Social media is influencing millennials in deciding their life goals

No other generation in the history of mankind saw the world around them transform so rapidly and radically than the millennials. This generation, made of people born between 1981 and 1996, first-hand experienced the evolution of technology and digital innovations, becoming the earliest adopters of trends such as gaming, content streaming, ridesharing, and social media. 

Groomed into an increasingly connected world, the so-called Generation Y, along with the subsequent Gen Z, has exceptionally savvy social media usage habits and digital integration in their daily lives. Unsurprisingly, the younger generations demonstrate a stronger tendency to use their smartphones for content consumption and social interactions as compared to other age groups. 

Millennials are not only using social media to connect and build relationships, but they also share expertise, views and opinions, and like to educate themselves on things that matter to them.  These online communities and interactions are empowering young people with access to unlimited information, as well as helping them shape their dreams and aspirations. 

So, why does it matter what millennials do with technology and social media? Well, this 400-million-plus-strong generation accounts for nearly one-third of India’s population and with their increasing number in the workforce, they are most likely to drive the economic activity in the nation going ahead. This generation is already contributing around 70% of total household income, and therefore, its preferences and ambitions will dictate the direction of economic growth and development. As a result, any broad-based social analysis would be incomplete if it does not try to understand the behaviour of millennials and its impact on consumption patterns. 

When we set out to understand the life goals of India, in association with KANTAR IMRB, we found that social media and content are playing a key role in moulding the financial future of the Gen Y. The first-ever Bajaj Allianz Life India’s Life Goals Preparedness Survey discovered that not only do social networks and pop culture have a significant impact on life goal choices but also raise the preference for unconventional and individualistic objectives among the millennials.

Before we talk about the influences, it is important to understand the life goals of millennials. The survey highlights an increasing prominence towards “me” life goals while the important “we” life goals remain intact. That means even though home-ownership and child education are still a priority, life goals related to entrepreneurship, travel, fitness and health are becoming significant for Indians, across socio-economic and geography profiles, and especially among millennials. One in every three millennials has a health and fitness related goal, while 42% of them consider a comfortable retirement as their life goal. At the same time, they also want to travel extensively and achieve a decent work-life balance. While most of the conventional life goals are still being influenced by family, friends and mentors, social media and pop culture are fuelling lifestyle and travel goals within the Gen Y. 

The survey showed that nearly 1 in 5 life goals are inspired by social media content, with its influence around 20% higher for millennials than non-millennials. Even movies, news, motivational speakers and celebrities are likely to sway the opinions and ambitions of the younger generations than other cohorts. As a result, companies will have to adopt an omni-channel strategy and make services and communications more personalized, with a proactive focus on social media and live engagement campaigns to win over the millennial generation.

Younger generations hold transparency in high regard, so financial services companies need to make sure that their communications and products are reliable, straightforward, and unbiased. Moreover, millennials are far more susceptible to financial vulnerabilities than previous generations and therefore, they need to make investment decisions which protect them and their life goal from uncertainties. While it is heartening to see that life insurance remains the preferred investment option for 60% of the life goals, as per our survey, there is a need to further leverage social media and online channels to enlighten and enable millennials to create wealth while maintaining investment continuity. It is evident that a mix of factors, including social media and personal associations, shape millennials’ personalities and life decisions, and the categories could maximise marketing yields by actively responding to the needs of this trend-setting generation, thereby realising the full potential of the India consumption story.

The writer is chief marketing officer at Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance