Generation C - Digital natives, not necessarily young

MANILA, Philippines - First there was Generation X, followed by Y and Z. Now, pundits are saying a new consumer group has risen — Generation C.

“C” stands for connected and market research firm Nielsen identified its members to be those between the age of 18 and 34 or anyone born sometime between the launch of the VCR (video cassette recorder) and the commercialization of the Internet. People in Generation C embrace all things digital and technologies permeate all their personal connections, the Nielsen report said.

Global management consulting firm Booz & Company also released an in-depth study on the advent of the Generation Cs and profiled them as those born after 1990.

Having owned digital devices all their lives, Generation C people are expected to be intimately familiar with them and use them as much as six hours a day. Using the Internet and online social network services are second nature to them. More than 95 percent of them have computers, and more than half use instant messaging to communicate, have Facebook pages, and watch videos on YouTube.

The Generation C also gravitates toward shiny things called “i” this and that, phones to them are not primarily for voice calls, and they take “tablets” more than three times a day.

“Many of the social interactions by people belonging to Generation C take place on the Internet, where they feel free to express their opinions and attitudes... Technology is so intimately woven into their lives that the concept of early adopter is essentially meaningless,” the Booz & Company study noted.

Booz researchers also characterized Generation C individuals as realists, materialists, upwardly mobile, and culturally liberal, if not politically progressive.

Ageless

But there are others of the mind that the Generation C should be a grouping that is not limited to a certain age bracket but should be seen as a psychographic band of people who share a similar state of mind, interests or lifestyles. In this definition, even older people can be considered part of Generation C as long as they also live and breathe technology as much as their younger counterparts. Those who subscribe to this definition give more importance to how heavily a person uses technology and online content rather than that person’s age.

By the same token, age also does not automatically make all young people part of the Generation C as there could many of them who are not into Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or playing games and downloading various content online until now.

As researchers grapple with exactly who can be included in this generational class, one thing is sure: the rise of Generation C has global economic implications. By 2020 it is estimated that Generation Cs would constitute the largest group of consumers worldwide — about 40 percent of the population in the United States, Europe and the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries, and 10 percent in the rest of the world.

Because it’s a generation of people who live online most of their waking hours, Generation Cs will always expect fast, reliable connectivity. They will force communication and technology industries to create new services and have a powerful impact on a variety of other industries, said Booz researchers.

Among the industries most likely to be affected by the ways of the massively online consumers is health care, retail and travel, which Booz researchers asserted would have abandoned their successful but outlived business practices to better cater to the needs of the most influential demographic by then — the generation that keeps clicking.