The Latest US Consumer Research Report: Millennials Are Willing To Pay Higher Prices For Authenticity And Sincerity.

Over the past few years, consumers' pursuit of uniqueness has driven major brands and retailers to gradually promote concepts such as personalization and customization.

With the introduction of data analysis, algorithm, location tracking technology, many retailers can provide more personalized products and services for a wider range of customers, such as custom hair coloring sets, nutrition plans based on individual bodies, etc. At the same time, it also causes consumers to worry more about personal data leakage.

Recently, a joint study conducted by National Retail Federation/NRF and GfK Decoding the Personalization Paradox pointed out:

• "Self", "Stress" and "Sharing" are the three major social trends to promote the individual needs of consumers.
• Based on these three trends, retailers can implement personalization in a large area through the following five key points: "management (letting consumers control themselves)", "values (product itself is not the sole factor in consumer decision making)", "planning (simplifying scenarios and providing accurate services and commodities)", "mode (using consumer like consumption methods)" and "reassuring (artificial intelligence based technology is more humane)".

The results show that 66% of the millennial generation of the United States is more loyal to brands that can spend their energy and ultimately influence the content of products and services.

Be honest with yourself

The report shows that a key element of consumers' desire for individuation is self. More and more consumers are shopping for personal preferences. They are willing to pay higher prices for truthfulness and sincerity, and refuse to be trapped in the identification given by the society.

47% of respondents said they were not influenced by social expectations such as age, gender and so on. At the same time, "acceptance of themselves" was becoming one of the core factors to define personal success, which also affected their shopping behavior.

From this point of view, brands need to understand one thing: from the perspective of self cognition, how the values of consumers continue to evolve. The "honest" option continues to rise, while the option of "becoming a better parent and spouse" is declining.

In view of the fact that consumers are more interested in making decisions, the most direct and effective personalized service of the brand is to let consumers control themselves. For example, let customers spend their energy on a service or product, so that every communication will have "come and go". Letting more consumers participate in themselves also means that brands can avoid some personalized risks, such as intrusive advertisements, a variety of behaviors that make consumers feel unfair pricing and so on.

In addition, the company needs to know what the customer value is, so as to effectively customize products and services that satisfy the needs of customers. Z generation and millennial consumers are "I only buy products or services that meet my values" and "because I do not agree with the values of a company. I have been avoiding their brand or store" for many months.

Various data and cases show that younger generation consumers have higher awareness of environmental protection and social responsibility. The report points out that brands should not try to talk about nothing but white handed wolf. Because authenticity is still a key factor linking consumers. "Authenticity" is the third most important values of consumers in the report.

Simplify life to cure anxiety

It is not just the values of consumers that are changing forever, but the pace of their lifestyle is also accelerating. 54% of respondents said they would at least be nervous or anxious several times a week because of external factors such as economic downturn, personal safety threats and self pressure.

Such pressure leads consumers to seek simplicity in their lives, hoping to simplify their own world with some products and services, and one of the more difficult tasks is. According to the survey, "I have been looking for ways to simplify life", which is ranked eighth in the 44 consumer attitudes choices, and the number of people born in the X generation (from 1966 to 1980) and the millennial generation have climbed rapidly. In the question of "true innovation", the answer to "simplifying the original complex" ranks third.

NRF and GfK believe that from this discovery, if the brand can skillfully use data to provide consumers with more concise shopping experience, such as planning personalized product list, it can be regarded as a good policy. Nearly half of respondents thought there were too many products on the market, which reached 60% in the millennial generation.

Although the boundaries between online and physical shopping are getting blurred, brands should be close to consumer preferences. The results showed that 1/3 of respondents liked shopping with mobile phones, even in physical stores. Therefore, the ideal state is that personalized projects can meet the needs of consumers in a wide range of areas and flexibly adapt to consumers' patterns.

Sharing happiness and sorrow

Although millennial consumers are more interested in personalization, the number of people who worry about data leakage has doubled. 66% of respondents said they liked websites to record their own browsing records and recommended related products or services, while 48% of respondents said it was important to actively manage their online identity.

That is to say, if there are definite benefits, such as recommendation close to demand, consumers will be happy to share personal information with the brand. 32% of respondents said, "when I go shopping, the retailer contacted me through smart phone", which reached 55% in the millennial generation.

Willing to share information does not mean that consumers will blindly give all private information, and will take the initiative to take some measures, such as cell phone location. Because data leakage and personal safety risks are becoming more common, brands need to ensure that consumers can be effectively protected.

An easy way to dispel worries is to let customers choose the information they want to share with the brand. But with the increase of the overall distrust of technology, the mode of human-machine integration can also be adopted, that is, on the basis of AI customer service, it can provide manual services for customers who have further doubts.

In addition, NRF and GfK also gave some new trends about "personalization", which are as follows:

• Personalized pricing
• Concern for transparency
• Personalized brand identity
• Voice business