Adelita O’Dell-Morrow Applied Consumer Insights

GENERATION Y

Age Bracket Key Characteristics

•  Innovative •  Creative •  Open minded •  Entrepreneurial spirit

( Fr an co is d e Waz ie r e s , L’O r e a l )

WHO IS GENERATION Y?: MILLENNIALS

MARKET SIZE

¡ 21% larger than baby boomers

¡ Largest consumer and employee group in history § Represent more than

1/3 the global population (Erickson,7)

¡ Spend $139 billion annually

MARKET SIZE

Baby Boomers Millennial

78 million 95 million

DEMOGRAPHICS

17%

22% 37%

24%

Location of Millennial Population

Northeast Midwest South West

¡  Largest population of Millennials live in the South §  37%

WHERE DOES GENERATION Y LIVE?

¡ 

RACE & ETHNICITY

¡ Millennial men and women have less income than previous generations § Under 25 yrs. old

unlikely to work full-time

¡ Millennial household spends about $37,000 a year § Only 75% of an average

household

¡ Slow recovery from the recession has decreased Millennials’ income

WEALTH

¡ Debtors under the age of 35 increased about 4% between 2004 and 2007

¡ In 2007, 83% of the youngest householders were indebted § College loans

DEBT

Attitudes

¡ Want to attend an elite university

¡ Cheating has become more acceptable ¡ Emphasis is put on

grades § More student want to get

good grades than learn

Attainment ¡  Out of 76 million students

in 2007, 28 million were Millennials

¡  Secondary Education

§  More that 90% of children ages 15, 16, or 17 are in school

¡  Higher education among Millennials ages 25-29 §  At least 35% of women have a

bachelor's degree §  27% of men have at least a

bachelor’s degree

EDUCATION

Insurance

¡ Few Millennials have insurance through employers

¡ 49% of Millennials cite high cost for their lack of health insurance § 28% of 18-24 year olds § 26% of 25-34 year olds

Health Problems

HEALTH

¡ 36% of Millennials (under 30) used alternative medicine in a one-year span

60%

15% 13%

lower back pain

migrains or severe

headaches

chronic joint

symptoms

Ages 18-24

¡ More than 1 of 3 18-24 year olds are physically inactive

¡ More than half of 20- to 34-year old Millennials are overweight § 62% men § 51% women

¡ Most don’t eat healthily or exercise § Weight-loss industry

benefits

WEIGHT

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

¡ Have experienced financial and emotional security

¡ Credential Driven § Study abroad § Extracurricular activities § Volunteer work

¡ Emphasize grades § More students want to get

good grades than learn

Beliefs

¡ Millennials ages 21 to 23 § Believe they grew up too

fast §  Thing they lack innocence § Are “pessimistic about

America’s direction and its leadership, but enthusiastic about their connections to family and friends.”

( N or th we s te r n M utua l L i fe Insu r ance Co . 1997 -2004 re se arch )

GROWING UP A MILLENNIAL

Why is Gen Y anxious?

¡ 81% of Gen Y expect another terrorist attack to happen in their lifetime (Erickson, 27)

¡ 71% believe they will see environmental damage from global warming (2005)

¡ Grew up in an era of conflict

¡ Witnessed many large-scale tragedies § Columbine shootings § 911 § Wars in Iraq/Afghanistan § Hurricane Katrina

GENERATION Y ANXIETY

LIFESYTLE

¡  Abuse drugs ¡  Binge drink ¡  Adverse to committed

sexual relationships ¡  Lack boundaries in personal

issues/life

§  55% believe that it is not wrong

to have premarital sex §  57% of boys and 42% of girls

have had sex by 11th grade (The Millennial, 346)

§  40% of 18-22 year olds have smoked a cigarette in the last 30 days

§  More than 1 in 10 Millennials ages 19-29 took part in binge drinking within a 30-day time span

