The Rise & Rise of the Millennial Generation: 9 Things You Need To Know
The World-Changing Generation
Even though you’ve probably read a lot about Millennials, understanding how this generation ticks could be critical to the future of your business.
Millennials: The Largest Living Generation in the USA In 2019
Millennials have taken the mantle from the Baby Boomers and the gap will widen quickly over the coming years as you can see on this graph.
Who Are The Millennials and What Makes Them Different?
The Millennial generation includes those born between 1980 and 2000. In 2019 they make up around 30% of the population. (Source: Business Insider)
Millennials have already begun to influence world commerce in ways we have never witnessed before, and more is to come.
They are a large generation with notably different values and views to those of their parents, the Baby Boomers.
As they go into their 40s they are coming into their peak spending years and are already a powerful and influential consumer force.
By 2020 Millennials are predicted to have a spending treasure chest of more than $1.4 trillion. (Source: Fool.com).
Millennials are Educated, Diverse and Driven.
Millennials are the best-educated group of young adults in US history, with ⅓ of older millennials (ages 26–33) having at least a four year college degree. (Pew Research Center)
Their higher level of education is evidenced by their smarter shopping habits and greater focus on the ethics of the brands they buy. They look beyond the product and evaluate the integrity of the manufacturer.
Millennials are a highly motivated group with diverse ethnicity: 19% are Hispanic: 14% African-American and 5% Asian (Source: Marketing Charts). They are pioneering — many start their own businesses, or pick off higher management positions in large companies.
They seek a career that offers challenges, opportunities for advancement and personal growth.
Millennials Purchasing Strategies are Very Different
The Millennial generation is often viewed as one big sector, however, retailers have to acknowledge this generation is comprised of people of widely different ages which will affect their individual buying decisions. The skill is to figure out what specific marketing strategies will connect with them and thus influence how they shop.
Millennials have a strong desire for job satisfaction — they want to feel what they do counts, and if an opportunity arises across the country or the world, they want to be able to say ‘Yes’ and go.
Millennials Influence on The Property Market
As a Boomer my father always told me it was vital to buy a home sooner rather than later, it was a given then. Something to strive for no matter what. I was 22 years old when I first took the step.
It felt good to be a ‘property owner’ until a particularly smart work colleague reminded me with a smug smile, it was the bank which owned my property, not me.
I deflated like a punctured balloon. He was right, and it was the start of decades of living in many different bank-owned properties, until I cashed in, in 2006. I’ve rented ever since.
How Does a Millennial Think About Property?
Millennials lived through the 2008 financial crash and while they were young at the time, they were still acutely aware of the devastation it brought to their families and friends who lost homes, jobs or both and took a serious financial knock.
To a Millennial, those events underscored the fallacy that owning a home was the ‘safest place’ to invest your cash. This fact has influenced them deeply as they’ve matured. Home ownership figures have declined by 8% in the past decade, driven by the generation’s aversion to mortgage debt and the ever increasing cost of home ownership.
Many work in high-tech industries which have driven up property prices wherever they operate. This has meant the cost to buy even a humble home, is prohibitive. Unlike their Boomer parents who bought at prices we will never see again.
While they are poorer than Boomers were at the same stage in in their careers, many young Millennials prefer to live in expensive urban apartments and are happy to pay the high rents that quality inner-city properties command.
They thrive on the status, enjoy entertainment, financial opportunities, diversity in places to eat and socialise, all on their doorstep. They feel safe. They are not interested in living where their parents lived, in the suburbs, until they start a family. They seek out life experiences ahead of assets.
This generation is staying single longer than the Boomers did. The average Boomer married between 18 and 23 years old. Many Millennials are waiting until their early or even mid 30s.
Many of the Millennial generation are now at a stage in their life where they are firmly settled in their careers and are perhaps considering the next step — a family and a home. As a result, they are driving an increase in the single-family home rental market, due in part to the rising costs of buying a home and their negative views on mortgage debt.
Many Millennials Stay With Their Parents Longer
A larger percentage of this generation than ever before, continue to live in the family home because they can’t afford to move out. The numbers involved have increased dramatically since the turn of the century.
Individually millennials earn less money at their age than their Boomer parents did, but as couples, their combined income level is higher. However, when it comes to a mortgage they hesitate and are less likely to take on the debt than previous generations.
As the generation ages, gets married and has a family, apartment living is less practical, so they look to rent a single-family home with space and good public transport options for their commute. They are increasingly renting not necessarily just for the short term but longer term and maybe even indefinitely.
This is how they are influencing the property market and some shrewd investors have already jumped on the trend and are adding more single-family homes to their rental portfolios.
Millennials Influence in Other Sectors
Millennials are influencing almost every other sector of the market. They are more health-conscious and their views are influencing trends in the food industry, gyms and fitness as well as healthy living.
Retail, fashion, restaurants and travel are all influenced. Many of this generation have spent time travelling overseas to places in Asia and Europe, South America, Australia and New Zealand, enjoying different cuisines on the way, then seeking them out when they return.
Growing up in the digital age, social media plays a enormous role in their buying habits. With 62% of millennials stating they are more likely to become a regular customer of a brand which connects with them on social networks. This is hugely significant data. The generation is so big they wield a lot of weight, in influencing the habits, traditions and beliefs of groups and individuals in society as well as in economic ways. (Pew Research Center)
This generation is more likely to be swayed by leading social media influencers than their friends or contemporaries.
Millennials Buying Habits
For businesses to be successful selling to Millennials, they must focus on combining genuine and trusted influencer-validated content and present it seamlessly along their customers’ buying journey. If companies are successful in building strong customer allegiances and cultivating a positive focus for their brand, the potential is there to increase their business exponentially. (Pew Research Center)
Affiliating with sector-influencers benefits brands and helps them to deliver personalised, and relevant experiences to their consumers at every stage of the buying funnel. This strategy enhances and builds brand-awareness and more importantly — trust. It will ultimately speed the path-to-purchase.
When it comes to shopping, Millennials play a huge role in influencing buying patterns. Surprisingly, they are still drawn by the in-store shopping experience. This is causing uncertainty in the retail sector as it’s bucking recognised logic in the digital age.
Millennials are the first digital generation, but 81% of their spending takes place in regular high street stores and 57% of millennial in-store shoppers make a purchase. (Source: https://www.buxtonco.com/millennials).
In conclusion, it is clear the future of world markets in many sectors is being shaped and redefined by the Millennial generation. It has been hinted they may even be the influence that drives the renaissance of the U.S. economy: confronts long standing attitudes: pushes for increased productivity and insists on rejuvenation.
No one knows for sure, but it promises to be a very interesting and exciting future.
