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Impact of
The impact of Generation Z Generation Z
in the intention to purchase
real estate in Kosovo
Visar Hoxha and Emblema Zeqiraj 1
Department of Real Estate, College ESLG, Prishtina, Kosovo
Received 13 December 2018
Revised 12 June 2019
Accepted 9 July 2019
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact that Generation Z has on the real estate
industry of Kosovo. By studying the behaviors and characteristics of Gen Z the stakeholders in the real
estate industry can gain advantages and opportunities in getting to comprehend their preferences, their
perspective and their decision to buy real estate in Kosovo.
Design/methodology/approach – The present study used a quantitative research method. For the purpose
of this study a questionnaire with close-ended questions is used. The questionnaire used for this study is a
self-evaluation and self-administrated questionnaire. The study included 200 people, mainly Albanian
speakers who participated in the questionnaire. All participants of the questionnaire were strictly members of
Generation Z that were born in the time period of 1995–2012. In this questionnaire the participants were
provided with full anonymity, since none of their identity data were requested during this process.
Findings – The findings of this study indicate that Gen Z and their different characteristics will have an
impact on the real estate industry.
Research limitations/implications – This study can be utilized as a landmark for agents of real estate on
understanding how they can use the characteristics and behaviors of Gen Z in their favor, by pointing out the
prominence of those characteristics and behaviors in realizing the needs and desires of the potential buyers
and the influence they have on the decision to buy property. Furthermore, through this study, the real estate
agencies will be provided with multiple reasons that substantiate the necessity to perform the proper research
about differences between generations.
Originality/value – The study is the first quantitative study that studies the linkage between behaviors and
characteristics of Generation Z and their intention to purchase real estate.
Keywords Behaviour, Real estate, Characteristics, Kosovo, Generation Z
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Generations are not alike. Every generation has its unique characteristics such as
expectations, experiences, generational history, lifestyles, values and demographics that
influence their behaviors (Williams and Page, 2011), which consequently have a significant
effect on industry and business. Thus, the power of generations and their characteristics
should not be underestimated. Nevertheless, as stated in an article by Howe and Strauss
(2007), the generations follow historical patterns which are observable and can serve to
predict future trends.
The importance of generations and their characteristics is better noticed in the
dramatic developments and changes that have occurred during past decades in different
fields that are thought to be a manifestation of the characteristics of Millennials and
the way they behave. Every generation has had an impact on the overall evolution of the
business world and the industries. But, a major role in the most significant changes
was played by the Millennials due to changed purchasing behaviors, which were
mainly caused by fast rates of technology development. And the Millennials are not the
last generation that caused important changes. The generation right after Millennials,
known as Generation Z or iGen, is already making significant changes that should be Property Management
taken into account. Vol. 38 No. 1, 2020
pp. 1-24
The Generation Z is variously defined as people born between the mid-1990s to the early © Emerald Publishing Limited
0263-7472
2010s (Tapscott, 2009). The Generation Z like using video communication, and spend a great DOI 10.1108/PM-12-2018-0060
PM deal of time on smart phones and accessing social media (Thomas, 2011) and also prefer
38,1 more other pastimes than visiting museums and galleries (Halliday and Astafyeva, 2014).
They experienced very important global problems such as terrorism, political instability
and environmental concerns (Salleh et al., 2017), that is why they hold different beliefs and
values. But, it is important to know that Gen Z should not be seen “just as a generation, but
as a new set of behaviors and attitudes about how the world will work and how we will need
2 to respond in order to stay current, competitive and relevant” (Koulopoulos and Keldsen,
2014). It is expected that by 2020 Gen Z will surpass Millennials (Larkin et al., 2018) and they
will represent a significant segment of world population.
Members of Gen Z differ from other generations, thus they “represent changes to
all aspects of corporate real estate (CRE) through their expectations in the workplace,
retail, residential, cultural and lifestyle environments” (Larkin et al., 2018). Taking into
account that the outcomes of real estate transactions have long-term impacts, it can be
stated that purchasing behaviors of the buyers are very important and should be
understood. At last, the real estate industry has experienced growth and the environment
has become very competitive. A way to gain a competitive edge in this industry is to give
the consumers what they want. It is essential for the real estate agents to understand what
satisfies the consumers and to fulfill their needs. These insights can be retrieved by
studying the behaviors and characteristics of different generations in the real estate
industry, starting with Gen Z which represents the most powerful potential buyers of
real estate.
