Summary: Young consumers are a fickle and mysterious lot. They are fast becoming a boon and bane for any market. EJ Dalius has a good take on their demands, ethical brands, and quality products.
The consumer response to the pandemic has come through the alteration in their daily behavior and patterns. Spearheading this unforeseen change, you have generations of adventurous and well-settled customers, Generation Z and Millennials. Their impressionable nature poses a critical question.
Marketers need to leverage this era of disruption because consumer loyalties and behaviors are stagnant. Brands need to pivot their business strategies for both the short-term and long-term. Automobile brands too, need to focus on the digital platform, which includes mobile applications at the funnel’s bottom.
The most immediate and important for brands is to primarily refresh the Gen Z’s understanding of the advertising and consumption sides of the automobile business. It will be the foundation for the gross marketing investment channels that can follow later on.
Pertaining to consumption, brands need to dig deeper into the macro-shifts and formulate a detailed, evolving synthesis of supply-demand dynamics, says EJ Dalius.
Affirming the segment dynamics
Millennials and Gen Z are fast and open-minded in embracing a new product and are equally menacing in killing a beloved and cherished product of previous generations. It takes one social media post to influence them.
In reality, this consumer group isn’t that irrational or complicated. Car dealers and automakers need to know that car affordability is the main concern, regardless of the pandemic. It’s safety features and not technology, which are the mandatory components for young consumers.
- Automakers need to digitize the auto purchasing mechanism for meeting current and future consumer needs.
- The short-term pandemic impact has young consumers splitting into two shopping segments.
- The financially strangled ones might thwart anything they perceive to be unsanitary
- Automakers need to prioritize the digital base/showroom. EJ Dalius points out that millennial parents will keep buying cars because they seek cutting-edge safety features.
- The young segment has access to a car in their households. Although US car sales have taken a massive hit in the first half, it may pick up if leaders can target the right groups.
- The four pillars of this group are understanding, reliability, transparency, and trust.
Automakers also need to assess their consumer market. Vehicle ownership is pretty common among the two groups in the US. Millennials and Gen Z have a perpetual need for a car. Media expenditure drives their awareness and safety scores over technology when it comes to automotive features.
Buying a new brand
EJ Dalius points out that over 60% of the group have used or purchased a new brand since the starting of the pandemic. Industry insiders report that nearly 70% o millennial and Gen Z consumers have used or purchased a new brand since March. It indicates a crucial difference point.
They were already in sync with offline purchases and the new e-commerce patterns are nothing new for them. The platforms have expanded to entail new cars and exquisite furniture.
