Generational Messaging Trends
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that the only constant in the world is change. As time moves on, new generations are born and make their impact on society by introducing new trends and bringing a fresh attitude to everything from fashion and music to ethics, and of course communication.
Probably the most recognizable generation, Millennials have at times been stereotyped for being entitled and unreliable but have no doubt been confident in challenging the status quo. With the eldest cohort of Millennials now 42 years old, some are leading their countries – Sanna Marin of Finland and Gabriel Boric of Chile were both elected in their 30’s, and Millennials like Mark Zuckerberg are leading global corporations and shaping the way we communicate.
These days younger generations may have more opportunities to achieve success, but they also have to deal with challenges that their parents didn’t.
For example, according to recent research young adults today have 86% less purchasing power today compared to Baby Boomers when they were in their 20s. Millennials are paying 100% more on average for their homes vs. Baby Boomer home prices from the 1970s. These financial pressures have had an impact on the way young people live, socialize, and shop and are just one of the many factors that have led to a divergence between the generations that brands need to be aware of when developing their communication strategies.
Against a backdrop of a rapid evolution in communication driven by generative AI we conducted a detailed survey of people of all age groups and from multiple countries to discover their views and preferences when it comes to the way that businesses communicate with them.
Our aim is to help brands to refine their customer communication strategy to appeal to people of all ages and form closer customer relationships.
High level summary
There are some interesting differences between the generations, but in many ways, they are a lot closer than you might expect.
Generational communication trends analysis
In our survey we interviewed people born between 1946 and 2012. This spans four accepted generations from Baby Boomers to Generation Z. We have used these in our analysis, but we accept that there is significant overlap, and it is impossible to make definitive claims about individuals’ preferences based solely on the year they were born.
What we can do is identify the overall trends that we see in the data when it comes to things like channel preference, personalization, attitude towards chatbots and AI, and likelihood to buy from a brand based on how they communicate.
The generations
Gen Z
1997 to 2012
‘Zoomers’ have grown up with the internet and smart phones. They are diverse and inclusive, environmentally and socially conscious, and are considered more pragmatic and cautious than previous generations, particularly with personal finances.
Millennials
1980 to 1996
Millennials are tech-savvy, value meaningful work, and confidently challenge the status quo. They are diverse, open to change, and prioritize experiences over material possessions.
Gen X
1965 to 1980
Generation X is known for being independent and resourceful. With hard-working parents, they often grew up with minimal supervision and without the internet and technology, which has shaped their outlook.
Baby Boomers
1946 to 1964
Baby Boomers are known for their strong work ethic, goal-oriented mindset, and resourcefulness. They have witnessed significant social and technological change in their lifetimes.
COMMUNICATION PREFERENCES
High level preferences
Firstly, we asked what the most important attributes of brand communication are for individuals. This revealed some fascinating differences between the generations.
However, the message for brands is clear that communication needs to be laser-focused on the customer and their individual preferences, whether they want to be the first of their friends to get the latest product, they want to get the best possible bargain, or they just want to be kept updated and informed.
Personalization and message content
Our study clearly shows that brand personality matters. In a world of bland, AI generated content, companies that are able to convey a unique and recognizable personality in their messaging will appeal to all generations, but particularly Gen Z and Millennials.
Gen Z and Millennials prefer more creativity in business communication. Messages need to capture their attention and include an element of entertainment and humor.
A preference for less repetitive and more varied communication
Gen X and Baby Boomers look for more straightforward messaging that is relevant and personalized. Interestingly older generations are much less accepting of repetitive and unvaried communication.
We can hypothesize that younger people are better able to zone out repetitive content as they are used to consuming multiple social media channels, picking up on things that capture their interest. When older people see a message and then realize that they have seen it before, they are more likely to get irritated.
With this in mind marketing tactics that use ‘next best offer’ can be used to provide the variety that older people require to remain engaged with the brand.
Who agrees that being communicated with like a friend will increase brand loyalty?
For all generations the majority of respondents prefer brands to communicate with them like their friends do, but this was particularly evident for Gen Z and younger Millennials.
The challenge for brands is to adapt their messaging for their audience without appearing patronizing or superficial. Rather than make assumptions about individuals based on their age, brands need to learn about what makes each individual tick.
The clichéd young person obsessed with gaming and TikTok may exist but many more are knowledgeable and passionate about geo-political and environmental issues, and are far more savvy about the selling tactics that businesses use than they are given credit for.
Channel habits
And what else can our survey results tell us about communication preferences across the generations?
In this section we divided questions between personal use and business interactions to see if people’s communication preferences changed depending on who they were interacting with. This showed some subtle but fascinating differences between the generations.
