Millennials have a significant influence and serve as trendsetters in various industries, ranging from food to fashion. With this, businesses find the need to compete for millennial mindshare to have a competitive advantage.
However, these businesses somehow find it challenging to grab the attention and connect with millennials. Time and again, it is proven that the traditional approaches in marketing, sales, and advertising do not work for this generation.
Aside from this inability to establish a solid relationship with them, a lot of companies also make the mistake of believing in what we can say “myths” about this generation. One example of these common misconceptions is that millennials are not loyal to a brand.
So to understand the millennial consumer, a research study was conducted on 1,300 millennials from the database of Elite Daily. Here are the most interesting findings:
- Advertising doesn’t have a significant influence on millennials. Only 1 percent of the participants of the survey report that an attractive advertisement would entice them into trusting a brand more. Moreover, the study shows that this generation is not convinced of the authenticity of advertisements, which is why they tend to frequently skip ads and avoid banner ads on news sites and Facebook.
- The millennial consumer would prefer to purchase a car and rent a house. Out of the participants surveyed, 71% responded that they would rather buy a car instead of renting it, and 59% would choose to lease a house instead of purchasing one. Moreover, 61% admit that they can’t afford to buy a home.
A substantial number of millennials still live with their parents, are underemployed, and are still paying for their student loan. As millennials are getting married, having kids, and are getting better paying jobs later in life, this generation tends to put off purchasing their own house. Instead of being cheaper, a car is also perceived to be necessary for them to get around.
- Out of all the participants, 33 percent review blogs before making a purchasing decision, while only 3% rely on magazines, television news, and books. While older consumers depend on traditional forms of media, this generation use social media sites to obtain information on what’s going on. Furthermore, they trust content that is produced by their peers.
- Millennials value authenticity compared to content. When reading news, 43% of the participants consider authenticity as more important than content. In addition, they need to trust a website or company first before they would even consider consuming their content. Blogs must be authentic to appeal to millennials, and this generation connects more effectively with people than logos.
- They are interested to engage with brands on social media sites. The study revealed that 62% of millennials surveyed stated that they will tend to become a loyal customer if a brand engages with them through these sites.
- The results of the research indicate that millennials want to co-create products and services with businesses. A considerable 42% want to get involved with the development of companies’ future offerings. Those which allow millennials to take part or have a say in the process of product development will likely to be more competitive and preferred by millennials.
- Millennials use multiple devices, with 87% of the participants stating that they use around two to three tech devices daily. Moreover, 39% are likely to buy a tablet in the next half a decade, while 30% are planning to purchase a wearable device. If you want your brand to stay relevant in this consumer world dominated by millennials, it would be a great idea to engage them with new platforms as they are launched. For example, an app that runs on smartwatches could be a sound long-term investment that could engage millennials.
- Contrary to common belief, millennials are actually brand loyal, with 60% of the participants saying that they are often or always loyal to certain brands that they currently use. Hence, it would be awesome to establish a solid relationship with this generation sooner, because they will likely to stay loyal to your brand and purchase your products even as they grow older.
- Millennials expect companies to give back to society, as a whopping 75% of the participants stated that they are sick of corporate greed and that it is important for brands to give back. Furthermore, they prefer companies that provide support to local communities in one way or another.
With all the information shared in this article, we hope you’ll be able to understand the millennial consumer much better. By keeping these things in mind, you will surely be able to develop better strategies for your business, or simply connect with this generation more effectively.
