Move over boomers. Gen Y is moving in. That's the analysis of online marketing expert Kelly Mooney.
Ms. Mooney, who is the President and Chief Experience Officer of Resource Interactive and co-author of The Ten Demandments: Rules to Live By in the Age of the Demanding Customer (McGraw-Hill, 2002), told USA Today that at 82 million strong, those born from 1982 to 2000 are influencing family purchases at a very high rate.
In clothing for example, Gen Y members between the ages of 13 to 21 are said to influence 81 percent of household purchases. The influence percentage for car purchases is 52 percent.
Kit Yarrow, a consumer psychologist and professor at Golden Gate University, said it shouldn't be surprising these young consumers have an "equal vote in the look and style of the family."
"Gen Y parents tend to be non-authoritarian and value their friendships with their kids," she said. "These parents also prize their own youthful, 'kid-like' qualities."
When it comes to actual purchases, Ms. Mooney said Gen Y consumers avoid the middle of the road. They rarely purchase anything that is not either on the high or low end of the retail scale. Retailers that straddle the area between the poles are likely to get lost when Gen Y consumers are considering where to buy.
Jennifer Black, president of Jennifer Black & Associates, agrees and points to the success of retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Forever 21 to illustrate the polar opposite buying habits of Gen Y consumers.
"The moderate segment is getting more squeezed," said Ms. Black. "Girls want to buy something that's special vs. something that's kind of in the middle."
Micky Osterman, a 16-year-old high school student from Columbus, Ohio, is partial to high-end brands. "I want a ... midnight blue Mustang convertible. I want to buy all my underwear at Victoria's Secret. I want to shop at Polo (and) The Limited. ... I would love a pair of Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses. And a Coach purse."
Discussion Questions: What should retailers make of Gen Y's influence on household purchases? Does this influence need to be considered by retailers and brand marketers that are not directly selling to the demographic but selling to their parents instead?