Unbundling Assumptions About the Millennial Consumer

It’s true that the largest generation in history possesses unique traits that are turning the world economy on its ear. But in the rush to understand Millennials, important nuances have been drowned out by stereotypes. While Millennials may trend toward some of these stereotypes in a macro sense, there is danger in building business strategies based on generalizations. The reality is that Millennial behavior is not so typically “Millennial” when it comes to certain types of transactions. In fact, our research shows that this new generation of communications consumers shares many similarities to their parents in terms of how they shop for services.

Providers of telco, wireless, cable, over-the-top (OTT) content and other media and social services should take note: Context matters when designing strategies for Millennial-focused customer engagement. It’s important to “unbundle” preconceived notions about lives played out on Periscope, Snapchat or Instagram — and recognize that these communications-hungry consumers do have significant angst about handing over their personal details to every company that asks.