The real estate market of Kosovo has experienced drastic changes the latter years
(Stanfield and Tullumi, 2004). The displacement of population during Kosovo’s War is one
reason of confusions and gaps that were present for a long period of time with property
documents. Tens of thousands of properties have been destroyed during the war (Tawil,
2009). In post-conflict Kosovo, the major complications derived from the lack of cadastral
books, property maps and other ownership documents which were held in Serbia (Stanfield
and Tullumi, 2004). Adding to this list the informally carried out transactions, the real estate
market of Kosovo faced many administrative and legal problems. All these complications
urged the need to a proper development of this sector of the economy. With the rise of
awareness for the necessity of formal transactions and adequate valuation of property, the
real estate industry started to grow. This industry, as many other industries, experienced
different changes such as the usage of new technologies, the shift of marketing to internet
and the change of consumers buying behavior.
Traits of Gen Z are as follows:
• empowered;
• task-focused;
• more options than ever;
• most educated and provided-for generation;
• mature beyond their years;
• sophisticated; and
• serious.
Source: The ABC of XYZ: Understanding the Global Generations (McCrindle and Wolfinger,
2010, p. 65).
Kosovo, as many other countries nowadays, has a high percentage of Gen Z in its overall
population. As it can be seen from Table I, according to Kosovo Agency of Statistics (2011),
the population of Gen Z is 246,649, whereas the total population of Kosovo is 1,739,825.
Age Year of registration: 2011
Impact of
Generation Z
0–4 149,735
4–9 160,916
10–14 176,926
15–19 174,932
20–24 161,467
25–29 141,268 3
30–34 130,542
35–39 124,912
40–44 108,142
45–49 94,988
50–54 80,625
55–59 65,539
Table I.
60–64 53,048 Kosovo’s population
65+ 116,785 classification
Total 1,739,825 according to
Source: Kosovo Agency of Statistics (2011, p. 31) age group
This makes the Gen Z constitute around 14 percent of the total population (Kosovo Agency
of Statistics, 2011). The demographic composition of Kosovo’s population indicates a
significant potential for the real estate market development, since young and average age
citizens show a higher tendency to own immovable property. The role of generations’
characteristics is noticeable in every industry, including real estate that is why it should not
be left unstudied. Taking into account the impact that generation of Millennials has had on
the real estate industry, it can be said that it is beneficial to analyze and oversee the impact
of successive generations. Since Gen Z is the post-Millennials generation, consequently is
the new generation of real estate purchasers. As it happened with previous generations, it is
believed that the main characteristics and behaviors of these purchasers will impact the
shaping of real estate industry. Therefore, this study is focused on understanding the key
behaviors of this generation that will shape the actual and future market of real estate. The
effects that this generation will have in the real estate market are substantially valuable,
that is why the following research presents the effects of Gen Z in the real estate industry
through theoretical and empirical analyses, focusing on the Kosovo’s market.
The central question of this study is:
RQ1. To what extent do Gen Z’s preferences influence their intention to purchase real
estate?
In order to provide proper answer to the raised question, the hypotheses are as follows:
H1. The intention of Gen Z to buy real estate is positively related to real estate features
preferences.
H2. The intention of Gen Z to buy real estate is positively related to their financial
concerns.
H3. The intention of Gen Z to buy real estate is positively related to real estate location
preferences.
H4. The intention of Gen Z to buy real estate is positively related to marketing approach
preferences.
H5. The intention of Gen Z to buy real estate is positively related to real estate purchase
process.
PM 2. Theoretical background
38,1 As already mentioned, the scientific literature provides a great variety of Generation Z
definitions and presents many theories concerning their time period. The classification
defined by Reeves and Oh (2007) including people born between 1995 and 2012, is the
primary categorization used in this thesis.
The first study about Generation Z started to appear when the generational researcher
4 Tapscott (1998), who defined Generation Z as “Generation Next” and characterized it as the
most unique since no generation ever before was more comfortable, knowledgeable and
educated with the technology and innovation. The study conducted by Tapscott, that
included 6,000 members of Generation Z all over the world, showed that this generation is all
about speed, innovation, freedom and tolerance. The term Generation Z was first presented
and used by Tari (2011) which is mostly used for this generation, but other practitioners also
use many other titles to label this age group. Other practitioners use media to compose the
name such as: “Facebook Generation,” digital native (Prensky, 2001), netgeneration,
igeneration, dotcom children, Cgeneration where C stands for connection, Dgeneration
where D stands for digital, and many more that are also presented in the table.
