For Millennials: Drinking and Shopping Don't Mix

"Oh my God! What did I buy last night??" Over 38% of Millennials in a recent AIM survey have shopped online "under the influence." And most of them (81%) had regrets the next day...

According to TIME magazine (December 30, 2011), drunk dialing, drunk texts, drunk Facebooking … there are many things one shouldn’t do while drunk. Add online shopping to the list.

Nowadays if you’re drinking, it’s advisable to hand over not only your keys, but your credit card as well, to a sober, responsible friend—ideally, one with good taste too. Why? The dangers of shopping while drunk.

Specifically, online shopping while drunk, which very well may peak during the holiday season, when consumers are in the mode to party and shop in equally large doses. The New York Times recently reported on the syndrome, which is hardly the only activity known to result in bad decisions when the beer goggles are on.

On the one hand, shopping when highly inebriated can double the fun and excitement of impulse purchases. First, there’s the initial fun that goes along with browsing and buying. Second, there’s the fun mystery factor—when a package is delivered and you have no idea what it is until it’s opened.

Everybody likes getting a surprise gift, after all, and shopping while drunk gives you the rare opportunity to buy what’ll feel like a surprise treat for yourself. You may even be surprised with how generous you are when you’re drunk.

Seriously, though, however fun tipsy shopping may be, it must also increase the chances of bizarre and stupid purchases at least by a factor of two. One regrettable example mentioned by a drunk shopper in the Times: a “Heart’s Greatest Hits” CD purchased from Amazon one blurry night. Like the purchase itself, listening to Heart is generally also pleasurable only when intoxicated—and then seems like a horrible idea the day after, when your head’s pounding with a killer hangover.

Few consumers think all that much about shopping while drunk. Unsurprisingly, though, e-retailers are keenly aware of the phenomenon. Almost half of Britons polled by one shopping site said they’d gone shopping online after drinking.

Naturally, sellers do what they can to tempt consumers into making purchases while they’re in good moods and don’t have their guards up. Many online sellers flood consumers with limited-time offers starting well after the dinner hour, when the odds are best that people have a few drinks in them. The Gilt Groupe, which specializes in high-end flash deals, says it’s adding more deals that kick off at 9 p.m. While sellers don’t overtly promote the idea of drunken shopping, hundreds of sellers, including QVC and eBay, take careful note of nighttime shopping patterns—which spike around 8 p.m. and often stay strong through midnight. It’s during these shopping “happy hours” that sellers often focus on fun, seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time impulse purchases, such as Neiman Marcus fashions or a luxury hotel three-day getaway.

As the saying goes, nothing good happens at a bar after midnight. It’s pretty likely that nothing good or sensible is purchased after midnight as well.

So, Millennials, what do YOU think? Have you ever shopped under the influence? What do you think about retailers that specifically target online shoppers in that condition???

The Millennials: Best generation ever? [infographic]

Click here to see a terrific graphic illustration defining Millennials...

The Millennials: Best generation ever? [infographic]

Millennials Plan Low-Key Family Holidays

This just in…

Albing International Marketing polled 100 Millennials about their spending plans for the holidays 2011:

· Only 2% will spend substantially more than last year

· 67% will spend about the same

· 30% will spend a lot less than last year

· 5% have decided NOT to give gifts this year

· 43% will be giving fewer, smaller gifts

· 5% are considering charitable donations instead of traditional gifts

· 8% plan to give “experience” gifts (theater/sports tickets/dining/travel)

· 38% say gift giving will be about the same as last year

· No one in AIM’s survey will be giving “more expensive gifts and more of them”

· 46% are planning only family gatherings

· 17% will give one or two small parties

· 13% will hold one or more large events

· 12% have no plans for entertaining, but will probably have some impromptu gatherings

· 12% will be doing no entertaining whatsoever!

More analysis to follow soon…

Boomer Parents Funding Millennial Homeownership

(December 2, 2011, From Cam Marston of Generational Insights)

At least 20% of Baby Boomers are helping their Millennial children or grandchildren realize the dream of homeownership, according to a Better Homes and Gardens survey. One in five Boomers surveyed had gifted, loaned, or co-signed in support of a Millennial’s purchase of a home. More than two-thirds expressed a desire to provide such support in the future to their children or grandchildren, many intending to do so on multiple occasions.

This growing trend highlights a generational imbalance in wealth – Matures and Boomers have accumulated a lot of it whereas Millennials are finding it more difficult to get hold of than previous generations. The Boomers surveyed said they were motivated by their feelings for their children and grandchildren, but a more important factor for them is their belief in homeownership as the principal building block of personal wealth for their offspring.

