GENERATION Y: In Control, Content, and Community-Minded
STAYING CALM, COOL, COLLECTED
The U.S. unemployment rate shrunk to 5 percent in 2015—the lowest it has been since 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But despite the strengthening economy, Millennials are still making a conscious effort to deliberately invest in their futures.
To date, Millennials' most substantial long-term investments have been in their own human capital. Increasingly, young people are opting to stay in school rather than get jobs. If you’re a Millennial, you’re more likely to have graduated college than a member of any previous generation, and more likely to have gone on to grad school, according to the White House report. "In 2013, 47 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds received a postsecondary degree (associates, bachelor's, or graduate degree) and an additional 18 percent had completed some postsecondary education," the White House report notes.
All this education has and continues to cost Yers a great deal of money. Interest on student loans continues to accrue, as total loan debt was reported at $1.2 trillion by debt.org in late 2014, catapulting it beyond both auto loan and credit card debt. Close to half of all students who were enrolled during the 2013–14 school year borrowed money, an increase from around 30 percent in the mid-1990s.
Perhaps as a result of all this debt, Millennials are opting to stay at home after they graduate. The share of 18- to 34-year-olds living with their parents increased from 28 percent in 2007 to 31 percent in 2014, the White House points out in its report.
Possibly as a result of the housing crisis, and of Millennials' tendency to get married at a later age than their predecessors, those who do move out on their own are flocking to urban centers. There, they are opting to rent an apartment rather than take out a mortgage on one. In 2014, homeownership among Americans 35 years old and younger dipped to 36.2 percent, the lowest it’s been since the U.S. Census Bureau began measuring homeownership by age in 1982.
TRADING IN BADGES FOR MIRRORS, AND TONING DOWN THE FUN
Medina notes a shift in the attitudes of Millennial customers, away from the fun ethos that dominated much of the 2000s and toward a more responsible outlook on spending. To a large extent, Medina points out, Millennials grew up in a time of prosperity and defined themselves as a group with many opportunities for diversion. And, for years, companies banked on this when trying to target them. But "some of those chain tropes of old can't continue," Medina says. "While [Millennials] certainly appreciate silliness and humor, life has hit them pretty hard. Some of their hopes and dreams haven’t come to fruition."
Although the content marketers put in front of Millennials certainly needn't be dire, they've had to tone down the fun aspects in favor of higher-stakes content. According to Medina, Nordstrom is one brand that has been successful in adapting to the mind-set. Other companies, such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Urban Outfitters, simply continued to copy and paste old methods, so to speak, and have left much of the Millennial market behind as a result, Medina says.
Just as in the workplace, Millennials are asking to have reasons and causes for the brands they support with their earnings. "When Millennials were younger, they were very much about competitive consumption," Medina says. "But as they've gotten older, they've begun to see brands not as badges, but as mirrors," ones that reflect their values and beliefs.
And while they may not be loyal to the brands per se, Medina says they are loyal to strong messages they identify with. He points to the Web site Etsy as an example of a marketplace that appeals to Millennials, as it enables them to learn about artists and designers whose messages they value, while buying products they want to own.
Even companies that traditionally have stood out on the quality of their products have had to adjust. Dylan’s Candy Bar, for instance, has launched Dylan’s Candy BarN, a program that sells animal-shaped candy and donates a percentage of the proceeds to animal welfare programs.
Another ongoing trend has been the demand for more information from companies, as customers wish to know where the materials and ingredients of a product come from, as well as where they were produced and under what conditions.
In a recent New Yorker article, Michael Specter pointed out that a trend with Millennial customers is their growing desire for healthier fast food. "Speed and convenience matter as much as ever to American diners," Specter wrote. "But increasingly people…want to know what they are eating and how it was made; they prefer to watch as their food is prepared, see the ingredients, and have a sense of where it all came from. And they are willing to pay more for what they perceive to be healthier fare."