Why Generation Z should be studies it has been justified in data provided in a report by
Sparks and Honey (2018), according to which Gen Z will represent 40 percent of population
by 2020 and will have a buying power of $44bn. The influence that this generation will have
in every aspect in the near future is key to every organization. Young consumers of
Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2012 (Kitchen and Proctor, 2015), are supposed to be
the generation with a growing economic power. Gen Z should not be seen “just as a
generation, but as a new set of behaviors and attitudes about how the world will work and
how we will need to respond in order to stay current, competitive and relevant”
(Koulopoulos and Keldsen, 2014, p. 4).
The Zeds are considered the “up-ageing” generation since they are growing up faster
(McCrindle and Wolfinger, 2010), as estimated by World Health Organization: that children
are beginning puberty three months earlier every decade. As a result, they represent the
new consumer segment for most of the businesses. Members of Gen Z are involved in
education earlier and are earlier exposed to the marketing (McCrindle and Wolfinger, 2010).
This is also the latest generation that is currently growing up and will be dominating the
world in the next decades (Wiedmer, 2015). “We need to look at Gen Z not just as a
generation, but as a new set of behaviors and attitudes about how the world will work and
how we will need to respond in order to stay current, competitive and relevant”
(Koulopoulos and Keldsen, 2014). That is why except defining what Gen z means, it is
needed to study and understand their characteristics. So, the faster marketers get to know
them, the faster they can gain competitive advantages.
As any generation, Generation Z’s behavioral characteristic development was significantly
shaped and influenced by the environment and the surrounding elements (Salleh et al., 2017).
The most significant factor that should be considered when it comes to Gen Z is the usage of
technology, the impact of which being negative or positive should not be overlooked (Turner,
2015). Members of Gen Z grew up with in a very sophisticated medial and technological
environment, which resulted in an internet savvy nation and more expert than any other
previous generation (Salleh et al., 2017). According to Prensky (2001, p. 1), Generation Z is
considered digital natives, because they never experienced life before the internet. For
Generation Z, technology is like oxygen (Oblinger and Oblinger, 2005), so they cannot imagine
living without it. And since Generation Z is the most technologically centered generation, it
will also be the most empowered generation (McCrindle and Wolfinger, 2010).
When it comes to the characteristics of this generation, their lifestyle and attitudes,
they are considered to be individuals that are the new conservatives embracing traditional
beliefs, valuing the importance of the family, self-controlled and more responsible,
adapted to high-tech and multiple information sources, with messages bombarding them Impact of
from all sides (Williams and Page, 2011). “It is important to emphasize that Generation Z is Generation Z
the first global generation in the world (Homo Globalis)” (Törőcsik et al., 2014), which
indicates that events in different parts of the world impact most of them. Soltan (2004), as
cited in Williams and Page (2011), stated that for members of Gen Z, peer acceptance
is very important since they need to feel that they belong to something, and their
self-concept is partially determined by the group to which the teens belong. Generation Z 5
is considered as the most planned for, most mollycoddled and most materially endowed
generation to date (McCrindle and Wolfinger, 2010). The youth of today are members of
the generation that grow up using the internet and know the verbal and visual world of
the internet. It means that they handle short, up-to-date, real time information with
pictures. Short attention span is typical of this generation, thus messages for them should
be created by taking the “less is more” approach into consideration. Simplification and
getting to the point can be productive (Törőcsik et al., 2014).
As mentioned before, Gen Z is the first generation that is directly exposed to digital
technologies, social networking sites and overloading information on the internet (Turner,
2015; Prensky, 2001). So, Generation Z is the first generation that grew up in an era of
developed information technology, which makes them the most critical users of social
networking sites that are constantly engaged in online exchanging of information and
conversation (Kitchen and Proctor, 2015). This generation immersed in internet and
technology has been shaped to multitask, making them to move quickly from one task to
another (McCrindle and Wolfinger, 2010). According to Prensky (2001), Generation Z, or as
he likes to call it The Digital Natives due to high usage of internet are used to receive
information rapidly and like to parallel process and multitask. He also adds that members of
this generation prefer graphics before text rather than the opposite, they prefer random
access and they function best when networked. It is also important to know that people of
this generation mostly make contact by devices, so contacting them via the internet is more
typical then the personal contact (Törőcsik et al., 2014).
