Clearly, there is money to be made mining the propensities of this group.

“People are trying to get the inside scoop on this generation,” says Jason Dorsey, the center’s co-founder and chief strategy officer. “They come to us saying, ‘We can already tell they’re different, but we don’t know how different, and we don’t know what to do about it.’ ”

Social trends, especially those driven by technology, ripple from the youngest generation to the oldest, Dorsey says. Automakers must determine what built-in technology future drivers will expect. Advertisers must realize that their target audience is watching YouTube instead of live TV. If Gen-Z’ers prefer to shop on their phones and choose to attend college online — and do not feel that it is necessary to conduct a job interview in person or work in an office building — then the broader culture must respond and adapt, he says.

Last year, the research company — which also gathers data about Baby Boomers, Gen X and millennials — launched a national survey to learn more about how Gen Z communicates and uses technology. The findings confirmed trends and illuminated a few new ones: Yes, this generation communicates almost entirely through screens and not always with actual words (GIFs, videos and emoji also do the trick). Gen-Z’ers are less idealistic and more thrifty than millennials, having grown up in the twin shadows of the recession and student debt crisis. When it comes to privacy on social media sites such as Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr or Twitter, the survey showed that teens are far less guarded than millennials and Gen X members. Members of Gen Z think that everyone should get a smartphone at age 13 and that it is acceptable to use it basically anywhere — at a family dinner, during a religious service, even at weddings (even their own weddings, the survey shows.)

And that is just scraping the surface. This is one national survey of 1,250 people, Denison says, and there is not a ton of research out there otherwise — Gen Z is still largely uncharted territory.