Dive Brief:
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Millennial-aged shoppers (born 1982-1996) share complaints about brands online twice as often as Generation Xers (born in 1965-1984) and three times more than Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), according to a study by social media research company Fizzilogy called “The Social Media Behaviors of Millennials, Generation X & Boomers.”
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But it’s Generation Xers and Baby Boomers who are more likely to interact with brands on social media, while millennials tap celebrities’ and athletes’ pages.
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Baby Boomers are the most social generation, participating more in chats and long online conversations. They are three times more apt to discuss shopping and retail than younger consumers, and they are most likely to participate in online promotions.
Dive Insight:
It’s a little tricky to define shoppers specifically by their generation, as seen by the overlap in some definitions about when one generation begins and another ends. Plus, culture and technology affect different individuals in different ways.
Still, trends are emerging about how people behave at different ages. Retailers can expect to have younger shoppers complain loudly online and their parents and grandparents to take advantage of promotional contests and share more positive things about their brands.