Anyone who has read his work can attest that our in-house demography guru Neil Howe is one of the brightest shining bulbs out there. In the brief bullets below, the man who coined the term "millennials" cuts through recent news headlines and shares a few observations on topics people are talking about across America.
Many Millennials aren’t ringing or answering doorbells anymore because they are too “sudden” and “terrifying.” While this aversion may seem silly at first, it makes sense for risk-averse, sheltered Millennials: Doorbells indicate that strangers are at the door and text messages signal a friend. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Neil Howe: A real stranger pushing a real doorbell is as startling as a fire-alarm klaxon to a generation that likes to lead planned lives, that avoids upredictable encounters, and that needs digital prep for any real-world event. It all works for Millennials--barring, I suppose, some EMP attack that melts all their iPhones. Losers in this shift: Avon sales people, low-tech extraverted neighbors, and LDS missionaries.
Boomer contributor Joan Smith says that her generation has a drinking problem. She rightly points out that, while today’s young adults “think nothing of sticking to water or soft drinks,” Boomers have always imbibed to a dangerous degree—which is now manifesting in serious health problems. (The Guardian)
- NH: The CDC mortality data for "alcoholic liver disease" by age group tell the story: From 2004 to 2015, the death rate has climbed by 60% for Americans age 45-64--by far the highest rise of any age bracket. For age 65-74, the rate actually declined until a couple of years ago, though it too has recently been climbing. Clearly the epicenter of growing alcohol mortality is late-wave Boomers (born in the 1950s) and to some extent first-wave Xers (born in the 1960s). Their coming-of-age years coincided with the highest youth binge-drinking rates, and ever since many have continued to use alcohol, along with other drugs, to self-medicate their way through the day. As Angus Deaton and Anne Case have shown, this midlife behavioral trend also has a strong negative correlation with education and income.
Shoppers will soon be able to purchase Walmart items through Google’s voice assistant (Google Assistant) and quick-delivery online shopping app (Google Express). Judging by this new partnership, Google has clearly taken sides in the battle between Walmart and Amazon. (MediaPost)
- NH: First, Microsoft (with Azure) allied itself with Walmart against AWS. And now Google is coupling with Walmart to thwart Amazon's threat to its browser. (Roughly half of all shoppers now start their search on amazon.com.) It's easy for Silicon Valley firms to make common cause with Walmart because they know it won't threaten them on their own turf--a bit like how so many continental European powers with large land armies made alliances with Britain. There's no competitive downside. (See: "Amazon and Walmart Battle for Retail's Future.")
Columnist Wilson Rothman tells parents that it’s okay to spy on their kids’ Internet-browsing activity. Protective Xer and Millennial parents have leveraged technology to monitor their children since birth—they hardly need permission to continue to do so as their young Homelanders grow older. (The Wall Street Journal)
- NH: Homelanders fall into what we call the "Artist" generational archetype, characterized by an overprotected childhood and high trust in caregivers. Like Shirley Temple, they will assume that parental snooping is just one more sign they are loved.
Some restaurants and hotels are training staff on how to take social media-worthy photos. These leisure-dependent businesses must make sure their offerings catch the eye of experience-oriented Millennials, who comprise an ever-growing share of travelers. (TravelPulse)
- NH: You can see where this is going. Eventually, resorts and restaurants will offer customers an Instagram room, with gorgeous backdrops, and free assistance editing their photos with the help of greenscreens. All to make sure their friends know just how "authentic" the experience really was.
New data show that 36% of U.S. golfers are between the ages of 18 and 39, dispelling the notion that golf is only for the older crowd. But that doesn’t mean Millennials are hitting the links like their fathers did: Many are experiencing the game at driving ranges like TopGolf, which promise a casual, social experience. (CNBC)
- NH: "A good walk ruined" was how Mark Twain once described golf. For Xers, golf has become less a game about walking at all--and more about higher-tech, faster-paced, shorter-duration skill contests with ball and club. Now Millennials are making it an upscale party. An interesting analogy to what's happening to golf is shooting--which is much less about hunting (boring, uncomfortable, vastly time-consuming) and more about swanky shooting clubs. It has to be entertainment, not a "lifestyle."
