Seldom has a generation attracted quite so many comments and stereotypes as millennials, but perhaps the most enduring is that they’re digital natives, who on account of growing up surrounded by technology, they are instantly at home with the latest gadgets and technologies in a way that older generations simply are not.
It’s a narrative that has helped to shape both how millennials are marketed to but also how they’re treated in the workplace, but is the narrative justified? In some aspects of technology, there are clear signs that millennials are actively resisting the march of technology.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the data that technology companies are accumulating about users, with this harvesting often happening without either their knowledge or consent. There is an acute understanding among millennials that in many of the free platforms and services they consume on a daily basis, they themselves are the product that the companies sell to advertisers. Even when their data isn’t being harvested for targeted advertising, it’s often tracked to personalize the customer experience.
The rise of surveillance capitalism
This so called surveillance capitalism signifies a new shift in economics, with companies scrabbling to gather as much data as they can to feed the artificial intelligence technologies that will increasingly power their business. There is a sense that millennials are rejecting this business orthodoxy however, with research from UCL showing that 47% of millennials don’t want AI-based tech monitoring everything they do. Indeed, less than 1 in 3 regard AI-driven interventions such as recommendations as a positive thing.
This manifested itself in a considerable concern about the amount of data companies have on them, with regulations such as GDPR thus far not serving to assuage their concerns. A whopping 70% of young people think that the likes of Google and Facebook have too much of their personal data, and whilst most of the big tech giants have recently vowed to make privacy a priority in the coming years, in reality privacy is likely to be an ever more hostile battle ground.
A recent report from Accenture explored the rise of voice-activated technologies such as Amazon’s Alexa, and how they promise to transform the home environment. It revealed that millennials have been early adopters of smart technology, but they are also the most nervous age group when it comes to the privacy implications of having an array of smart devices in the home.
Smart homes
The research surveyed a number of UK consumers to explore how people were using smart home technologies, and how they felt about the presence of the technology in their homes. The data did indeed reveal that millennials are aware of the benefits of the technology, with roughly 76% saying it made their lives easier and 70% thinking it made life more connected.
This comes with a distinct caveat however, as over half of millennial respondents also thought that the technology was excessively intrusive, with around 40% also believing that people are becoming too dependent on the technology.
Central to these concerns are fears around the amount of information smart devices have on them. Some 40% of millennials revealed that they think too much information about their lives and behaviors are captured by smart devices, with the majority of millennials doubtful that the data that is collected is managed properly and stored securely.
“As future home owners and potential smart-home customers, younger generations are a crucial market. But this research shows that brand understanding of this group’s anxieties around technology is limited. Rationalising the fears of millennials around dependency, intrusiveness, and isolation will be vital to the product design strategy of the future. Those aged 65 and over emerge as an avenue for opportunity,” Accenture say.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the age group that appear to be the most trusting are the over 65s, who were both most likely to believe their information was being managed appropriately and least likely to have any concerns about technology leading to greater isolation. Indeed, this age group were increasingly using technology to manage their social life and improve their wellbeing.
My previous article highlighted how important trust in technology was to how willingness to consume and use it, whether we’re talking driverless cars or AI-driven healthcare. It’s tempting to think that younger people will automatically have higher levels of trust than any other age group, but the studies highlighted above should prompt us to question those assumptions. If we are selling to this age group, we may need to double our efforts to address the clear concerns they have and ensure that this vital demographic aren’t turned off.
