Teens and Young Adults Spread the Word

• Posted: Wednesday, May 16, 2007
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• Author: pradhana

Want to promote something? Enlist a Millennial.

Call them Gen Y or Millennials or just "people ages 13-24." Whatever the name, this group spreads the word quickly on things it likes and enjoys user-generated content, according to the "State of the Media Democracy" report commissioned by Deloitte & Touche and conducted by Harrison Group.

Gen Y's word-of-mouth aptitude comes partly from large lists of people to whom they send instant messages and text messages. Millennials averaged 37 people on their lists, compared with an average of 17 among people of all ages.

When members of the Millennial group found a worthy TV show or Web site, they told an average of 18 people, compared to only 10 people for all age groups. In fact, word-of-mouth was the main reason Millennials visited Web sites, followed by TV ads.

"Young people have always turned to their friends for the scoop on what's cool and new," said eMarketer Senior Analyst Debra Aho Williamson. "That part of the word-of-mouth equation isn't new. But this generation is also completely comfortable using the Web to spread the word, and marketers need to understand that."

So what are Millennials doing online?
More than any other age group, Millennials spent time online searching for and downloading music. More than half of Millennials also consumed user-generated content online, and visited online gaming and TV sites.

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