01 May Millennials: Lazy and Entitled?

New studies by The Boston Consulting Group, Barkley, and Service Management Group show Millennials in stark contrast to their reputation as the lazy and entitled generation. In fact, they are actually engaged in consumer influence with distinctive buying habits.

According to Christine Barton, a partner at BCG, a leading management consulting firm, we shouldn’t believe the hype that Millennials consume less than previous generations. She states, “On average, U.S. Millennials already shell out and influence the spending of hundreds of billions of dollars annually—an amount that will only increase as they mature into their peak earning and spending years. Those companies that truly ‘get’ this generation will have an opportunity to differentiate themselves and forge profitable long-term relationships with Millennial consumers.”

Millennials are more engaged in rating products and services. On the flip side of this, they rely more on recommendations from peers or friends than those of traditional “experts”. I think they even prefer input from strangers and social sites to input from a company.

In fact, the definition of expert has changed from one with professional and academic credentials to peers with personal and firsthand experience. This is evident in many of the Internet coaching businesses coming forth today.

It’s no surprise that Millennials consider themselves “digital natives”, using technology and social media as a natural and necessary part of their life and work.

Here’s an interesting find: when it comes to making purchases, Millennials are far more likely to favor brands that have Facebook pages and mobile websites.

According to executive vice president Jeff Fromm at Barkley, “This is a generation that engages with brands, channels, and service models in new ways—ways that have been instrumental in creating our current ‘participation economy.” He further says that they are always in a hurry, so it’s critical to get them to spend the time to develop a relationship with your brand.

How do you understand and reach this highly influential generation? Share your thoughts with us by commenting below or posting to our Facebook page.