Generation Y or Gen Y refers to people born between the early to mid-1980s and the early 2000s. We also call it the ‘Millennial Generation.’ We often refer to people born during that period as ‘Millennials.’ People base the name ‘Generation Y’ on the generation that preceded the Millennials, i.e., Generation X. Generation X people were born from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s.
Some people refer to Generation Y people as Echo Boomers or the Boomerang Generation.
Gen Y people are tech-savvy because they grew up with computers, laptops, and electronic games. At least half of them also grew up with smartphones and tablets.
Compared to their predecessors, they are immune to most traditional marketing and sales techniques.
Not only did they grow up with technology, but also with exposure to sophisticated marketing since early childhood.
Generation Y – brand loyalty
Gen Y people are significantly less brand loyal than Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers were born during the two decades after WWII when the global economy was booming.
Their lifetime access to commutations devices and the Internet has made them flexible regarding brands and fashion. Their style consciousness is similarly flexible.
Gen Y members are much more segmented as an audience.
Generation Y self image
Millennials have a more negative self-image than their predecessors. Fifty-nine percent of Gen Y members see themselves as self-absorbed, while 49% describe themselves as wasteful.
Only 30% and 20% of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers respectively described themselves as wasteful.
Regarding how they see themselves, Lyons wrote:
“So pervasive is their negative view of themselves that many in Generation Y don’t want to be identified as such.”
“Nearly two-thirds don’t consider themselves to belong to that generation.”