Millennials are self-sufficient and autonomous, and they want to feel protagonists. They value participation and collaboration, prefer to share rather than own, and demand values such as transparency, sustainability and social commitment.
These are some of the characteristics of the so-called "Generation Y", which has six key features that should be taken into account to be aware of their trends, which are gaining attention in the business world.
They are characterized by their mastery of technology. They prefer the Internet to conventional television. Fifty-nine percent watch movies via the Internet and 46% watch television, also via the Internet, a higher percentage than in other age groups.
They use multiple digital channels and devices for their activities. According to Millward Brown's AdReaction: Marketing in a multiscreen world, on average, they spend around seven hours a day online, using multiple digital screens, which is 5% more than the global average.
According to Telefónica Global Millennial Survey 2014, 78% of millennials in Latin America own a cell phone, 37% a tablet, 70% a laptop and 57% a desktop. They are addicted to cell phones, they feel the need for constant connectivity and 45% admit that they could not spend a single day without their smartphone.
88% of millennials millennials Latin American millennials have profiles on social networks, which are not only a means of communication for them but an integral part of their social life. These new consumers are active and before buying, they seek and listen to opinions, generate and share content and are very sensitive to their online experience. If their experience with a company or service is positive, they tend to share and recommend it, and they trust the opinions of their friends more than those of the brands themselves when making purchasing decisions.
Eighty-six percent of today's consumers say they would stop doing business with a company because of a bad customer experience, up from 59 percent four years ago. For millennials, negative online and mobile digital experiences have a much greater negative impact than on other age groups.
Millennials are customers who are not only looking for good customer service, but also demand personalization and expect the company to adapt to their preferences. To meet their demands, companies must expand their knowledge of their customers, incorporating social information about them in order to provide them with more value.
Excerpt from the article "Six key traits of Millennials, the new consumers", published in Forbes Central America magazine.