Creativity, uniqueness and coolness has seemed to be an important feature of every product
or service they use. Generation Z’s motto is “Unique is the new cool,” compared to Millennials
who mainly followed the major trends of “cool” (Kearney, 2017). In a study conducted by
Google (2016) it is stated that “for Generation Z, what’s cool is also a representation of their
values, their expectations of themselves, their peers, and the brands they hold in the highest
regard.” Generation Z members use the products to express their individuality and unique
sense of identity (Kearney, 2017). It is important to know that for Generation Z social media is
not for sharing, in the contrary it is for consuming and connecting (Google, 2016, p. 4).
3. Research methodology
The present study used the quantitative research methodology. The quantitative research is
the approach that suits best this study, since it generates statistics through the use of
large-scale survey research, by using methods such as questionnaires or structured
interviews (Dawson, 2002). The aspects of the research process such as the objectives,
design, sample and the questions that the research asked the respondents were
predetermined, just like they should be in the structured approach (Kumar, 2011). According
to Creswell (2014), quantitative research is an approach that is used to test objective theories
by examining the relationship between different variables, which in this study was the
relationship between the purchase intention as the dependent variable and independent
variables that are the real estates’ features preferences, financial concerns, location
preferences, marketing approach preferences and real estate purchasing process. Leedy and
Ormrod (2001) stated that quantitative research is specific in surveying and
experimentation since it is used for existing theories. According to Williams (2007),
quantitative research begins with a problem statement and involves the formation of the
hypothesis, continues with the literature review, and it also involves quantitative data
analysis, which is actually the timeline or the development path of this study.
The quantitative research approach for this thesis is the proper one since the
quantitative approach includes the collection of such data that allow the quantification of
information and allows the information to be subjected to statistical treatments in order to
support or refute “alternative knowledge claims” (Creswell, 2014). The collection of data that
can be quantified was done through the participation of two hundred participants in the
questionnaire, and then the information was subjected to statistical treatment through SPPS
software and used to test the stated hypothesis. The intent of quantitative research is to
establish, confirm or validate relationships and to develop generalizations that contribute to
theory since the quantitative researcher seeks explanations and predictions that can
generate to other persons and places (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001). This was also supported by
Creswell (2014) who suggested that quantitative research applies strategies of inquiry such
as experimental and surveys in order to collect data on predetermined instruments that
deliver statistical data.
Hypotheses
Structured Questionnaires
Gen Z Members
Figure 1.
Conclusion and Recommendation Research design
framework
Source: The author
Finances
Marketing
Process
Figure 2.
Conceptual framework
Source: Adapted from Chia et al. (2015)
PM achieve the objectives of the study, in order to suit the research, the method used in this
38,1 study is the questionnaires method. Questionnaires represent a document which contains
questions and other types of items designed in such way to solicit information that is
appropriate to the analysis ( Jonker and Pennink, 2010).
For the purpose of this study a questionnaire with close-ended questions was used.
Close-ended questions are the most common questions since they require less time to
12 respond to them and are more preferable by the respondents. Questionnaires with these
kinds of questions are used to generate statistics in quantitative research and they follow a
set format (Dawson, 2002). A close-ended question is a question where the possible answers
are defined in advance and the respondent is restricted to choose the category that best
describes his answer (Mathers et al., 2009; Kumar, 2011).
The questionnaire that was used for this study is a self-evaluation and self-administrated
questionnaire. It is important to point out that the questionnaire offers full anonymity. The
questionnaire is 50 item six-dimensions questionnaire that measures the purchase intention
level and the real estate preferences of Generation Z. The questionnaire was composed of
two sections which are:
(1) the real estate purchase intention measuring section; and
(2) the preferences and needs of Generation Z’s members measuring section.
When measuring the purchasing intention of real estate these are not a huge number of
questionnaires available to measure it, rather the questionnaire was adapted from different
studies available. For the effect of simplicity this questionnaire was adapted to the language
understandable for younger consumers. The preferences and needs measuring section is
further divided into five sub-sections:
(1) real estate features preferences;
(2) financial concerns;
(3) location preferences;
(4) marketing approach preferences; and
(5) real estate purchase process.
