January 2008 No. 1Table of ContentsNew Year Special Report |
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United Way leaders across America participated in a Webinar focused on the “state of the consumer” led by the Yankelovich market research company. It suggested ways that the attitudes and motivations influencing Americans’ buying behaviors might affect their lifestyle preferences as volunteers and charitable givers. Yankelovich has tracked American consumer values and lifestyle trends since 1971. Recently, it started using a variety of methods to arrive at “an extraordinarily robust look at the whys behind people’s behavior in the marketplace.”
For a copy of the Yankelovich June 2007 Getting to Next slides or text, contact Roger Frick at IaUW. Here is a digest of that report.
Getting to Next. American adults (16+years/old) are in a go-mode that’s not about spending but a sense of “energy, empowerment, and movement” toward what they want to be. There is “an enterprising spirit among consumers…a sense of movement…to create, and imagine, and re-imagine their lives.”
Most Americans are leaning more toward the “new and exciting” than the “familiar and comfortable” that they did in 2002. That applies to all age groups:
| New & Different Americans | 2002 |
Today |
| ALL | 41% |
56% |
| Echoes (ages 16 to 27) | 59% |
72% |
| Xers (28-41years/old) | 49% |
64% |
| Boomers (42-60) | 36% |
52% |
| Matures (61+) | 28% |
36% |
Today, 40% say it’s important to “stretch yourself to try new things” compared to 30% just two years ago. In short, there’s a growing boldness and confidence in Americans’ ability to “navigate the tricky waters of the world in which they live.” Time magazine named “YOU” the Person of the Year.
We know, own, and are fully engaged in this “inside-out” world. Today’s sense of social engagement is based on a sense of self-invention and personal authenticity. It is also built on “advantage: intangibles—a widespread search for satisfaction that goes beyond material accumulation. It’s about looking beyond the ‘stuff’—about looking for experiences, emotions, and connections that add zest and meaning to life.”
That is an important fact for United Ways to appreciate. A second equally critical fact is that people are more willing to follow their own instincts than listen to experts. We’re “trusting our guts” and “leveraging expertise.” And just as important is that Americans want others to see themselves as “someone who is passionate about the things you care about.” In 2002, that was true for 61% of us; today it’s true for 76%.
Most of us what to be viewed as someone “who can see through exaggeration and hype.” A desire for that perception has grown steadily from 38% of us in 2002 to 58% today. “No one wants to play the fool.”
iPriority. The first of four “vital signs” of how much Americans are progressing toward Self-Invention, Personal Authenticity, and Advantage: Intangibles is the concept about taking care of oneself in order to be able to take care of another—iPriority. The focus is “self, with a twist.” The end goal is “being there for others.”
iPriority is not being self-indulgent nor narcissistic, but taking care of your own needs first because that’s the only way you can be in a good position to give to other people. “If Momma ain’t happy, nobody’s happy.” Here’s a sample of this concept:
What does all this mean to United Ways? Help people “tap into the idea that giving to others feeds the good feelings we’re striving to achieve.” “Doing good leads to lasting happiness.” “You don’t have to buy something to feel a sense of well-being.”
Provide for “on-demand everything.” Empower front-line service people to get faster responses to problems and questions. Break your own rules when necessary. Have an experimental attitude approach to all you do.
Age Nullification. It’s about “breaking through artificial birthdate barriers. It’s about how you feel inside. It is about exploring, experimenting, and imaging.” Half of all age groups say they think a business makes decisions with their interest in mind when it “doesn’t assume everybody my age thinks the same way.” Older folks are more comfortable with everything youthful, and young consumers take on adult concerns.
Boomers (68%) say they will be more vigorous and engaged than their parents, and parents with children under age 18 at home (69%) don’t want them to grow up too quickly. Encouraged by medical advances, 79% of us expect to live at least to 70. Teens are eating organic foods (47%) and want to know more about investing (49%) and staying out of debt (54%).
So, United Ways should forget stereotypes. Don’t assume specific events, sponsorships, modes of communication are only going to appeal to one age group. Make lifestyle connections across ages. “Patronizing language toward the old or the young, is a lose-lose proposition.” Get kids involved. They’re growing older younger, and they’ll get their parents involved.
Looping. “The need to know on steroids.” The consumer’s “desperate thirst for information,” to be “privy to process.” “If we can nail down the 92% we can learn more about, we’re more tolerant of the 8% that’s completely out of our control.” Americans are increasingly saying they know how to get the information they need to make decisions—from 61% of us in 2002 to 76% today.
We are “in the loop” and getting more comfortable with the plethora of information available today. TV may be overly dramatic, but it gives us glimpses into emergency rooms, autopsies, murder trials, house building, choosing romantic partners, or casting off those we don’t want to be with on an island alone. The Web site www.gethuman.com gives Americans direct phone numbers to bypass the automated phone tree systems of several hundred U.S. companies.
The lessons? Be sure everyone is looped in with metrics and measures that are easy to find and understand. Answer “how is my money being put to use?” It’s transparency. “Consistency’s a must” across the board in your variety of communication media. Don’t ask donors or volunteers to decode.
Pinpointing. In a world “gone wide,” we want to find “the real, pure experience and emotion…even if it takes more effort to achieve.” We don’t want the lowest common denominator. We want what’s “right and relevant and rewarding,” and it’s not necessarily unique. In 1999, 68% would go to another store rather than settle for something not exactly what they want; it was 77% in 2005. Today, we want relationships with “qualified participants only.” For example, marathons have become too big for many veteran runners.
For United Ways, pinpointing means a focus on intimacy, not exclusivity. “Sometimes it’s hard to say you’re not for everybody—but maybe it’s healthier and makes it that much more apparent to your most important targets that you’re the organization exactly right for them.” Be the professional in a world of amateurs.
Strengthen the bonds of passionate concern with leadership givers and Tocqueville Society members. Help them “find ways to contribute that truly mean something to them.” Don’t be afraid to create options and rewards just for them.
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