§  20%-30% of 18-22 year olds used illicit drugs in a 30-day time span

NEGATIVE BEHAVIORS

¡ Postpone committed relationships

¡ Stay closer to family of origin longer than past generations § Money § Advice

Mothers ¡ Almost 40% of babies

born in 2007 were born out of wedlock

¡ Millennials are the majority of new mothers § 64 % of new mothers are

under 30 years old

FAMILY

¡  E-technologies are linked to § Poor writing skills § Shorter attention span/

thrill-seeking behaviors § Multi-tasking

HIGH TECH GENERATION

¡  Favor technological tools §  iPods § Cell phones

¡  Use social networking sites

regularly

THOUGHTS & ATTITUDES

¡ Self-confident ¡ Socially conscious

(want to improve the world)

¡ Suspicious of institutions

¡ Team players ¡ Failure is defined as not

finding one’s true life passion

Impatient

¡ Gen Y wants everything now

¡ Have a sense of immediacy

¡ Average tasks are considered “urgent”

ATTITUDES

¡ Self-involved ¡ Hungry for a

individualized spiritual experience

¡ Like products that are personalized

¡ 

“ITS ALL ABOUT ME”

Attitude 1

¡ “It’s all about me” § Self-involved § Need for attention

¡ Crave individual praise and recognition

Attitude 2

¡ Strong concern for social justice and environmental protection

¡ Can be great team players

CONTRADICTORY ATTITUDES

¡  Strong feeling of acceptance

and inclusion ¡  Want to live in places that

have ethnic variety ¡  Millennials are globally

oriented §  Travel §  Multilingual

¡  Tend to be more open and accepting of dif ference §  Gender §  Color §  Religion §  Sexual orientation

Pew Research Center

¡ Among 18-25 year-old Millennials § 47% favor legalization of

gay marriage § 61% believe gays & lesbians

approve of gay adoption § 89% believe inter-racial

dating is acceptable § 2/3 believe the growing

number of immigrants strengthens America

DIVERSITY

¡ Want to make a difference in the world § 61%

¡ Volunteer § 81% in a year

¡ Believe that is important to help others in need

ACTIVISM

Pew Research Center

¡ 18-25 year olds identify life goals as… § Being rich § Being famous

Harris Interactive Survey 2007

¡ Among 13-21 year olds, § 56% dream of being

millionaires § 1/3 aspire to be a famous

musician/singer § 40% envision curing

diseases

LIFE GOALS

¡ Want to reshape the work environment

¡ Need frequent performance appraisals and regular feedback

¡ Hungry for fast-paced career advancements

¡ Demand a work-life balance

¡ Low employment retention rates

¡ Career and career achievements are top priorities

¡ Large size of Generation Y will enable Ys to dominate the work force for the next 40 years (Erickson, 8)

¡ Can expect to have multiple careers in one lifetime § Job hoppers

CAREER LIFE

¡ Relying less on future benefits of Social Security (Palmer, 1)

¡ Only 11% of 21-24 year olds own an IRA or participate in a 401(k)-type retirement plan, (The Millennials, 315)

¡ Only 19% of workers participate in an employer-provided retirement plan § Ages 21-24

RETIREMENT

¡  Alsop, Ron. The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking Up the Workplace . San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2008. Print.

¡  Erickson, Tamara. Plugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work . Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2008. Print.

¡  Greenberg, Eric and Weber, Karl. Generation We: How Millennial Youth are Taking Over America and Changing our World Forever. Emeryville : Pachutusan, 2008. Print.

¡  Johnson, Lisa and Hanson, Cheri. Mind Your X’s and Q’s: Satisfying the 10 Cravings of a New Generation of Consumers . New York: Free Press, 2006. Print.

¡  New Strategist Editors. The Millennials: Americans Born 1977 to 1994 . Fourth Ed. The American Generations Series. Ithaca: New Strategies Publications, 2009. Print.

¡  Palmer, Kimberly. "Better Teach Your Children Well." U.S. News & World Report 147.9 (2010): 28. Academic Search Complete . EBSCO. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.

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