The first section of the questionnaire was about the real estate purchasing intention of
Generation Z members. This part of the questionnaire was composed of close-ended
questions. In total, there were five questions in this section of questionnaire, where all the
questions are of the single response form, which means that the respondent must select only
one of the alternatives presented. The questions were in the form of Likert scale starting
from one to five.
On the other hand, the second section of the questionnaire was about measuring the
preferences and needs of Generation Z. Each of the sections contains nine questions which are
close-ended questions. Hence, the Gen Z’s preferences and needs evaluation section has a total
of 45 questions. All the questions were of the single response form, which means that the
respondent must select only one of the alternatives presented to him/her in each question. This
part of the questionnaire was composed of a five-point response format, starting from one to
five. This means that this part of the questionnaire consists of rated questions.
In order to be easier for the respondents to participate in the questionnaire, it is necessary
to translate the questionnaire into the native language of the participants which in this case
is Albanian. For the effect of correctness, the back-translation method was used. This is a
method through which the questions are translated from the main language to the targeted
language (Harkness and Schoua-Glusberg, 1998), in this case from English to Albanian, and
then it is translated back to the original language, in this case from Albanian to English.
3.3 Research participants Impact of
In total, 1,000 people, Albanian speakers participated in the questionnaire. All participants Generation Z
of the questionnaire were strictly members of Generation Z that were born in the time period
of 1995–2000. In this questionnaire the participants were provided with full anonymity,
since none of their identity data were requested during this process.
The study used the stratified probability sampling. According to Tashakkori and
Teddlie (2003), the probability sampling techniques are used mainly in quantitative research 13
and involve selecting a relatively large number of units from a population, or from specific
subgroups (strata) of a population, in a random manner where the probability of inclusion
for every member of the population is determinable.
The study distributed around 1,280 questionnaires and 1,000 respondents returned
the questionnaires. The percentage of return of questionnaires is 78.2 percent. With the
confidence level of 95 percent and total population of Generation Z of 246,269 in Kosovo,
the margin of error is 3 percent. The total population of Generation Z and breakdown of total
population of Kosovo by age groups can be found in Table I. The structure of respondents
has been presented in Table III.
Kosovo respondents
Total number Percentage
4. Results
This section presents the results obtained from the questionnaire used for the study and is
divided into three main parts. The first part presents the validation of the instrument,
whereas the second part deals with hypotheses testing.
One of the most important analyses for the study is the reliability test, which in this
study was performed with Cronbach’s α, presented on Table IV. Using the Cronbach’s α, the
extent of the reliability of the questionnaire can be tested. Moreover, this analysis can be
used to see if there is consistency between variables and how these variables are correlated
with each other. This analysis was performed individually for each variable, which were
presented on different sections in the questionnaire. The following table represents a
summary of Cronbach’s of all the variables of the study.
Purchase intention is a dependent variable, while real estate features, financial concerns,
location, marketing approach and process are the independent variables. As seen in
Table IV, the α of purchase intention, which is the dependent variable is 0.933, which
according to George and Mallery (2003) is considered as excellent, “_ W0.9 – excellent.”
This was also supported by Nunnally (1978), which stated that the preferable value for
Cronbach’s is 0.69. This indicates reliability and strong correlation between the variables.
While Cronbach’s αs for independent variables are as follows: real estate features 0.933,
financial concerns 0.927, location preferences 0.933, marketing approach preferences 0.950
and purchase process 0.961. According to George and Mallery (2003, p. 231), who stated that
α bigger than 0.9 is considered excellent, it can be stated that the independent variables
show a high consistency and are correlated quite well.
Next, the study tested the sampling adequacy through Kaiser–Mayer–Olkin test and the
Bartlett’s test of sphericity. With a number of 1,000 respondents, the KMO is 0.926, which
Model summary
Model R R2 Adjusted R2 SE of the estimate
Table VIII.
R and R2 for 1 0.850a 0.762 0.750 0.625
a
purchase intention Notes: Predictors: (Constant), fc9, fc3, fc6, fc7, fc8, fc5, fc2, fc4, fc1
and financial concerns Source: Questionnaire results analyzed with SPSS by authors
Coefficientsa
Unstandardized 95.0% confidence
coefficients Standardized coefficients interval for B
Model 1 B SE β t Sig. Lower bound Upper bound
Model summary
Model R R2 Adjusted R2 SE of the estimate
Table X.
