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Research Bauer Media Millennials

Experience is new status symbol for cash-strapped millennials, finds Bauer Media report

By Catherine Turner

January 23, 2015 | 3 min read

Experience is the new status symbol for cash-strapped young millennials in a post-recession Britain, according to new research by Bauer Media.

Bauer

Bauer commissioned The Millennials Chapter, an in-depth insight into the UK’s 15.8 million 16 to 34-year-olds to discover their motivations and fears. It found that experience, “unique, fleeting and personal”, is the millennials’ ultimate bespoke status symbol: 71 per cent would rather tell people about something they had done rather than what they had bought.

The research also uncovered five very different and distinct types of millennials whom brands and advertisers should engage with in new or more tailored ways.

Influencers have their voice and like it to be heard – especially online; adopters use knowledge and appearance to stand out; apprentices are typically younger and focus on self-progression rather than keeping up with the trends; the entertained, older and more likely to be parents, look to media brands primarily for entertainment and the contented are satisfied with life and don’t chase the latest trends.

Martin Diamond, Bauer Media insight and research director, said: “Millennials are too often seen within a media mindset as ‘the guy catching the 38 to Shoreditch, always going out’. Yet you realise it’s quite a broad audience.”

Two core pressures impact today’s 16 to 34-year-olds – the post recession economy and the digital world, leading to a rise of resilience and flexibility within the age-group.

Millennials are also expert knowledge-gatherers, switching between shallow knowledge to keep up and deep or niche knowledge to stand out and bond.

The Millennials Chapter began with an internal workshop, before the 15.8 million population was attitudinally segmented via TGI Crowdsource. More than 2,000 Millennials then took part in online surveys, in-depth interviews and interactive tasks.

The research, formed the backdrop of a major content partnership between Bauer and The Drum which includes behind-the-scenes videos of the participating millennials, and other exclusive content related to the research. To view the videos and see the research in full visit the dedicated hub.

Research Bauer Media Millennials

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