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| Consumer research | ||||
| Y GENERS AND CONSUMPTION Catering to the Digital Culture Baby Boomers, X Geners, Y Geners – they’re the big consumers in our marketplace today. Consumer trends for each demographic are well researched. The most interesting and potentially productive challenge is not so much in understanding the current trends, but in using this information, along with generational understanding, to predict future trends. For product developers, organizations and marketing experts alike, the aim today is to ‘future proof’ so there are no surprises or miscalculations based on a misunderstanding of the peculiarities of targeted consumers. A key message to achieve future proofing is that the pre-Y Geners, that is those born before about 1982, are digital immigrants. Y Geners, also known as the Millennial generation, are strongly connected to digital culture, such that they are regarded as being digital natives. What this means is that those born before around 1982 have an ‘accent’ when using digital technologies, while those born since then do not. An accent impacts on the confidence, capacity and capabilities. This is increasingly evident to teachers in classrooms all around the world. Teachers – mostly digital immigrant X Geners and Baby Boomers - now deal with a new kind of student, one who is technologically savvy, works at ‘twitch’ speed, is better suited to visual rather than textual language, and thinks in a non-linear format. These students regard their community to be global, rather than local, and boundaries historically imposed by differences such as distance, culture, age and the like can be rendered irrelevant using digital technologies. They often engage in complex game play, developing sophisticated strategic and leadership online skills and utilize computers for interactive activities rather than simple transmission of information. They build their own wikis and blogs, create multiple identities and share intimate information with total strangers. Their icon is the mobile phone, and they regard emails as slow – time is measured in seconds for Millennials – hence sms is first choice for communicating. This is incredibly powerful information to know and understand. It means that Y Geners will product search on line, they will rely first on images and then may read text, they will look for something digitally interactive to connect with that accompanies a product. They will hope to gain a network (of other people) through the purchase/use of the product. They need to find out quickly. Y Geners and the current birth generation tentatively named the Z Generation are the current and future consumers. These are challenges for the industry, especially those dominated by X Gen and Baby Boomers – the digital immigrants who, in essence, lack the (digital) culture of the Y Gen. Lesson learned. Associate Professor Donna Pendergast PhD has just released her book “The Millennial Adolescent” available at http://shop.acer.edu.au/acer-shop/product/0864316933 |
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