While eating lunch the other day with my two millennial children, the conversation turned to advertising. My son complained about being forced to watch a six second ad every time he wanted to look at anything.
“So you don’t like advertisements?” I asked.
Both children responded with a resounding “NO!”
Yet, according to Unruly, “these 18 to 34 year old digital natives are 112% more likely to share the ads they like with friends and family online than any other demographic.” However, 80% this age group mutes a brand’s ads and over half have thought about using apps to totally block any ads at all for a few reasons, including repetitive advertising and paranoia about an ad that shows up on all of their multiple devices.
So if traditional advertising is being rejected, how do millennials know what products to buy?
One answer? Reviews. My daughter says any product she purchases has to have at least a thousand reviews and a 4 or 5 star rating. Which begs the question. Don’t you spend more time watching reviews and researching products than you would watching a six second ad?
The difference, I’m told, is that is time spent doing something they want to do, when they want to do it, rather than being subjected to advertising about something they have no interest in at a time that is not convenient to them. But the most interesting aspect of Millennial shoppers today is how willing they are to reach out and search and be influenced. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtwpJhxFjbg
A millennials wants individuality, separation, to know that the choices they are making are making a difference. They don’t want to be pigeon-holed, or labeled. They don’t like targeted ads because it “creeps them out”, making them feel like they are being watched and followed. There is so much info out there and so many product choices that there can’t possibly be time to consider every option, so they have to ignore the ads and find other ways of deciding on products and how to purchase them. This is usually not a linear process. Millennial shoppers like to use digital media and social media channels for decision making on products and brands. Their most trusted sources for referrals on a specific product are significant others, friends and WOM (word of mouth) These are all very influential in both their pre and post buying behaviors. How do they decide on buying options? The most commonly used means (in descending order of importance) include face to face, Whatsapp, phone, facebook, messenger, and sometimes e-mail, instagram, snapchat, twitter and text messaging. The higher the price tag, the more an expert is sought out over friends and WOM, and it typically takes longer to make that purchase.
So back to lunch with my kids. I’m thinking this all sounds like so much more time and energy that just watching a thirty-second and and deciding to buy a product or not. “Isn’t this making things much more complex for you Millennials?” I ask.
“No,” they respond, “it puts us in the driver’s seat. We get to shape and control our buying choices, but not only that, we get to control the marketing! And one other thing, Mom, we really don’t like to be called Millennials.”
Sources:
Mulloy, T., (2016). Millennials Are 112% More Likely To Share Video Ads. Unruly, December 05,
- Retrieved from:
https://www-warc-com.libproxy1.usc.edu/NewsAndOpinion/News/Millennials_love_and_
Hall, A., Towers, N., (2017). Understanding how Millennial shoppers decide what to buy:
Digitally connected unseen journeys. International Journal of Retail & Distribution.
Emerald Insight, Vol. 45, Is. 5, pp. 498-517. Retrieved from:
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-11-2016-0206.
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