ACCORDING TO MARKETING STUDY BY SCARBOROUGH, MILLENNIALS HAVE UNIQUE WAYS THEY ENGAGE WITH MEDIA

 

According to a recent study by Scarborough Research, Millennials, Americans age 18 to 29, are 53% more likely than all U.S. adults to feel that social media sites are very important for finding information about news and current events. The study provides marketers and advertisers with a tool to better navigate the digital generation by examining that 43% of Millennials identifed as a race or ethnicity other than white.

Media engagement by younger people has evolved significantly over the past ten years. By examining the news consumption trends of American adults age 21-34* over the last decade, marketers, advertisers and media agencies can see the clear transition from traditional news media toward more digital media.

Evolution from Analog to Digital (Adults 21 – 34)
	2001	2006	2011
Traditional
Daily Newspaper Avg Issue Readership	40%	35%	24%
Listened to News/Talk/Information/ Personality Radio Past Week	15%	15%	14%
HHLD Subscribes to Cable TV	67%	58%	52%
AM Local TV News	N/A	33%	32%
Evening Local TV News	N/A	42%	36%
PM Local TV News	N/A	26%	25%
National/Network TV News	N/A	24%	19%
Digital
Spend 20+ Hrs on Internet in Avg Week	8%	11%	20%
Listened to Online Radio Past 30 Days	N/A	13%	27%
Internet News	33%	42%	44%
Internet Sports Scores/Updates	18%	20%	27%
Internet Financial Information/Services	19%	21%	20%
Source: Scarborough USA+ Study, November 2012

Millennials are the first generation to internalize the concept of “glocalism.” Understanding that, due to technology, Millennials feel hyper-connected both to their local neighborhoods as well as to the world at large is essential to crafting outreach plans that resonate with their sensibilities. For Millennials, who they are and where they live are intrinsically linked.

Targeting Millennials where they live ensures that your message is being heard.

Millennials Congregate in Heavily Hispanic Markets
Designated Market Areas	Index
Top Markets  (Millennials represent 34% more of the adult population of than in measured markets overall)
Bakersfield, CA	134
El Paso, TX	131
Salt Lake City, UT	130
Harlingen, TX	126
Fresno, CA	121
Least Likely Markets (The Millennial population in Fort Myers, FL is 25% lower than in measured markets overall)
Fort Myers, FL	75
Tampa, FL	81
West Palm Beach, FL	83
Harrisburg, PA	88
Toledo, OH	91
Source: Scarborough USA+ Study, November 2012

Millennials are more likely than any other generation to have diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds; 43% of Millennials identify as a race or ethnicity other than white as compared with 38% of Generation X and 26% of Baby Boomers.

Millennial Heritage
	Millennials		GenerationX		Baby Boomers
	% of Population	Index	% of Population	Index	% of Population	Index
Non-Hispanic
White	57%	83	62%	89	74%	107
Black/African    American	13%	119	11%	104	11%	102
Asian/Other	9%	150	7%	122	5%	82
Hispanic	21%	149	20%	139	10%	72
Source: Scarborough USA+ Study, November 2012

AOL debuted chat rooms in the mid-1990s when the oldest Millennials were just 10 years old. They are the first generation to be raised with constant access to digital networking. Today, Millennials spend just over 82 minutes a day on social networking activities, 32 minutes longer per day than the average adult. It is an ingrained part of their lives that has become even more prevalent with the continued advancements in wireless technology.

Millennials Are Extremely Social
In the past 30 days, Millennials…	Index
60% Visited a Friend’s Profile/Page	155
52% Commented on a Friend’s Post	164
49% Updated Their Status	209
48% Sent a Message or Email	149
41% Posted Picture(s)	181
39% Posted that They "Like" Something	176
39% Watched a Video	187
35% Updated Their Profile	211
24% Used IM	216
17% Followed or Became a “Fan"	192
Source: Scarborough USA+ Study, November 2012

Partially due to their lifelong ease of access to information, Millennials are the first American generation to expect news and current events to come to them. Though Millennials will thoroughly investigate stories that interest them, they expect news outlets to first reach out to them. When asked how they found out about recent major news events, Millennial responded identically – social media.

By leading with recognizable brand instead of putting emphasis on platform, marketers can reach Millennial audiences in a way that resonates most with the ways in which they already consume news. Millennials are 53% more likely than all U.S. adults to feel that social networking websites are very important for finding information about news or other current events.

Millennial News Consumption Media
Media	Index	% of Respondents
Read a newspaper in the past week (print or e-edition)		52%
Used the internet for local news (past 30 days)	118	34%
Used the internet for national news (past 30 days)		30%
Visited a newspaper website (past 30 days)		28%
Used a mobile device to read a newspaper (past 30 days)	156	18%
Source: Scarborough USA+ Study, November 2012

Millennials are nearly twice as likely as all U.S. adults to watch or download TV programs online and more than half of them subscribe to cable. Millennials are 18% more likely than all U.S. adults to have used VOD in the past 30 days. When advertising to this consumer through television, make digital media a part of your marketing mix, suggests the report.

Millennials and Television

Television Viewing (Past 30 days)

35% visited a broadcast TV website (Index 117)

27% watched or downloaded TV programs online (Index 196)

41% own a DVR

30% used Video on Demand in the past 30 days (Index 118)

25% use VOD for TV shows (Index 125)

Broadcast Networks (Watched past 7 days)

FOX 57%

ABC 55%

CBS 48%

NBC 39%

CW 18%

Cable Networks (Watched past 7 days)

ESPN 28%

History 26%

Discovery Channel 26%

TBS 25%

Source: Scarborough USA+ Study, November 2012

A glossary of Millennial terms:

• OMG – “Oh my gosh!” Used by Millennials to express disbelief.
• Do it Up – To do something with purpose. To be serious or motivated.
• Just Sayin’ – A phrase stating their own opinion, not a fact.
• Drop a Pin – To meet at a location not familiar to the group, they will place a digital pin in a Google map and text said map to the group of friends.
• Totes – An abbreviation of the word “totally.”
• Crazy – As a modifier, “crazy” means “very” or “many.”
• Hit Me Up –Use to mean “contact me.”
• Moves Like Jagger – Cool
• Not Feelin’ It – Disinterest or disapproval.
• Word. – Means “the truth was spoken.”
• Say What? – “Please explain it to me.”

COMMENTARY:   Are you conducting research about the Generation Y or Millennial generation?  If so, I recommend that you read my expansive blog posts about the Millennial generation by clicking HERE.   I also recommend that you read Scarborough's "Millennials: OMG: Getting Inside The Millennial Mind" below: 

Scarborough Millennials Infographic from turk5555

 

Courtesy of an article dated December 12, 2012 appearing in MediaPost Publications Research Brief

Comments

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