Generational Research

Why do organizations need an approach to generational research?

We hear about the world being polarized - particularly related to politics but increasingly across cultures, beliefs and views on society as a whole.

There is another divide that informs the beliefs, attitudes, politics, value systems and more–that of age and generational cohorts.

Opinions vary greatly across generations - the same as it has always been - but with Millennials, Generation Z, and Generation Alpha, the gaps between are growing ever wider. Now more than ever, organizations must understand the nuances between these generations and between these generations and older cohorts. Political, social and economic power is and will continue to shift to these generations; understanding the views and outlook of these cohorts is critical for organizations to achieve their objectives.

When is generation-based research best?

Oftentimes, foundational research will be enough to get a directional idea of what generations like Millennials and Gen Z think, but will miss exploring attitudes of Generation Alpha. You may not need a deep dive on a particular generational cohort when devising a broad-based strategy.

But often, taking a differentiated approach can pay dividends. A commonly used message may perform well over linear television but fall flat on TikTok. Influencers rise and fall while products can boom or bust on different channels. Where and how these groups consume information, spend time and their resources is continually evolving. Whether its message and creative testing, qualitative research or deeper exploration and data modeling, truly understanding these cohorts is key to staying ahead.

Applications:

• Messaging Campaigns: Segment and understand which messages perform best through a generational lens and within different demographic groups of each generation. Focusing through a generation-specific lens, gathering the right data for each cohort allows for split testing messages, evaluating the trade-offs between messages and predictability in how to move the needle.
  
  
• Messenger and Channel Selection: Refine and target the right pieces of creative to the right platforms with the right tone. Ads and sponsored content pieces placement need to be precise to have the greatest impact - understanding current trends among these audiences ensures you know who your best messengers are, where you can have the largest reach and take your campaign farther.
  
  
• ESG and Values Testing: Millennials, Gen Z and increasingly Gen Alpha aren't afraid to voice their opinions and have high, but varying expectations of brands and organizations they interact with. Ensure there is a fit between your brand's value and efforts it is making in the world. Are the causes your organization supports aligned with how these groups view your organization? Understanding this and more avoid missteps and strengthen ties with your customers.
  
  

Echelon's approach to generation-specific research

Generational expertise is core to Echelon Insights; our Founding Partner Kristen Soltis Anderson's "The Selfie Vote" is a defining work for understanding the political attitudes of Millennials. Since then, Echelon's focus and expertise in helping organizations navigate rising generations has only grown. Utilizing our best in class data collection methods and proprietary digital listening tools, Echelon Insights is ready to partner with your organization to gain a true understanding of each generation.

Here's how we do it:

• Focus Groups: Inform baseline strategy with real-time insights from those you're trying to reach. Capture and understand the human element vividly – with highlights and clips available, show other key stakeholders the human face representing your audience and how they're responding. Groups can be conducted prior to creating a quantitative study, allowing the insights from the groups to inform the survey instrument; other times, focus groups conducted after a quantitative study are critical in explaining the nuances of survey findings.
  
  
• Creative Optimizer Testing: Before launching campaigns or ad buys, we work with organizations to test specific messages and creative pieces against several measures, including your organization's KPIs to predict impact. This approach ensures new initiatives or communications strategies contribute positively to the company's image or, at the very least, do not harm it. Our Creative Optimizer tool is also self-serve for organizations who want to run their own creative testing on demand.
  
  
• Survey Credits: In addition to structured research programs we offer the ability to organizations to purchase credits towards future work; this flexibility is critical when budgets are continually shifting and needs down the road may be harder to predict. Survey credits are often used for setting up one-off, deeper dive surveys on a given topic or for quick-turn intelligence gathering (such as responding to a news event) via our omnibus tools. Whatever the need is, our team is able to work with your organization and ensure you're getting the right data to understand these audiences.
  
  
• Always-On Global Monitoring: Comprehensive monitoring of how key segments are discussing your organization's issues across media and social platforms in select markets or globally. This always-on ability allows you to keep track of sentiment and monitor trends between rounds of research. Further, gain an understanding of how different narratives and conversations are shaping the landscape so you're able to respond when necessary.