A new study of Millennial and Boomer purchasing trends, conducted by Radius Global Market Research suggests that conventional wisdom says that Millennials (18-32 year olds) and Boomers (49-67 year
olds) are more different than alike. But when it comes to shopping, the study found that while there are certainly differences, there are also some significant similarities between the two groups.
Top Similarities: Millennials vs. Boomers
- New media and technology are not just for the young. An overwhelming number of both Millennials (90%) and Boomers (86%) routinely
research products online. Boomers and Millennials are both engaging via social media at healthy rates. Female Boomers and Millennials use Facebook at a nearly identical rate (90%). And streaming
movies and television programming is a reality for both Millennials (77%) and Boomers (40%)
- Millennials and Boomers have similar concerns when making purchases. Both tend to focus primarily
on quality or price/value, depending on the category. Both groups bought more technology products last year, and both will increase spending in travel and apparel in 2014
- Millennials and
Boomers have the same habits when it comes to where they shop. Retail is by-and-large the prominent channel for buying most everyday packaged goods, apparel, and electronics. When it comes to travel,
both groups prefer to buy online
Top Differences: Millennials vs. Boomers
- Millennial consumers are more optimistic. They have a more favorable outlook on the
economy (71%) and were more apt to maintain/increase spending during the recession (55%)
- Millennials and Boomers have different buying priorities. Millennials place travel and apparel as
their top two priorities for increased spending in 2014. Boomers are more focused on “necessities,” ranking packaged foods and insurance products higher
- Boomers and Millennials
tend to access product information differently.While product research via PC is high with both groups, 60% of Millennials research via smart phone (vs. only 14% of Boomers). Boomers are twice
as likely (at 38%) to research in newspapers or magazines
- Word-of-mouth sways Millennials.The younger consumers rankword-of-mouth most influential as they make purchase
decisions across all categories. Boomers tend to rely on advertising and advice from sales reps
Top (3) Purchase Influencers by Category and Generation (Extremely/Slightly Influential) |
Category | Millennials | Baby Boomers |
Apparel | Word of mouth | Online shopping sites |
| Online shopping sites | Advertising |
| Search engine | Recommendation from sales rep |
|
Packaged goods | Word of mouth | Advertising |
| Advertising | Recommendation from sales rep |
| Search engine | Word of mouth |
|
Financial products | Word of mouth | Word of mouth |
| Company website | Advertising |
| Search engine | Company website |
|
Big-ticket purchases | Word of mouth | Word of mouth |
| Search engine | Company website |
| Advertising | Advertising |
Source: Radius Global, January 2014 |
Radius GMR senior vice president, Lesley Brooks, concludes that “…while it is
beneficial to understand the similarities and differences… it is also important… to look beyond these over-arching categories… Nuances such as gender require at least as much
attention… engaging both Boomers and Millennials…”
The firm’s proprietary Internet Panel represents over 3.4 million households, with over 6 million
consumers in the U.S. and over 1.5 million consumers in Canada, the U.K. and Europe, Australia and Scandinavia.
For additional information from Radius-Global, please visit here.