A psychographic analysis of Generation Y college students

Generation Y is regarded as the elusive new youth market, whose members are as resistant to advertising efforts as were members of Generation X before them. To investigate various factors that influence the use of advertising among the college segment of Generation Y, a survey was administered to a random sample of 368 college students. Questions probed self-identity, rele vance of depictions in the media, and the informational value of advertisin g across eight media. Results show that gender and a variety of personality traits such as introv ersion/extroversion affect both the perceived value of advertising as an in formation source and the relevance of depictions in the media. Depictions i n movies and television were rated significantly better than depictions in advertising. Implications are drawn for both media planners and marketing s trategists trying to communicate with this elusive group.