The Difference Between Generation Alpha and Millennials
25 Sep 2019

Knowing your audience and prospects is a key way to improve your profitability! Different generations have different behaviors, attitudes, and preferences.  Understanding the generation gaps will help you understand the needs of your customers. Generations give marketing strategists an easy way to target and focus their methods. 

 

Baby Boomers do not want to see texting acronyms; they are swayed by clear video, they care about their in-store experiences, and they like to compare prices. On the other hand, Millennials want to care about the product they’re buying, and want to have a positive impact on their community. In addition, Generation Z (those born after Millennials and before 2010) is most influenced by social media, as that’s where they receive most of their news.

 

There is a new generation on the block! Brands need to know how this audience differs from their current audiences. Provoke Insights will be releasing a three-part blog series to help marketers understand the newest generation. Generation Alpha, the children of Millennials, are making waves recently in the news. Coupled with their Millennial parents, a marketing buzz has started to precipitate around the arrival of these youngsters. But how do they differ from their parents? In other words, what differences will there be in marketing to Generation Alpha versus marketing to Millennials?

 

Who is Generation Alpha?

 

Generation Alpha is the youngest generation on Earth. Alpha includes those born since 2010 and will include all of those with birthdays through the year 2025. The market has already been greatly affected by Generation Alpha. For instance, Alpha’s Millennial parents are pouring money into toys and tech for them, with $2 billion spent on startups in K-12 ed-tech. In addition, $11-13 billion has already been spent on advertising to children under 10 by the fast-food industry.

 

The impact that Alpha has on Millennial spending power has already been shown – 81% of Millennial parents say that their kids influenced their last purchase! So how will we differentiate between these children and adults? 

 

Some Differences Between Generations

 

  1. Generation Alpha is going to be the most tech-literate generation ever, even more so than Millennials and Generation Z. Already, 31% of Alpha’s parents even believe that tech is more important to their kids than toys.
  2. Generation Alpha is going to watch the least television of any generation. As a result, this will affect television advertising even more drastically than Millennials have.
  3. Generation Alpha cares deeply about the opinions and actions of social media influencers. Not only that but the young generation actually has some social media influencers in it: the YouTube channel Ryan Toys Review features a seven-year-old named Ryan unboxing and reviewing Toys, and it already has 18+ Million subscribers on the video platform. Just imagine the impact of social media influencers as Alpha grow into young teens and adulthood. In contrast, a study found 78% of Millennials are not influenced by celebrity endorsements.

 

Start Making Changes Today

 

In conclusion, Generation Alpha is going to differ greatly from its Millennial parents. And the industry has already started to adjust accordingly. For example, there is an Alexa app that helps kids brush their teeth by playing songs and jokes to encourage it – Procter & Gamble’s Crest Kids, has taken the market by storm. 

 

When working with a market research firm like Provoke Insights, it’s important to talk about targeting these two generations. In this case, Generation Alpha may be too young to fill out surveys, but secondary research can fill in the gaps in this new target market. And ask them to direct your team with a brand strategy regarding these two important generations of people.

 

Millennials are still a key market. But don’t forget about their children, as Generation Alpha is going to be the future!

Check out some of our most recent posts from our strategy and advertising research blog here:
  1. Blockchain & the Markest Research Industry
  2. Is Your Research Stuck in the 1980s: Update Your Brand Tracker!
  3. Market Research Doesn’t Need to Be Boring: Improve Data Visualization
  4. Tips For Building Brand Strategy for a Successful Brand
  5. What’s the Difference Between Quantitative and Qualitative?

Sign up for our newsletters here!

Follow our social media accounts:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/provokeinsights

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/provokeinsights/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/provoke-insights

Check out our most recent features in the news media:

September 11th, 2019: 40% of U.S. Millennials prefer crypto investments in the event of a recession: eToro Survey

July 31st, 2019: Jewelry Is About to Get its Own ‘Got Milk’ Ads

July 1st, 2019: 22 Top Advertising Research Companies 2019

Keep on the lookout for more blog posts from us!

Provoke Insights is a full-service market research firm. We help build and grow brands using multiple market research methodologies including qualitative, quantitative, and secondary research. We hope to work with you in the future.

