New York, NY — We’re very excited to be part of the release of an important new perspective on how millennial adults think about health and wellness. GSW, Allidura Consumer and Harris Poll teamed up to survey 2,015 adult millennials (18 – 32 year olds) to learn how their attitudes and behaviors about health might differ from the generations that came before them.
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What we found was a generation searching for happiness – 97% say it’s important — and held back by the well-documented way they’re currently living: more stressed, anxious and depressed than any other living generation.
Here are three key findings from the first report on this research into the new boom generation:
- They carry the worries of a much older generation: We naturally think of millennial adults as a younger, healthier generation. But they don’t see themselves that way. In fact, millennials worry about health issues (such as getting a serious illness or affording the cost of healthcare) almost exactly as much as Baby Boomers. In fact, in some key categories – like having access to doctors and medication when they need it – millennials worry even more than baby boomers.
- Find themselves in a cycle of search-and-stress when it comes to health:Millennial adults are part of the first truly high-tech generation, but they were raised by the last of decidedly low-tech parents. They grew up with the internet , the eventual ability to find anything, to compare themselves to anyone in an instant, but without the guidance on how to internalize that flood of information. As adults, their insatiable need for that constant digital context may be hurting their health.
- Their “healthcare” is a mashup of food and exercise trends: It turns out that our hulking healthcare system – with its confusing cost structures and white-coated experts – isn’t what millennials are pursuing, even as they express worry about their health. For them the question seems to be not who can help me but what can help me. It may be because they think of healthcare as “sick care” – a system designed to restore their health, not maintain it. A majority (62%), see a healthcare professional reactively; that’s significantly more than gen xers or baby boomers (46% and 34% respectively).
What this new study tells us is that marketing to millennials requires an approach that is fundamentally different from those we relied on for gen Xers and baby boomers. Successful marketing to this generation will rely on personal utility and emotional currency.
Download the full report to see all the findings + our recommendations for how marketers can best connect with this health-conscious generation.
