Abstract:

There is a growing belief in the marketing industry that traditional market research tracking methods are less predictive of millennial behaviour than for that of older generations and that Millennials can best be understood and measured by their online behaviour and social media conversations. In this paper, three studies that address this millennial market research effect are presented: one looking at the entertainment industry, a second looking at consumer technology, and a third that assesses consumer packaged goods purchases. The first study demonstrates the effect, while the remaining two studies address possible reasons for the effect, including increased desirability effects among the "digitally native". The implications for brand tracking are discussed in detail.