Segmentation Research: Why is it so Important?
18 Sep 2019

Where did segmentation begin?

From the 1920s to the 1960s, mass marketing was a popular technique used to increase brand awareness. It coincided with the invention of the radio and television. At the time, there were only a few radio and TV channels available, so it was a common tactic to market to the most significant number of people as possible. Segmentation was not something in use.

However, this technique fell to the wayside as it is no longer cost-effective. There several ways to listen, watch, and consume media today (internet, social media, etc.) and our country is much more diverse than it once was. We now recognize that Americans have different beliefs, ethnicities, sexualities, and psychographic behaviors. As a result, smart marketing means targeting the appropriate audience for your brand. Marketing should not be one-size-fits-all.

A more efficient method to target consumers is to identify buyers who have a higher propensity to purchase your offering. The key is to determine how this group looks or acts similarly to advertise to them with the best message and media channel.  Segmentation divides consumers into distinct groups by these types of attributes: purchase propensity, demographics, psychographics, geography, and media habits. When creating segments, the key is to have a manageable number of groups. Also, each cohort should be large enough to warrant the investment.

How do you segment a market?

Market research can help you divide your prospects into the appropriate number of segments, as well as determine which groups have the highest market potential. Surveying your population of prospects is a vital way to understand your potential target audience better. It provides a method to map out the brand position and develop a deeper understanding of segments.

The value of segmentation research is that it directly ties into the usability of the findings. Proper research provides direction on how to bring the segmentation alive and off the page. The end game is to ensure that all segments are “actionable,” meaning a brand can easily target these prospects. The research will survey interest in yours and competitor’s brands, buying attitudes and behaviors, as well as media habits.

Using advanced analytics, you can cluster the respondents into these meaningful segments. Often, a segmentation study can project the actual market share size and the group’s potential sales. A segmentation study can even be used to segment your own customer/prospect database.

Once the segmentation study is complete, you will know which audience warrants investment and how to best advertise to them.

When the priority segments are determined, developing personas is also an essential way to bring your audience to life. Creating segment names, visually displaying the priority segments, and writing stories about these cohorts makes them more relatable. It allows you to understand why and how customers connect with your brand.

Want to learn more about Market Research? Here are some blog posts to check out!

  1. Sampling: The Importance of Good Sample
  2. I’m Just Not That Into You: Exclusivity or Bad Marketing?
  3. Is Your Research Stuck in the 1980s? Update Your Brand Tracker!
  4. Market Research Doesn’t Need to Be Boring – Improve Data Visualization

Sign up for our newsletters here!

Sampling: The Importance of Good Sample
11 Sep 2019

What is Survey Sample? 

A sample is a subset of a population selected for a research study. A population is the total number of people in a group that researchers are interested in examining. For example, if you want to understand the attitudes of people who invest in the stock market in the United States, it would be too difficult and costly to question every person who trades this asset. As a result, quantitative research only takes a “sample” of the full population. 

Quality

The quality of your sample determines the quality of your results. As researchers and brands try to interpret insights, they must never compromise the quality of their methodology. We know that errors can come from poor survey writing. A good researcher also knows that a “bad sample” leads to inaccurate and misleading results.

Sample Size

So, how much sample is needed to project the attitudes of all US investors accurately? The key is to reduce the number of errors when mirroring your ideal population. The more respondents you have taking the survey minimizes the margin of error (confidence interval). However, at a certain point, increasing the number of respondents only reduces the margin of error slightly and means it is not worth adding the additional respondents. 

When there are too few respondents, there is a higher likelihood that outliers will impact the survey result, and your conclusions will be inaccurate. 

What is that magic number of respondents? Every ideal sample size is different because not all populations are the same. The best way to figure out the sample is to calculate the margin error.  Click here to use a margin of error calculator. 

Bias

It is also crucial to make sure that your sample is unbiased. Sampling bias occurs when the respondents selected are not representative of the population. The best way to avoid any discrepancies is to choose your sample randomly. 

Bias could also come in the form of a “bad respondent.” Someone might fit the population demographics, but fill out their surveys incorrectly to finish the study as quickly as possible or not be paying attention. As a result, it is pertinent to monitor your sample in the field and carefully review it after finishing the research study. 

