Millennial and the Social Media in Marketing - Literature review Example

Millennial and the Social Media in Marketing Millennials are now the target s for the marketing managers of many companies. They are the generation following baby boomers and now standing at the second position on the basis of their strength. These Millennials are very much inclined towards social media and thus want to do most of their activities through this technological method. The concept of social media is not an old one rather it was also present when the human beings started to talk with each other. The important point is these social media are also continuously evolving along with the progress in the world of technology. The word media actually means a way used to convey something. Now the social media means to communicate one’s thoughts to another person. Considering Y generation people or the Millennial the social media refers towards interaction among people in which they generate, share and exchange ideas, thoughts and any kind of information in the virtual communities and the networks. Social media can also be called as a group of people who are interacting with each other on the internet using cyber applications. Both these descriptions of social media are specifically related to the Millennial or the Y generation people whose most of the daily routine activities are revolving around the internet world. Introduction: Millennial includes the people born between 1980 and 2000. These people are also called as the Y Generation people. The world is changing at a very fast pace. Therefore after every decade the characteristics of the people changes from the older ones. For this reason it is an important topic for the researchers to study more and more about different generations and thus linking their similar features or characteristics. Many authors have presented their studies regarding millennial in a compact form. Millennial are related to many aspects of the society, because this is the era of rapid technological changes. These technological changes put its effects on the Y Generation people. Our research essay will focus on the relationship between Millennial and the social media. The Y generation people or specifically called Millennial are very much related with the social media. The importance of social media is only because of the internet world. Though there are many other technological factors which are affecting human life but the most important is internet. The use of World Wide Web or we can say the Internet has evolved very much. There are many activities of human life which are now associated with the use of internet. The millennial have involved the internet into their routine life. Most of their time is being consumed by using internet. As compared to the older generations the Y Generation people are the internet people and most of their activities like shopping, ticketing, banking etc are linked with online activities. When we talk about the characteristics of this millennial generation then they can be characterized in many different ways. On a negative note these people are always considered impatient, lazy, and not consistent to a job and even non committed people. They are usually considered as the materialistic individuals who do not care for their loved and dear ones. But all this does not mean that they are poor souls. There are also some positive sides of this millennial generation like they are considered as the broad or the open minded people, more supportive for the equal rights of the minorities, more confidant, self expressive, liberal and always welcoming to the new and unique ideas for living the daily routine life. They always welcome the changes in the lives and also their living standards. Some other research studies also show the features of this millennial generation as they always prefer technology over any other available option. This Y Generation or the Millennials are born and raised on the thinking that they can do anything with the help of technology. They always like to adopt changes coming in the lives (Bleedorn, 2013). Social media involves many websites which can be used for communication purposes. These may include social networking sites i.e. Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube etc. All of these websites are sharing the information and the data among its subscribers thus making their relationships strong. The owners or the inventors of these websites basically aim to utilize the power of social media and the interests of the Millennial towards the use of these social networking sites. Now the use of social networking sites has become an important part of our lives. All of these sites are basically supporting a common theme of interacting people regardless of the boundaries of the countries. This has also been linked with the concept of globalization. The globalization means the borderless communications of different geographical areas. When we talk about globalization then the other main issue is the increased travelling between different countries. These Y generation people also want to modify the travelling of their lives. The Millennials have also adopted certain new trends in the travelling issues. Most of the businesses managers are of the opinion that they are still dependent on the parents but contrary to this fact most of them are self dependent and earning a handsome living. In addition to this they are living in an information age. At first they will search for hotel facility and then they will travel to the other place so it’s necessary for the hotel businesses to innovate their promotional ways (Lee, 2013). Now the business stores have to adopt some tools and techniques to make the millennial generation loyal towards them (Thau, 2103). The use of digital devices is increased up to a high level. A research study shows that 90% of Y Generation people check their mobile phones before getting out of bed in the morning. They are using different mobile applications on their smart phones. Most of their leisure time is spent using their smart phones and surfing the internet. The Millennials are now the target consumers for the companies because of their large number among different races in the world. Affluent millennial are those who spend most of their time on internet surfing. All of their activities are being done on internet including TV programs and movies (Nickell, 2012). A research study shows the results of survey among the Millennial or the Y Generation people regarding the advertisements on the social media. It is advisable for the companies to use the power of social media in order to promote their products among people in a short time. These young generation people are spending most of their time on the social networking websites thus they can be easily targeted by the marketing managers of the company. The companies have to be sure about their online presence so that they can be captured by the Millennial. The advertisements on the internet should be creative and innovative in their presentation styles. All the related information should be easily available to the internet surfer. Using all these strategies the companies can use the strong relationship of Millennial and the social