Millennials Trust.pdf

Millennials, born between 1977 and 1995, will have more spending power than any other generation by 2017. They are constantly connected, dependent on social media, and shop differently. Key findings include:

84% of Millennials report that user-generated content (UGC) on company websites influences their purchasing decisions, compared to 70% of Baby Boomers.
Millennials trust UGC more than other information on a company website or news articles about the company.
51% of Millennials trust consumer opinions found on a company's website, while 49% trust recommendations from friends and family.
Millennials are more likely to trust experienced consumers, even if they are strangers, with 44% trusting their opinions.
71% of Millennials believe companies should offer more ways to share opinions online, and 87% continue to share opinions because they feel other consumers value them.
Millennials want to engage with brands, despite questioning their motives for gathering feedback, with 73% believing companies care about customer opinions only because they impact how other consumers view the brand.

To effectively sell to Millennials, businesses should:

Put consumer opinions front and center, everywhere.
Ask consumers for feedback and respond to it.
Share conversations and opinions on social media and optimize for mobile and tablet computing.
Organize consumer opinions by social and interest graphs, serving up opinions from friends and like-minded consumers in the purchase path.