The amount of information about Gen Y has grown enormously since I began this blog almost two years ago. Every day, new blogs, articles and twitter messages purport to offer Gen Y insighs. Much is opinion and conjecture, which is helpful in framing the discussion, but has limited usefulness in for targeting and marketing planning.
Here are eight studies I recommend for data-backed Gen Y insights.
1. Accenture: Millennials at the Gates: Results from Accentures High Performance IT Research – Technology and new generation workers. “One-third of the mid-Millennials said they expect not only to use the computer of their choice,but also to access their preferred technology applications once in the workforce.”
2. College Board (with Art and Science Group): Longitudinal Study of High School Student Values and College Choices. “Millennials appear more like than different from their parents’ generation.”
3. Economist (with Genysys): Maturing with the Millennials: Are Organisations Prepared for Dealing with the Millennial Consumer? “Convenience, customization,
community and “cool”
4. Harris (With Charles Schwab and Age Wave): Gen Y Views Itself. “Gen Y would like to rename themselves the “Internet Generation” (32%). They really dislike being called “Generation Y” or “Millennials.””
5. Harvard Institute of Politics (with Harris): 15th Biannual Survey on Politics and Public Service“Nearly seven in ten 18-24 year-olds today (69%) say they see political engagement as an effective way of solving our nation’s problems, up six percentage points from fall 2007 (63%) and fall 2006 (60%) IOP polling.”
6. Circle (with Kettering): Millennials Talk Politics: A Study of College Student Political Engagement. “Millennials Dislike Spin and Polarized Debates and Seek Authentic Opportunities for Discussing Public Issues.”
7. Demos: Economic State of Young America “Today’s 20-somethings are likely to be the first generation to not be better off than their parents. Evidence of their declining economic opportunity and security abound, from widespread debt to lower earnings in today’s labor market for all but those with advanced degrees.”
8. Bureau Labor Statistics: A Generation Apart: Expenditure Patterns of Young Singles “A recent article using data from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) compares the spending patterns of young (21-to-29-year-old), single adults interviewed in 2004-05 to those of young, single adults interviewed twenty years earlier in 1984-85. Clear differences…”
