Strategies for Surviving and Thriving in Challenging Times

Strategic Action #4 for Surviving and Thriving:

Connect With the Zeitgeist (Part 6)

Over the nearly four years I’ve maintained this blog I’ve talked about the psychological center of gravity hypothesis (PCG) several times. (Type “PCG” into the search box in the left column to get a listing of all references to the PCG in this blog.)

The PCG hypothesis holds that people within five years of the adult median age have a disproportionate influence on the zeitgeist. With today’s adult median age pegged at 47, the bookend years of the current PCG are 42 and 52.

For a very long time the American culture was described as a youth culture. Indeed, many in the marketing community continue projecting in their work a belief that youth still propels the wheels of consumer commerce.

To the degree that youth remains a factor in setting the trends and styles in the marketplace, it does so with a decidedly middle aged bent. It is as though members of so-called Generation Y - also often called “Millennials” - jumped into a midlife psychosocial milieu as they morphed from tweenage to teenage.

Millennials are generally regarded as those born between 1981 and 2000.

Though virtually always unconsciously so, consumer trend researchers and analysts widely describe Millennials in terms traditionally used by adult development psychologists to describe behavioral attributes of people in midlife.

Descriptions of Millennials in a 2006 USA article bear out that:

•61% of 13- to 25-year-olds feel personally responsible for making a difference in the world, suggests a survey of 1,800 young people to be released today. It says 81% have volunteered in the past year; 69% consider a company's social and environmental commitment when deciding where to shop, and 83% will trust a company more if it is socially/environmentally responsible. Two Boston-based companies, Cone Inc. and AMP Insights — suggests these millennials are "the most socially conscious consumers to date."

•Young people want to help their country by working for the government, suggests another study by the international consulting firm Universum Communications.

•Two-thirds of college freshmen (66%) believe it's essential or very important to help others in difficulty, suggests a survey of 263,710 students at 385 U.S. colleges and universities. The 2005 report, by the Higher Education Research Institute found feelings of social and civic responsibility among entering freshmen at the highest level in 25 years.

Those descriptions hardly conform to stereotypical images of youth as consumed by self-entered aspirations and behavior. “Giving back” has long been regarded as more characteristic of people in midlife and beyond. It seems that many Millennials project a disposition to “give back” before they have gotten.

According to the testimony of many researchers who study what is arguably the most coddled generation in history -  Millennials project in their jobs to an unusual degree for the young the confidence of seasoned career veterans that transcends the characteristic cockiness of youth. There, and in life in general, they have been reported as reflecting optimism that is grounded less in the fantasies of the young than in practical assessments of the world such as middle aged adults are more likely to have.

Millennials, researchers who study them tell us, have a strong disposition toward promoting the common good. They operate with perhaps the most inclusive worldview of any generation - young or old - in history. According to developmental theorists such Abraham Maslow and Erik Erikson, the worldviews of the young tend to be exclusionary and peer-focused. You are either IN or OUT when you are young. It is people who are at higher levels of personal development that are likelier to reflect a more inclusionary worldview. Except Millennials widely reflect such a disposition today.

Millennials also appear to generally reflect less antagonism toward their parents’ generation than seen among boomers and Generation X in their youth. This is in line with predictions by Millennials Rising authors Neil Howe and Bill Strauss. In 1997 they said that Millennial kids would “enter their teens looking and behaving better than any in decades....This generation will build a reputation for meeting and beating adult expectations.”

Howe, Strauss and others attribute Millennials’ worldviews and behavior to such events as an age of more attentive parents, the Internet and other technologies, and 9/11 among other obvious events. However, I believe that biggest single factor influencing Millennials' worldviews and behavior is the zeitgeist which has its roots in the worldviews of middle aged and older people.

The U.S. is no longer a youth-dominated society. With adults 40 and older outnumbering 16-39-year-olds by 137 million to 93 million, it could be no other way than that the zeitgeist is a bit hoary and reflects the seasoned outlook of the New Adult Majority.

The practical, take-away conclusion from this is that even marketers who work exclusively in youth and young adult markets should take time to understand the worldviews and behavior of people in the current PCG because they are the source of many of the influences shaping the behavior of Millennials.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[joared]

I think your "...practical conclusion..." is just that, and couldn't agree more that forward thinking marketers would be wise to examine and "...understand the worldviews and behavior of people in the current PCG...." I feel greatly encouraged for the future's outlook when I consider the potential positive effects the Millennial's attitudes and behavior may hold for my grandchildren, older adult generations, our country. All that remains is to turn potential into reality which marketing approaches can help facilitate.

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[Linda P. Morton]

This is a great update on Generation Y. I've done lots of generation research for my matrix market segmentation process and consider myself somewhat an expert, but I learned from this post.

Between teaching Generation Y for several years as a college professor and my research, I've noted some less positive characteristics like a sense of entitlement, difficulty in learning through traditional styles, and demanding of jobs more than their skills and experience warrant. But now there more positive characteristics are showing.

It's like when Generation X first entered adulthood and so much was written about them being cynics, whiners, drifters, and malcontents. Yet now they are starting businesses, growing our economy, and serving our country.

In fact, when the Vietnam group of Baby Boomers were young, we protested against materialism, but evolved into the greatest workaholics our society has ever known.

Generation gaps always seem to cause adults to doubt young people, but every generation makes its contributions.

[Elisa Robyn]

The is a surprising generation. Yes they are used to getting awards for 15th place. But they also believe that the world can be changed in powerful and positive ways. I love having them in my graduate classes. They challenge the thinking of everyone in the room.