New research segments millennials into six distinct categories to help companies improve marketing and business models.
Reaching the millennials generation is hugely important for companies. While the peak spending years of some millennials is still a bit in the future, its clear that younger millennials are already influencing the buying patterns of older ones right now.
The Boston Consulting Group, Service Management Group, and Barkley released a new study today in conjunction with the upcoming Share.Like.Buy 2012 conference. It's called The Millennial Consumer: Debunking Stereotypes. Click here to download a copy of the report.
Here's a few of the interesting findings that will help companies market to this influential millennials generation:
- U.S. millennials (defined in this study as those within the age of 16-34) are a generation actively engaged in consuming and influencing. Although they spend roughly the same amount of time online, they spend way more time creating user-generated content, rating products and services, and broadcasting their thought and experiences than non-millennials.
- Millennials are receptive to cause marketing and are more 7% more likely to choose products whose purchase supports a cause than non-millennials are.
- Of millennials who make direct donations, almost half donate through their mobile devices, compared with only 5 percent of non-millennials.
- Millennials are 16% more likely than non-millennials to explore brands on social networks.
- Millennials overwhelmingly agree (47% versus 28% of non-millennials) that their lives feel richer when they're connected to people through social media.
The Millennial Consumer: Debunking Stereotypes report also identifies six distinct segments of U.S. millennials that can help companies improve the ways they develop their marketing, brands, and business models to reach this increasingly important audience. (Click on the image to enlarge.)
Source: The Millennial Consumer: Debunking Stereotypes. Click here to download.
There are significant differences in the attitudes and behaviors of the millennials generation, so identifying these six different sub-groups will be useful going forward for anyone trying to reach them.
Millennials numbered 79 million last year and they are projected to far outnumber baby boomers by 2030: 78 million to 56 million.
Just for fun, here's a quiz you can take to see how closely you match up with the millennial generation:
Do you have a Millennial mindset? Take the quiz at quiz.sharelikebuy.com.