media for their own benefits. The world of Millennial or the Y Generation people seems to be a more connected world only because of social media savvy, multi tasking abilities and the technology dependent behavior. Their behaviors and the interaction styles are severely affected by the 24/7 access to the internet. It looks like they are more involved in the internet world as compared to the older generations. Due to all these characteristics this millennial generation is entirely different from the previous ones. Their networking is much stronger than the older people or we can say their ancestors. These Y generation people are more likely to share their experiences among their friends and co-workers through social networking sites. Thus engaging this millennial generation is not a difficult task for the companies because they are already so much inclined towards the internet surfing world. Social media has influenced our lives very much. It makes us more social people, global and even more informed people. This digital world is actually behaving like a second most important community or the society for the people. It is clear now that the main distinctive line between the two generations is actually the use of technology. Basically this millennial generation has not only involved internet in their lives but also making improvements in its use. They have fully utilized this blessing of science ‘The Social Media’ because they are not just socializing on it rather they are exploring the world through internet, they are conducting their successful businesses on the cyber world. In a compact word we can say that social media is actually a shared phenomena among the Y Generation people to shape their cultures, behaviors and values. The excessive use of social media actually differentiates them from the others older generations. They are using the power of social media actually to express their inner feelings, their thoughts and all the other pressure which might resist them in their passion towards their work. Social media is actually playing the role of social glue. These young generation people are facing and serving the society and the mankind through these social media. In this fast moving world one of the most important resource which any person posses is the time. Every individual is running behind the time. They have to manage their time schedules so that they can enjoy a little bit free leisure time. But if we say that taking out free time is not at all an easy job then it wouldn’t be wrong at all. People cannot take out time from their busy schedules to meet their relationships and thus maintain the linkages with family and friends. So we can say that here in these situations the social media can be a blessing for all those who have a problem of time management. They also maintain their relationships and work properly within time. All this can be possible if they serve their relationships through social media. Thus social media will be a better option for them to be adopted. In other words we can also say that social media is shaping the lives and the living styles of these Y Generation people. Many authors put great emphasis on the use of these social media for educational purposes also. So that we can say that there are also some constructive uses of these social networking websites. These students are usually known as the digital natives so they should get advantage of their technological life styles thus involving the internet or the social media for the higher education. This kind of education delivered through the use of social media may affect students in a good manner. The researchers are of the view point that the integration of the social media sites and the higher education will increase the engagement of students towards the studies also. But this kind of suggestion may also require a lot of research because these are may not be successful ideas from the individual’s point of views. Another important intervention is that the Y generation people have adopted these social media techniques for their complaining methods in the higher education institutes. This is because technology is so much involved in their lives that they are more inclined towards it rather to use traditional ways and methods (Pinto & Mansfield, 2013). Another research article critically analyzes the use of social websites or we can say social media by the millennial generation. The survey results show the addiction of these individuals towards the social networking websites like Facebook and twitter. Their relationships are more virtual kind of nature as compared to the older ones who usually prefer to meet on a face to face basis. These Y Generation people have made this social media as their top most priority and also continue to increase the extent of use. Though some of the people are now realizing the importance of real relationships which are usually maintained on a face to face basis but still many other people still prefer to time saving and thus using social networking websites. Conclusion: There can be many possible name s for this generation like Y Generation, Millennial, Generation C, iGeneration and echo boomers but still all of us are sure for the point that these are the individuals who are the true digital natives. Millennial or the Y Generation is very much different from their ancestral generation called X Generation regarding their behaviors, values, attitudes, life styles, and even in the way of passing the leisure time. For this millennial generation the communication among the friends and other relative persons is totally dependent on the social media. The involvement of social media is increased in their daily routine lives. These social media can be the social networking websites. The millennial generation people are always a target for the marketers because they are always welcoming towards the newly launched products. They usually like to change their lives as soon as possible. Usually it s said that they do not have a comfort level in their stamina in them. The social networking sites are very popular these days because of their easy access to the people especially to the millennial generation. Due to these social media websites the people are more social now. They make friends and also try to maintain these social or we can say cyber relationships. Not only maintaining relationships but many other daily routine activities are also dependent on the internet. We can say that this millennial or Y Generation is actually a techno-savvy group of individuals. In short words we can say that the social media is an important and an inseparable part of human life in the modern times. Reference List: Bleedorn, G. (2013). Say Hello To Millennial Generation. ABA Bank Marketing. Pg 24-28. Lee, T. Y. (2013). The Millennials. HVS Global Hospitality Services. Pg 2-17 Nickell, S. (2012). Millennials: The Next Consumer Target. Business, The Millennial Consumer. Pg 26-32 Pinto, M. B., Mansfield, P. M. (2013). The Millennial Generation’s use of social media as complaining method; an application to higher Education. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, Vol. 13 (1), pg 11-26. Thau, B. (2013). The Millennials. Changing of the Guard. Pg 10-12. Read More