News

Psychological secrets of Gen Y shoppers revealed

March 9, 2012

Retailers learned how best to market to Gen Y shoppers this week at the 2012 Shopper Marketing Forum. Consumer psychologist and author Kit Yarrow, PhD., unveiled the key motivators in the group's buying decisions and identified new strategies to help marketers understand and address the emotional needs and values that drive purchases, according to a company press release.

Gen Y, today's 13-to 33-year-olds, are enthusiastic, confident and tech-savvy shoppers, and in less than five years they'll have more spending power than Boomers, Yarrow said. Presented by Shopper DDB, which provides shopper marketing insight, strategy and creative to brands and retailers, the VIP forum featured new research, case examples and actionable psychological insights from the Gen Y group.

"Marketing to Gen Y shoppers means first understanding the context of their generation and new ways of thinking that influence their purchase decisions," said Yarrow, the chair of the Department of Psychology at Golden Gate University. "This is a highly influential group with a unique psychological code that is driven by technology, making them 24/7 shoppers who have a higher bar for stimulation and lower tolerance for ambiguity."

Yarrow gave attendees a sneak peek into six emerging shopper marketing trends, driven by the needs and values of Gen Y shoppers. They included:

• Deeper brand involvement
• Speed and intensity
• Visual and intuitive communication
• An understanding of the authentic human persona
• Merged online and in-person retail
• Impactful 'technovation'

Read more about consumer behavior.