Monitoring Sample

For online surveys, there are a couple of ways that you can check the quality of a respondent:

  1. Review individual survey results for patterns like straight lines and diagonal/patterned lines. These patterns indicate inadequate responses. 
  2. Make sure to monitor open-ended questions for gibberish or irrelevant answers. If respondents are not taking the survey seriously, they aren’t accurately portraying the population’s views and thus muddying the results. 
  3. How quickly a respondent finishes, the study is another indicator if the respondent was speeding through and took the survey accurately. 

Screeners

Given that you may be targeting a specific audience, screeners are necessary to determine that the appropriate people are coming into your survey. If you want your results to reflect the views of the population you are seeking, it is essential to impose restrictions on who is taking the questionnaire. For example, you need to make sure a study among stock traders does not include those who do not invest. Add questions to your survey that confirm that the consumer trades stocks.

If your audience is supposed to reflect a specific population in regards to certain criteria (e.g., gender, age, etc.), it is critical to monitor these attributes. A great way to control this is by implementing quotas. Putting these criteria questions in the screener will allow you to quickly determine if you need more sample for a quota or screen out full quotas.

Want to learn more about Market Research? Here are some blog posts to check out!

  1. Blockchain & the Market Research Industry
  2. I’m Just Not That Into You: Exclusivity or Bad Marketing?
  3. Is Your Research Stuck in the 1980s? Update Your Brand Tracker!
  4. Market Research Doesn’t Need to Be Boring – Improve Data Visualization

Sign up for our newsletters here!

Blockchain & the Market Research Industry
04 Sep 2019

Industries Evolving with Technology

You might be thinking ‘What does Blockchain have to do with the Market Research industry?’ Well, the Market Research industry is maturing. It has evolved exponentially since its inception. While it is excellent news for the industry, it means that the companies involved need to keep up. As mentioned in a recent blog, marketing and advertising are advancing too. Now, companies can target their audiences down to their age, marital status, and geo-location all through social media. This means companies want to narrow down the criteria for the respondents from whom they want to gather insights. 

As these industries mature, so do consumers. Reaching the correct audience is becoming harder and harder as they are inundated with more and more content. Also, getting the right consumers to complete a research study is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Consumers are more sophisticated and do not trust brands or research companies as quickly as they once did. 

Trust in the Market Research Industry

Apparently, the general population trusts the market research industry more than social media companies and the government. But confidence is still low in the space! And the increase of notable cyber attacks (such as Facebook/Cambridge Analytica) in recent years has caused the general public to become more concerned than ever about their privacy. This heightened awareness means that transparency is crucial. While it has always been important, market research companies need to be upfront about how they use and store respondent information, and when they will delete it. To keep trust, it is paramount that research companies limit the amount of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) they request. 

Is Blockchain the Answer To The Market Research Industry’s Questions?

There has been much buzz about Blockchain in every industry, but it turns out that it may be able to help solve the growing pains that the Market Research industry is experiencing. What is Blockchain? It is a system that maintains a record or transaction across several computers that link in a peer-to-peer network. This could mean that data would be safer, and market research companies could stop asking the same questions over and over again.

Could a Blockchain solution improve trust among research participants? This new technology could increase confidence among respondents by encrypting their information and allowing market research companies to get to the point instead of repeatedly asking the same PII of respondents. 

For Blockchain to succeed in the Market Research industry, there are a few factors that we need to account for:

  1. Communication: There needs to be clear communication among industry professionals and research participants. For Blockchain to improve standards in Market Research, all companies will need to agree, and it will have to become the industry norm. 
  2. Education: Market Research professionals, as well as research participants, will need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the technology entirely. 
  3. Transparency: This goes without saying, without openness, research respondents will not adopt the technology. 

The introduction of Blockchain could improve participation rates in research studies – people will trust the companies conducting the research more, and they will not be bored by filling out the same information time and time again. 

Ironically, for this technology to take the research industry by storm, more research is needed. It is crucial that for Blockchain to succeed, it needs to be commercially viable. 

Check out our other blogs!

Have a look at the way other technologies are affecting the market research industry: Virtual Reality and Qualitative Research: Fad or Here to Stay?

Read about market research for tech companies themselves: Tech Companies: Have You Thought About Your Marketing Strategy?