should hide advanced options initially. Onboarding should limit early choices to essentials. Give them fewer decisions to make, even if they SAY they want more options.
And be really careful with social features. Gen Z is particularly vulnerable to social proof and peer influence in digital products. That "45 people bought this in the last hour" notification? It's not helping them make better decisions. It's triggering herd behavior. Every time you add social proof to your product, you're making it harder for younger users to think clearly about their choices.
Older adults can handle more complexity. Give them the controls. Let them customize settings, access advanced features, configure their experience however they want. They won't be overwhelmed - they'll appreciate the flexibility. What frustrates older users is when products assume they're technically incompetent and hide functionality "for their own good."
Look, I don't have perfect answers for how to design one product that serves both groups well. The challenge is creating experiences that adapt without patronizing either age group. Maybe adaptive interfaces that adjust complexity based on actual user behavior, not just birthdate. Digital literacy probably matters more than age - some 25-year-olds navigate complexity better than some 55-year-olds. But the trend is clear enough to inform design decisions.
Our Blind Spots
This isn't about blaming Gen Z for being bad at digital decisions. It's about recognizing that growing up digital doesn't automatically make you good at digital decisions. If anything, constant exposure to algorithmically-optimized interfaces has made them MORE susceptible to manipulation, not less.
The assumption that younger users need less help making digital choices is completely backwards. They need more support. They need interfaces that recognize their vulnerability to cognitive biases and design around it, not interfaces that exploit those vulnerabilities to drive engagement metrics.
And older adults? We need to stop designing for their supposed technical incompetence. They're making better decisions than we give them credit for.
I keep thinking about how we've spent the last decade optimizing digital products for "engagement" and "time on platform" without really asking what that's doing to people's ability to make good choices. Especially for the generation that's never known anything different.
References
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Decision quality differences between age groups: Cognitive Biases in Digital Decision-Making: How Consumers Navigate Information Overload - February 2025 study showing younger participants (18–24) exhibit significantly lower decision quality scores and higher susceptibility to cognitive biases compared to older adults.
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Cognitive challenges in younger adults: Cognitive Challenges Rise Sharply Among Younger Adults in the U.S. - September 2024 report on increasing memory, concentration, and decision-making difficulties in adults under 40.
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Brain rot and cognitive overload: Demystifying the New Dilemma of Brain Rot in the Digital Era - NIH study from March 2025 on emotional desensitization and cognitive overload from excessive digital exposure.
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Age and cognitive biases: Influential Cognitive Processes on Framing Biases in Aging - Research showing cognitive abilities predict bias resistance better than age alone.
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Older adults' decision strategies: Age is Just a Number: Older Adults' Decision Strategies - October 2024 research demonstrating complexity of older adults' decision-making strategies.