It also points to the generational affinity between Millennials and their Boomer parents, a basic principle of generational marketing and selling. When it comes to “life” purchases such as homes, cars, and investments, you will often need to be able sell to Millennial buyers AND to their Boomer parents.

Tech Trash and Tools for Millennials on Cyber Monday

Tech, trash and tools on the holiday list for Millennials this Cyber Monday according to instant survey by Albing International Marketing. AIM surveyed 300 Millennials and found that the top categories for online purchases today include tech items such as sound systems for iPods/iPhones, new iTech from Apple (such as iPad2 and iPhone 4S). While video games such as “Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3” are popular among young men, “Just Dance 3” is a hit with Millennial women.

Most of the items mentioned were not especially great “deals,” but rather items they were planning to buy. “If I save a little all the better, but I was going to buy it anyway.” And a lot of the items are self-purchase or “self gifts,” not gifts for others. “My girlfriend told me to buy it for myself because she would never get just the right item. There’s nothing worse than getting something close to what you want, but just a touch off the mark…”

Items described as “trashy” are also popular such as DVDs of popular reality shows like “The Jersey Shore,” “Bridezillas” or “Real Housewives” (of anywhere). Even the movie “Bridesmaids” or episodes of the “Twilight Saga” were described as “giftable trashiness” by some Millennials.

Tools or gadgets are also hot items for Millennials. Keurig single-serve coffee machines and Soda Steam beverage carbonators are popular as well as Dyson’s Pet Cleanup Accessory Kit and the Oster Electric Wine Opener/Wine Chiller.

Any other hot items for Cyber Monday, Millennials??

Let's Give Thanks for "Anonymous Extraordinaries" - Millennials Like Natalie Warne

What a terrific TED Talk by Natalie Warne! Millennials like her are the future of our world. She fights for the Invisible Children forced into war as child soldiers and reminds us all that it is about the positive effects we have in life, not the recognition.

On this Thanksgiving weekend, we at AIM extend our thanks to all the "Anonymous Extraordinaries" out there who are teaching, healing and making our world a better place.

An Entrepreneurial Generation of 18- to 34-Year-Olds Wants to Start Companies When Economy Rebounds, According to Poll From The Kauffman Foundation

Millennials see entrepreneurship as path to success, but are delaying because of the economy

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) Nov. 10, 2011 — In a beleaguered economy, the country needs entrepreneurs – the nation's job creators. Fortunately, a recent poll shows that the so-called millennial generation – those ages 18-34 – are an entrepreneurial bunch. A few key barriers are holding them back, especially the economy.

The nationwide cell phone and landline survey, conducted by the Young Invincibles in conjunction with Lake Research Partners and Bellwether Research and funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, polled 872 millennials on their thoughts about the economy and entrepreneurship. With the world getting ready for Global Entrepreneurship Week, Nov. 14-20, hearing what young people think about starting businesses is especially timely.

"This poll reveals a generation that is enthusiastic about entrepreneurship, and that is good news for the U.S.," said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, "Fifty-four percent of the nation's millennials either want to start a business or already have started one. They recognize that entrepreneurship is the key to reviving the economy."
An even higher percentage of young people of color – 64 percent of Latinos and 63 percent of African-Americans – expressed a desire to start their own companies. Women, on the other hand, are less likely to want to start their own businesses than men are (44 percent of women vs. 57 percent of men).

Despite millennials' strong entrepreneurial drive, just 8 percent of them own businesses now, and only 11 percent intend to start businesses within the next year. Thirty-eight percent of the potential young entrepreneurs say they have delayed starting a business because of the economy.

"An astounding number of young people want to start a business one day," said Aaron Smith, co-founder and Executive Director of Young Invincibles. "And they overwhelmingly support action on the part of their leaders to remove barriers to these dreams."

The poll points out specific barriers to entrepreneurship, including the inability to access capital needed to get a business going, lack of knowledge needed to run a small business, concerns with overcoming current debt burdens, and few mentors from whom they can learn. In fact, 65 percent of young people think that making it easier to start a business should be a priority for Congress, with 41 percent saying it should be a top priority. Eighty-three percent of millennials believe that Congress should, at a minimum, increase the availability of startup loans.

Even more respondents – 92 percent – support increased access to the education and training needed to run a small business as a way to encourage people to become entrepreneurs, and 81 percent of the young people surveyed support student loan relief for millennials who start companies.