The Fluid Nature Of Gen Y’s Media Habits

Reports on the media habits of Gen Y consumers can lull marketers into viewing age as the primary consideration in forecasting media habits. Clearly, age is a factor — younger people do tend to be more diversified in their media consumption and are more likely to interact regularly with emerging media such as social and text messaging. However, media habits change as people move through different life stages, and these changes impact how people choose to interact with brands.

Research conducted by ExactTarget in collaboration with the Center for Media Design identified four Gen Y subgroups that each exhibit unique media habits.

• Teens Teens tend to be heavy media users into all things digital. However, this media use can be deceptive. For example, 57% of teens say they communicate with their friends most often by texting and yet only 16% have ever made a text-influenced purchase. Despite their heavy use of texting for socializing, teens are more likely to make purchases influenced by traditional channels like TV commercials (62%), catalogs (55%) and email (36%).

• College Students College students live highly compartmentalized media lives. This life stage represents the first time these consumers are operating independently from their parents. On one hand, they manage their social lives through social networks and text messaging. On the other, they are forced to interact with the “adult world” largely through email. Average media exposure is generally lower than commonly believed, primarily due to less-than-average time spent watching TV.

Continue Reading on MediaPost: Engage: GenY

Originally From “The Fluid Nature Of Gen Y’s Media Habits”| Published January 22, 2010