Generation+Why+So+Serious?

__Matthew Hawkins__ N7201427 Tutor - Sarah

//"Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we've ever known.” //**Ronald Reagan**

media type="youtube" key="SEZM6nUhKW8" height="315" width="420" align="center"

This video provides a representation of Gen Y and their attributes and was designed by a group called ‘Ask Gen Y’. According to the film’s description, “Ask Gen Y is a research based initiative designed to help brigade the generations and harness the ambitions, motivations and aspirations of this overstimulated generation” (‘Ask Gen Y’, 2007). Of significance, this video includes excerpts of many historical events (such as the September 11 terrorist attacks) that have arguably influenced Gen Y throughout their developing years. Most obvious however, is the recurring insinuation of Gen Y’s dominance and importance for the future.

=Public Health Issue= 'Generation Why So Serious' encapsulates the importance of profiling and understanding Gen Y. This social analysis outlines why it's //so serious// to define 'Gen Y' as a group within society, investigating its specific attributes in terms of behaviours, consumption and health. Gen Y is a group that must be discussed for many reasons including their large population, dominance within the workforce, and the group’s enormous consumer dollars (Howe & Strauss, 2000., Martin & Tulgan, 2006., Esser, 2007).

=Literature Review=

Consumptions
Gen Y consumers have influence upon 81% of US family apparel purchases, and are more consumption oriented and accustomed to an abundance of goods and services (O’Donnell, 2006). Furthermore it has been suggested that Gen Y is the most consumption oriented of all generations (Wolburg & Pokrywczyniski, 2001). On the back of these proposals, Sullivan & Heitmeyer (2008) conducted an in-depth analysis of the shopping preferences and intentions of Gen Y consumers. It was previously determined that the Gen Y consumer is a functional purchaser, seeking a shopping experience linked to both celebrities and entertainment. In profile, the Gen Y shopper is idealistic, socially conscious, anti-corporate and individualist; thus celebrating diversity and individuality all-the-while seeking group association (Wolburg & Pokrywczyniski, 2001).

Sullivan & Heitmeyer (2008) specifically investigated the relationships between Gen Y apparel shoppers, brand loyalty, experiential value, hedonic preferences, patronage and re-patronage intentions, gender, and lastly ethnicity. Most importantly, they were able to suggest that experiential value, shopping involvement, gender and ethnicity can all be used to predict future patronage behaviour. The findings also hinted that Gen Y consumers intended to shop from their favourite stores in some instances, indicating a degree of brand loyalty.

The significance of these findings is that creating a cohesive brand image through a variety of experiences such as entertainment and visual displays will enhance the in-store experience for Gen Y consumers. Retailers can benefit from these studies by ensuring aesthetics, brand image and store appearance are maintained to appeal to Gen Y, optimising consumer involvement. Importantly though, the authors of the study expressed that longitudinal studies of Gen Y are necessary to entirely grasp their consumer habits (Sullivan & Heitmeyer, 2008).

Of course, there are real world implications that can be taken from these findings. The Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that the proportion of businesses with a web presence (e.g. a website) is greatly increasing; up from 6% in 1997-98 to 42% in 2008-09. What’s more, online shopping is increasing in popularity due to its price, flexibility and versatility with 64% of internet users over the age of 15 making online purchases (ABS, 2009). This means that businesses with a store-front must become savvy with the attributes and preferences of an affluent Gen Y. According to the above research, their best tactic may be to create an enjoyable, personal in-store experience.

Behaviours
Leading on from this, the behaviours specific to Gen Y must be understood to fully grasp their social constraints. Due to Gen Y’s importance within the work sector, it is highly relevant to discuss their work-place attitudes and behaviours. Bristow and colleagues (2011) wrote that Generation Y wants job flexibility and a balanced life, however more specific details about their behaviours are undiscovered, and they found it timely to assess the career motivational priorities of Gen Y.

Gen Y were raised during a period of technological advances and economic growth, and are often more concerned with procedure rather than particular outcomes (Dayan, 2005). It has been controversially proposed that for generation Y, income is less important than contributing to society, parenting well and living a balanced life (Eisner, 2005). Gen Y have been shaped by the birth of the internet, terrorist attacks and the on-going gulf war, yet have grown up being told they can achieve anything and are all winners; often leading to outspoken self-confidence (Bristow et al., 2011). This generation need to be challenged and excited, are opinionated, want flexible jobs, have less direction and earn to spend, //not// to save.

