Millennials And Black Friday, Why The Hook?

The shopping extravaganza of the year is just one week away, and earlier this week, one of many surveys on Millennials and shopping trends related to Black Friday was released.

80 Million And Counting

Despite the highly circulated stereotypes of self-centeredness, money mismanagement and thriftiness often bestowed on the Millennial generation, the survey results from Ypulse suggested that 77 percent of Millennials intend to shop over the Black Friday to Cyber Monday period, 65 percent of Millennials have established a budget for holiday shopping spending and the anticipated gift giving tendencies are incredibly family oriented.

Related Link: The Dark Side Of A Generation's Frugality

Known for both entitlement and frugality, Millennial stereotypes are simultaneously backed by statistics and contradictory in nature. Millennials belong to an age bracket with a breadth of 20 years; 80 million Americans fit snugly within these parameters. Just based on the numbers alone, it seems impossible to make any commercially useful generalizations on "Millennials" – broken down, it does not seem all that shocking to hear high schoolers (on the young end of the Millennial spectrum) have different tendencies than decade-deep professionals (those on the older end of the Millennial spectrum).

So, why do the stereotypes persist and the statistics shock?

With a PhD specializing in human resource development and an upcoming book describing generational stereotyping, Oracle's Jessica Kriegel intends to illuminate these seeming paradoxes. "The stereotypes of millennials are wildly unfair," she stated in a recent Oracle-Forbes article. "They're portrayed as entitled know-it-alls who want to jump up the corporate ladder without paying their dues; who demand work/life balance but also want a collaborative work environment; who need time off for volunteer efforts (since they want to save the world) but resist putting in extra time at work when it is needed; who are super tech-savvy but oblivious to social norms."

"No doubt some millennials fit some of those exaggerated descriptions, but many more don't," Kriegel emphasized.

The Importance Of Statistics

The corporate world in its current iteration thrives off statistics. Numbers, trends, survey results – anything that can give any semblance of predictive patters -- feed corporate America, who survive off financial success.

Therefore, despite the headline grabbing inconsistencies about the generation, don't expect these hooks to disappear any time soon. Above all, keep in mind that articles such as "Millennials' Surprising Game Plan for Black Friday" and "Selling to Millennials – Is Gen Y Taking Over Black Friday?" and "Death Knell For Black Friday?" serve a purpose, but should be taken with a grain of salt.

MarketingDaily's Rebecca Brooks stated in the latter article, "Interestingly, and perhaps even counter-intuitively, Millennials made up the largest contingent of Black Friday shoppers in 2014. (Wouldn't you have guessed that they were saving all their bitcoins for Cyber Monday, instead?) […] While Millennials are heavy shoppers, they are also deal hunters who will pursue Black Friday specials in this tight economy. But, Millennials are also extremely eager to revamp the retail experience to match their digital lives."

This example alone highlights the propulsion of stereotypes within America's consumer-centric environment. Trying to "unwrap" the Millennial becomes an improbable labyrinth, when perhaps the story is much simpler. Replace the term Millennial with any other age bracket, and generationally-geared titles seem akin to age discrimination.

Kriegel commented on this phenomenon, "These seemingly harmless articles, posted by web content factories and respected business publications alike […] these generation experts, with only a minimum of research, purport to offer quick tips on how to work with these young people."

"The label leaves no room for understanding the differences of the people in that population," Kriegel concluded, "There is no one-size-fits-all approach to managing millennials, recruiting millennials, or engaging millennials. Instead, we must do the less sexy work of understanding the individuals in front of us."

What It All Means For Black Friday

Now that the wool has been torn away, avoid the temptation to dismiss all generational or Black Friday articles with reckless abandon. They do serve a precise purpose.

Seen through blinder-free financial literacy, the information provided is still useful. Generalizations, regardless of the particulars, do demonstrate broad trends. The philosophical debate over whether the generation as a convoluted whole should be uncategorized is a separate issue.

Related Link: Dear Millennials: Money Can't Buy Happiness, But Debt Could Lead To Unhappiness

The takeaway from disambiguating the Millennial-geared headlines and shopping trends is to recognize that shopping trends for young Americans shift. Marketing techniques will not be 100 percent effective if geared toward a broad age group, just as techniques aimed at young children are unlikely to ring true to college freshman. The generalizations exist because a trend has been discovered and supported.

Acknowledge the relationship between marketing and personal offense. Understand that marketing trends are less about characterizing the person behind the generation and more about attempting to predict financial business success.

Read the articles and studies and try to understand the motivation behind the pieces. Embrace the privileged position within a society that has the liberty to debate the merits of generational stereotypes.