A recently released study from Radius Global Marketing Research identifies some key similarities and differences in shopping habits, preferences, and influences among Millennials (18-32) and Baby Boomers (49-67).
One of the key differences pertains to the top sources of information that influence purchase decisions. Millennials appear to be more influenced by word-of-mouth (WOM) than Baby Boomers, while the latter are more effected by advertising than the younger generation.
As reported by MarketingCharts, the survey asked respondents which sources of information influenced them them across four product categories - apparel, packaged goods, financial products, and big-ticket purchases (such as travel and electronics). WOM emerged as the leading purchase influencer (top-two box score) in each category among Millennials, with search engines also among the top three for each category.
Among Boomers, WOM is the top influencer for financial products and big-ticket purchases, but was only third for packaged goods purchases, and fell out of the top three for apparel decisions.
Boomers ranked advertising among the top three influencers in each category, giving it top billing for packaged goods decisions.
The data is based on an online survey conducted in the summer of 2013 among a nationally representative sample of 738 respondents.
In related research released last year by Nielsen (Nielson Trust in Advertising report) found that recommendations are the most-trusted and most-influential information sources among global consumers. Asked to what extent do you trust the following forms of advertising, Recommendations From People I Know rated 84 percent, Branded Websites came in at 69 percent; Consumer Opinions Posted Online posted 68 percent and editorial content such as newspaper and television ads ranked 57 and 62 percent.