R and R2 for purchase 1 0.883a 0.713 0.699 0.587
a
intention and location Notes: Predictors: (Constant), l9, l3, l7, l6, l8, l5, l1, l4, l2
preferences Source: Questionnaire results analyzed with SPSS by the author
From Table XI it can be seen that most of the βs are of a higher value than 0.1, which Impact of
together which the up-mentioned results indicate that H3 is verified: Generation Z
H4. The intention of Gen Z to buy real estate is positively related to marketing approach
preferences.
From Table XII it can be seen that R is 0.794, which indicates a strong correlation between
the purchase intention of members of Generation Z and the fourth independent variable
which is marketing approach preferences. From R2 which is 0.682 it can be understood that
17
68.2 percent of the purchasing intention of Gen Z can be explained by the marketing
approach preferences.
From Table XIII it can be seen that most of the βs are of a higher value than 0.1, which
together which the up-mentioned results indicate that H4 is verified:
H5. The intention of Gen Z to buy real estate is positively related to real estate purchase
process.
From Table XIV it can be seen that R is 0.728, which indicates a strong correlation between
the purchase intention of members of Generation Z and the fifth independent variable which
is purchase process of real estate. From R2 which is 0.611 it can be understood that
61.1 percent of the purchasing intention of Gen Z can be explained by the purchase process
of real estate.
From Table XV it can be seen that most of the βs are of a higher value than 0.1, which
together which the up-mentioned results indicate that H5 is verified.
Table XVI shows the hypotheses testing summary as below.
Coefficientsa
Unstandardized 95.0% confidence
coefficients Standardized coefficients interval for B
Model 1 B SE β t Sig. Lower bound Upper bound
Model summary
Model R R2 Adjusted R2 SE of the estimate
Table XII.
1 0.794a 0.682 0.457 0.680 R and R2 for purchase
Notes: aPredictors: (Constant), m9, m4, m6, m8, m1, m7, m5, m2, m3 intention and
Source: Questionnaire results analyzed with SPSS by the author marketing approach
PM Coefficientsa
38,1 Unstandardized 95.0% confidence interval for
coefficients Standardized coefficients B
Model 1 B SE β t Sig. Lower bound Upper bound
Model summary
Model R R2 Adjusted R2 SE of the estimate
Table XIV.
R and R2 for purchase 1 0.782a 0.611 0.593 0.588
a
intention and Notes: Predictors: (Constant), p9, p2, p7, p5, p6, p4, p1, p8, p3
purchase process Source: Questionnaire results analyzed with SPSS by the author
Coefficientsa
Unstandardized 95.0% confidence
coefficients Standardized coefficients interval for B
Model 1 B SE β t Sig. Lower bound Upper bound
Hypothesis Status
H1 Verified
H2 Verified
Table XVI. H4 Verified
Hypotheses H5 Verified
testing summary Source: The authors
5. Conclusions, recommendations and limitations Impact of
The following section presents a highlight of the conclusions obtained from the study. Generation Z
It points out the limitations which the study was faced with. This section also provides
recommendations and future directions of the study.
5.1 Conclusions
The aim of this research was to determine whether the preferences of members of 19
Generation Z have an impact on their real estate purchasing intention. To gain specific and
reliable results, the study was focused on the Generation Z members of Kosovo. In order to
meet the aims and objectives of the study, the study included a broad research of theoretical
background about Generation Z and a literature review of what is available about the
impact of the Generation Z preferences in the overall real estate industry. Furthermore, to
test the raised hypothesis an adequate questionnaire was used. The five raised hypotheses
have resulted in being accurate, which indicates that preferences of Generation Z influence
their real estate purchasing behavior to a significant extent.
As concluded from the theoretical background, generations imply different behavioral
patterns. Thus, generations differ in terms of their values, attitudes and lifestyle, which
translates in different preferences. Being the first generation that grew in the era of internet
and huge technology developments, Generation Z members have developed very unusual
needs and preferences compared to the other generations. Among other things, they use
different social media, prefer different advertisement, have different financial concerns,
prefer different location, appreciate authenticity, and feel the need to be constantly
connected. With the most members of the generation growing up, they represent the next
consumer cohort of the real estate industry. Consequently, understanding their needs and
preferences is a necessity.
