After 74 posts on the values, purchase habits and preferences of Millennials, it’s probably worth a short post on what I hope should be obvious by now: why it matters what Millennials think. Not only is this generation similar in size to the Boomers, they have enormous purchasing power. Today’s 18-29 year old has an average income of $29,000, and their earning power is growing faster than for other age cohorts. Most important, Millennials are meaningfully different in their values. Those differences will increasingly come to define products, marketing approaches and politics for the entire country. (p. 209)

Let’s start with politics. In their terrific (and prescient) book, Millennial Makeover, Winograd and Hais write:

“Political behavior resarch has consistently indicated that once most individual, and hence most generations, take on a party identification, they maintin it throughout their lives. As sociologist J.V. Namenorth noted, “Value orientations do not change much during a generation’s life time. Committed during its early stages a generation most often carried its value commitments into the grave”. If the Democrats can maintain this initial generational allegiance during the next two presidential elections, they should gain a decisive electoral edge for decades to come.”

Likewise, marketers know that brand affinities established early in a consumer’s life can persist for decades. This is why Bride’s magazine stays so fat year after year.

With so much at stake tomorrow, it’s little wonder marketers need to find what moves Millennials today. Some of their lifetime values are already becoming clear: Tolerance, the environment, authenticity, family, global perspective, team-work, immediacy, ethics. Others are still emerging. It remains to be seen how the current financial crisis will shape their career aspirations and life goals. Certainly there are fewer MBA’s looking for a career in investment banking this week, than a month ago. And the dream of homeownership may not be as compelling for today’s young people as for Gen X.