While we’ve discussed several different demographics and how best to market to them in this space, there is perhaps no demographic that will carry greater buying clout, especially in the tech sector, than the current 12-24 year old group known as “Digital Natives.” They are called such due to the fact they have been raised on digital technology, particularly the Internet, can’t imagine life without it and are taking to wireless communication technology like fish to water.
This generation, at least those in their late teens and early 20s, have been engaged with technology since their pre-teen years. The group just behind them are gaining exposure to tech as toddlers. According to a study of 18- to 24-year-olds released this summer by international research and consulting firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, the average age for first Internet use was 12 years, 3 months; 24% of the 1,021 young adults surveyed say they were 10 or younger.
That report also claims they were spending an average of 21.3 hours online each week. Moving onto U.S. college students, data from a recent Educause survey of 28,000 students at 96 colleges and universities shows some young people are spending “literally 10, 12, 14, 16 hours a day online,” the report states.
There are experts in this area that add that these estimates may be light as they claim the Internet has become so interwoven into daily life, “they don’t even realize how much time they are actually spending online with things like hand-helds and wireless laptops.”
“This demographic is always online” reasoned retail analyst Martha Refik. “It has become such a part of their daily routine. It’s no longer an activity unto itself.”
“I’m checking my FaceBook account all the time, sending IMs, e-mailing images and just generally looking for info on the Web all the time,” began 22-year-old Linda Marsicano, of Chicago, Ill. “It would be difficult to say how many hours a week I spend connected because it’s not even something I think about anymore.”
While the digital immigrants among us continue to argue that while this communication revolution we are currently wrapped up in has certainly improved the frequency of communication, it has not necessarily improved the quality of it. No one can argue developing a retail strategy that speaks to it is vital.
“While some may argue that all this technology is creating a generation of people who will grow up lacking solid and basic face-to-face communication skills, what you can’t argue with is the fact that same technology is producing consumers that know exactly what the want and how they want it to work within their lifestyles,” Refik added. “Catering to this and making sure you offer solutions to their tech-lifestyle problems, or maybe enhancements to it – will position you well as they begin walking into your stress.”
Perhaps Marsicano provided the most telling glimpse of the mindset of this consumer of the future. “Technology today defines who I am, I think more so than any past generation was defined by it. I will forever be interested in anything that keys in on that fact and allows me even greater power and enjoyment within that world.”