From the conducted empirical study, it was concluded that real estate features
preferences, financial concerns, location preferences, marketing approach preferences and
real estate purchase process significantly impacts the Generation Z’s real estate purchase
intention. This also leads to the conclusion that generations, especially those who are about
to become the next consumers should be analyzed and understood to that extent so they can
be used to build competitive advantage and meet the consumers’ needs and preferences
which lead to high consumer satisfaction.
5.2 Recommendations
The fact that in this study Generation Z has proven to have a significant impact on the real
estate industry has led to the following recommendations:
• Stakeholders of real estate industry should work on studying and on understanding
the preferences and needs of Generation Z and on meeting them in order to improve
the overall performance of real estate industry and improve consumer satisfaction.
The policy-makers should try to make the real estate transactions system more
digital starting from listing, contacting the intermediaries to the registration of real
estate transaction all digitally.
• Since generation has proven to be a strong indicator of buying intention, a high
attention should be paid to understand dimensions of the purchasing intention such
as real estate features preferences, financial concerns, marketing approach, location
preferences, purchasing process and other dimensions that relate to different fields,
especially to the industries that require high attention to consumer preferences. Since
the Gen Z represents a significant proportion of Kosovo’s populations, the Ministry of
Environment and Spatial Planning of Kosovo should try to incorporate the real estate
PM and housing preferences of Gen Z in the Comprehensive Building Code of Kosovo,
38,1 which is still in the drafting process.
• Real estate agents/agencies should try to gain a higher awareness of the generational
studies and its benefits in their performance, and also try to integrate services that
members of different generations perceive as an added value. The real estate
agencies, developers and universities should enhance cooperation in conducting
20 comprehensive market research studies on marketing preferences of various
generations. The Ministry of Education in cooperation with the Ministry of
Environment and Spatial Planning of Kosovo could set up a research fund for
universities to help real estate agencies and developers understand the preferences of
various generations in Kosovo, including that of Gen Z.
• Real estate construction companies, architects, engineers and interior designers
should try to develop real estate features (such as age, dwelling type, room numbers,
smart home features, etc.) that are required and preferred by members of Generation
Z. Some of the features such smart home features can be subsidized with tax reliefs
by the municipal authorities in Kosovo. The municipalities can provide property tax
reliefs for the types of real estate that include the building management systems with
smart home features.
• Real estate agents/agencies, banks and sellers should understand the financial
concerns of Generation Z members’ in order to provide them with proper paying
methods and help them overcome their biggest obstacles when it comes to real estate
purchase. The authorities can in cooperation with banks provide subsidization to
banks so they can provide more favorable loans especially for installation of smart
home systems in residential units that are preferred by Gen Z.
• Real estate agents, construction companies and urban developers should take into
account the location preferences (proximity to common areas, green spaces,
neighborhood characteristics, etc.) of Generation Z members in order to offer them the
daily comfort they seek for their lifestyle. Since most of municipalities in Kosovo are
in the process of changing their urban plans based on the Law of Urban Planning of
Kosovo, more green spaces and neighborhood characteristics that are preferred by
Gen Z could be added to the urban plans that are in the process of drafting.
• Real estate agencies/agents should try to develop and strengthen modern marketing
strategies (including the social media, the channels of communication, the
advertisement, the visuals, the featured people, etc.) in order to attract and connect
with members of Generation Z. The Kosovo Cadastral Agency could seek donor
funds for the development of an integrated database where real estate agents can
place all their listings online with all the visuals and features that are preferred by
the Gen Z.
• Real estate agencies/agents should try to understand and adjust the real estate
purchase process to Generation Z members’ preferences.
5.3 Limitations
This study has faced particular limitations which relate to the literature available as well as
to the empirical study. The fact that the study does not have a comparative basis can be
considered as a limitation. When it comes to Generation Z and its impact on real estate
agents there is not enough literature available through which the study can be validated.
The lack of prior research studies regarding this topic is also considered to be a limitation of
this study.
The self-reporting questionnaire may affect the results of the study. Since the study is Impact of
conducted through a questionnaire it is less reliable than it would be if the study was Generation Z
conducted through certain observations. This limitation does not relate to the
questionnaire itself or the questions it includes, but it relates to the known fact that
respondents answering the questionnaire tend to fall into different biases that should be
noted as limitations of research.
21
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Further reading
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Corresponding author
Visar Hoxha can be contacted at: visar.hoxha@eukos.org
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