Who are the GenY? Like any other generation, birthdates might be a relevant indicator. In this specific case, Gen Y are born around the same historical period, that is from the mid-80' to today. However, it is more in terms of shared needs and expectations that they offer an interesting case to study. One of the key features of this cohort is to have grown immersed in technology. In a recent survey of a large panel of American College students , 97% own a computer, 94% own a cell phone, 44% read blogs and 75% belong to an online social network. But why would they be almighty? Mainly because of their age. They represent an incredibly active and demanding commercial target, whose desires and needs must be taken into account. They have undergone significant social evolutions that shaped their relations with the political sphere, with companies, and with other individuals. They handle new technologies better than any other generations.
[...] Indeed, they consider that living exclusively for their work was the curse of their parents and thus they require convincing justification for every task they are asked to perform. They consider flexibility as the keystone of their professional career. However, this feature is no more understood as a mere arbitrage between office hours and home life but as constant multiple opportunities of workplaces. On the other hand, companies start to face baby-boomers' retirements and could not afford to loose these new skilled workers, whose expectations begin to shape offices' life. [...]
[...] Freedom lies at the core of much behaviour. Gen-Y desire to be able to jump from one brand to another any time they want if one label do no more fulfil their expectations. However, this dialogue still exists but has to be entertaining and creative. For example, a daring but pertinent form of this new necessary cooperation between brands and consumers could be found in Fiat's communication around the recently reedited Fiat 500. On a dedicated website (http://www.fiat500.com/fr/), the firm proposes an incredibly wide range of customer's implications in the creative and communicational process. [...]
[...] The recent evolution towards what is known under the pseudonym of web which might soon turn to web definitely shaped the relations between brands and their consumers. This made the entire system evolve from a mere with a unidirectional flow of information, to an effective collaborative network. Consumers have gained an incredible power over companies and are now able to coordinate actions to influence brand's offer. For example, blogs are under constant surveillance to detect critics of products. Paradoxically enough, if consumers are eager to experience personalized offers from brands, they are mainly unlikely to divulgate personal information. [...]
[...] They refuse established channels in favour of more creative and specific actions, such as mobile-phone coordinated mobilisation known under the name of “flash mob”. During theses happenings, a large group of persons gather in a public place, express a brief message using unusual methods and quickly disperse. (lying down on the floor without making any noise to protest against an ethnic cleansing uncovered by mass media is a good example). This trend is reinforced by the increasing consciousness that colours their consumption behaviours. [...]
[...] Some groups enable the melange of other influences, some not. For example, one could easily belongs to Ipod community” while getting dress as a Dirty South Crunker. However, it might be less frequent to see Goths wearing fluo sneakers or base ball caps. Another difficulty for any potential interlocutor is that these identifications are quickly shifting one from another. This trend is mainly due to the technological environment Gen Y are evolving in. Indeed, the latter allows a constant observation of many different groups, and might therefore promote “migration” over times. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
