7 unique attributes of generation Y

According to Deloitte U.S. company the key to building a Gen Y customer platform is to first understand the seven unique attributes of this generation:
• As financial freshmen, Gen Yers have easier access to, and more information about, financial products and services than earlier generations did at this stage of life. However, when it comes to implementation, they are still novices.
• Being independently dependent, Gen Yers are self-directed and resourceful in conducting research on financial services products but often seek recommendations from, and validation of, their decisions from family, friends and financial advisors.
• Gen Yers are practically motivated at this stage in life and are naturally concerned with obtaining products and services at an affordable price.
• Tech-savvy Gen Yers grew up as “technology natives” and view technology as an extension of themselves, compared to baby boomers, who view it more as a tool.
• Gen Y has an entrepreneurial spirit.
• The consumer world is becoming increasingly diverse on many fronts and Gen Y embodies this diversity.
• Socially mindful Gen Yers show a propensity for being altruistic and environmentally conscious or “green.”

Ethnographic Research: A Key to Strategy

Ken Anderson (ken.anderson@intel.com) un ricercatore ed antropologo presso Intel, ha scritto un breve articolo per Harvard Business Review sull’importanza dell’etngrafia aziendale.

Ethnography is the branch of anthropology that involves trying to understand how people live their lives. Unlike traditional market
researchers, who ask specific, highly practical questions, anthropological researchers visit consumers in their homes or offices to
observe and listen in a nondirected way. Our goal is to see people’s behavior on their terms, not ours. While this observational method
may appear inefficient, it enlightens us about the context in which customers would use a new product and the meaning that product
might hold in their lives.
Recently, Intel ethnographers have veered into strategic questions. Like many high-tech companies, Intel makes long-term bets on how
markets will play out. Will television and PC technology converge? Are baby boomers retaining their PC and TV habits as they age, or
are they comfortable shifting to new media? Will smartphones take over most of the functions of personal computers?
By understanding how people live, researchers discover otherwise elusive trends that inform the company’s future strategies. Our
job as anthropologists is to understand the perspective of one tribe, consumers, and communicate it to another, the people at Intel. Our
experiences in both worlds make this translation possible. Ethnography has proved so valuable at Intel that the company now employs
two dozen anthropologists and other trained ethnographers, probably the biggest such corporate staff in the world...I believe that ethnography is so beneficial
that it will spread widely, helping firms in every industry truly understand customers and adapt to fast-changing markets.

GENERATIONS, CULTURE AND SOCIETY

GENERATIONS, CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Culture and Society June Edmunds e Bryan S. Turner, 2002

What is the role of generations in social, cultural and political change? How is generational consciousness formed? What is the significance of inter and intra-generational conflict and continuity? Despite the importance of the concept of generations in common sense or lay understanding of cultural change, the study of generations has not played a large part in the development of sociological theory. However, recent social developments, combined with the erosion of a strong class theory, mean that generations need to be reconsidered in relation to cultural change and politics.Moving beyond Karl Mannheim's classical contribution, this book offers a theoretically innovative way of examining the role of generational consciousness in social, cultural and political change through a range of empirical illustrations. On the grounds that existing research on generations has neglected international generational divisions, the book also looks at the interactions between generations and other social categories. The result is a key text for undergraduate courses in social theory, cultural studies and social history, and an essential reference for researchers across these areas, as well as gender, race and ethnicity.