In recent years there has been a drive by brands to adopt the channels that their customers already use. But how have people actually responded to this? Are they happy to receive messages on the same chat apps that they use to interact with friends and family? Or do some generations see this trend as invasive?
For personal use there is no doubt that chats apps are the most popular communication method across the generations. For every age group chat apps were the most popular channel by quite some margin.
Personal use – all groups love chat apps best
Surprisingly, chat apps are more popular with Baby Boomers (68%) than Gen X (57%). Perhaps this can be explained by having more time on their hands to communicate with friends and grandchildren, and the fact that messages, including pictures and videos, are free to send.
For younger people using chat apps to talk to friends and family is second nature, and this extends to their interactions with brands. More Millennials chose chat apps as their preferred way of communicating with brands than any other age group at 60%, with Gen Z close behind at 53% followed by Baby Boomer at 28% and Gen X at 25%.
The social butterflies
Unsurprisingly, the younger generations are more comfortable interacting with brands on social media. Brands that target the teen market know where they spend their time and aim to create content on platforms like TikTok and YouTube where this generation spends its time.
People still like to talk…to the right person
It is a common belief that younger generations avoid voice calls at all costs in favor of messaging. But is that actually true? And if it is, what does the curve look like between Gen Z and Baby Boomers who are apparently more willing to use the phone for what it was originally invented for.
Voice as a preferred channel for personal communication
Looking at the survey results it seems that younger people’s aversion to voice calls is exaggerated. A surprising 30% of Gen Z and younger Millennials selected Voice as one of their preferred channels when speaking to friends and family. For older Millennials this rose to 50% of respondents, which was even higher than the 48% of Baby Boomers who opted for Voice.
Email as a preferred channel for business communication
For business communication Voice is far less popular across all generations with just 10% of the youngest respondents selecting it as a preferred channel and 25% of Baby Boomers. This shows that people are far less keen to speak to people that they don’t know personally, and overwhelmingly opt for the more impersonal attributes of email for business communication.
Does this mean that brands should abandon Voice as part of a conversational approach to marketing and customer service? Absolutely not – instead they should double down on their efforts by presenting a more friendly, personal, and supportive service where Voice is adopted alongside other conversational channels and used for the purpose that it is ideal for.
When people think of speaking to a business it is often the long waits on hold, complicated IVR menus and call center staff that aren’t able to help with their query. Businesses can offset these bad experiences with an omnichannel approach that prioritizes convenience and speed and respects channel preference.
Payments
There were some interesting variances in the answers to preferred method of payments. Overall, online payments were by far the most popular method across all generations with rates from 65% for Gen Z to 70% for Baby Boomers.
Online payments are the most popular across all generations
Paying in person by card was most popular with Baby Boomers at 23% and it seems that the cliché of the older person paying for items with small change is not valid. Only 5% of the oldest generation prefer cash compared with 15% of Gen Z, the highest figure in the study. We can theorize that these are younger Gen Z’ers who are spending pocket money, or cash earned from doing chores or other informal work.
Attitude towards AI and chatbots
Chatbots have been around for a number of years, but in the early days they were more a novelty and were not really capable of helping with anything more than the simplest requests. As a result, many Gen X and Baby Boomers have probably had frustrating experiences in the past, and this may have affected their perception of the technology.
Nowadays AI chatbots are light years ahead of their predecessors in terms of sophistication and usefulness. They can be used for all sorts of jobs from acting as hotel concierges to validating a person’s identity as part of a SIM card registration.
With no exposure to the drawbacks of v1.0 chatbots, younger generations have therefore had much more positive experiences, and this is reflected in the data.
Across the younger generations, the perception of AI was overwhelmingly positive. 88% of Gen Z and 82% of Millennials feel that AI has improved the quality of brand interactions.
This enthusiasm tailed off steadily with Gen X being slightly more positive about AI than negative, and Baby Boomers being ambivalent with 48% saying that the quality of interactions had neither improved nor deteriorated and roughly 10% of people at both ends of the scale.
Likelihood to buy
With the ultimate aim of marketing being to find customers and encourage them to buy your products or services, knowing the most effective way to reach people with your message is a top priority.
Our research shows some interesting variations in attitudes between generations that may help to guide strategy to achieve more sales.
Embrace personalization and cater to individual needs
While our generational trends report provides valuable insights into broad preferences and behaviors, genuine connection knows no age.
By understanding and catering to the specific needs and preferences of each individual, businesses can create a more personalized and impactful communication experience.
Whether it’s a Baby Boomer who values a phone call or a Gen Zer who thrives on social media interactions, the key is to meet your audience where they are and speak their language.
By embracing personalization and tailoring your communication strategies accordingly, you can create meaningful connections that resonate across generations and drive business success.
*Research was conducted on 200 respondents from the UK, the US, Indonesia, India, Brazil, and France.
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