A very recent study incorporated a work-place motivations questionnaire (Castleberry, 1990) and aimed to determine more specific career motivations of gen Y workers. Surprisingly, findings were indicative that Gen Y members are more focused on basic job needs. The authors of the study generalised by suggesting Gen Y are less concerned about career advancement, with many considering work to be simply a job rather than an important part of their life (Bristow et al., 2011). Put simply, Gen Y work to live, and do not live to work. Importantly, the overwhelming findings of the survey were that Gen Y workers are chasing a career that is interesting, challenging, autonomous and with substantial variety (Bristow et al., 2011). A concluding passage stated that to provide high pay and generous benefits may not be enough to attract a large portion of Gen Y students (Herzberg, 2002).

Health
It is of utmost importance to consider the health status of Gen Y before looking at the overall picture. First of all alcohol, tobacco and other drugs should be considered. In 1998, 13% of all cardiovascular deaths could be directly attributed to tobacco smoking; this is an alarming statistic clearly identifying the dangers of tobacco (AIHW, 1998). Thankfully, smoking rates have steadily declined since the 1970s with the introduction of anti-smoking campaigns. The greatest decline so far was seen from 1998 -2001 for individuals aged 20-29 (AIHW, 1998). Markedly, the majority of this age group belong to Gen Y, and these numbers may suggest that Gen Y members are less engaged in smoking than previous generations. Unfortunately, more recent values predict that 23% of males, and 19% of females over the age of 18 smoke tobacco. Also alarming is the fact that 15% of males and 11.7% of females over the age of 18 are classified as ‘risky drinkers’ (ABS, 2008). Disturbingly 39% of Australians over the age of 14 reported using cannabis (ABS, 2008). It is apparent that although numbers may be declining since previous generations, many members of Gen Y are still engaging in risky drug taking behaviours, this is a health concern.

Likewise, mental health must be discussed. A 2004-05 national health survey identified trends that mental health problems increase in prevalence with age. It should be noted that the age groups with elevated mental health issues do not represent particular generations, and accordingly it should be considered that Gen Y is ageing and will likely experience an increase in mental health problems in the coming years. Reasons for mental health issues were cited as being divorce, job insecurity, or socioeconomic status to name but a few. Incidentally, mental health conditions place a great strain on the public health sector. For instance 30% of sufferers of mental health conditions report poor health, as opposed to 14% of non-sufferers reporting poor health (ABS, 2007-08). Subsequently, it is evident that Gen Y posses a unique spread of public health issues, all of which must be properly accounted for.

=Cultural and Social Analysis= Societal and cultural constructs are paramount to understanding Gen Y and the public health issues facing this group. Indeed, culture and society are major contributors to the unique attributes of Generation Y. In a recent speech, Pat Esser (the president of Cox Communications, US) spoke of the recruitment and retention of Gen Y members within the workforce. Esser argued that Generation Y retain many of their parents' (from Gen X) attributes with the added bonuses of technology. Esser labelled Gen Y as a special group, being confident in their ability to succeed, and optimistic about the world, collaborative team players, practically immune to racial gaps and gender divides, having a great deal of respect for their parents and peers, being smarter than their previous generations, activists wanting to live in a cleaner and greener society, but most importantly Esser claimed Gen Y are a very social group (Esser, 2007). Contrary to popular belief, Esser also argues that societal standards are actually improving. In his work, Esser includes statistics from the US suggesting that the violent crime, youth pregnancy, unemployment and illiteracy rates are all much lower for Gen Y than they were for Gen X. Similarly, Esser claims that peer respect has greatly improved and furthermore, Gen Y is more involved with volunteering and social work than any previous generation due to their somewhat selfless outlook on life (Esser, 2007).

For argument’s sake, it’s important to consider the evidence from closer to home. Melbourne’s Herald Sun Newspaper published an article titled ‘A-Z of Generation Y’ (Patterson, 2007). In contrast with Esser’s arguments, the author of this article labelled Gen Y as often brash and arrogant, however akin to Esser’s claims, the Herald Sun suggested that Gen Y is the most influential generation to date, and they’re probably right. Accordingly, three quarters of Generation Y regularly use the internet making them the most education-minded generation in history, and more socially aware and accepting than their Gen X predecessors (Patterson, 2007). With respect to the media, the Herald Sun suggests that Gen Y have been targeted by advertising since the womb (Patterson, 2007). But perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing, the constant exposure to mass marketing and TV advertising has probably made Gen Y more cynical of the advertising world.

In summary, Generation Y is a distinct group, and this is primarily the result of the social and cultural constructs of the world today. For one thing, the advance of technology has seen decreased waiting times for all consumers; there is fast food, fast service, fast cars and fast money. The result of this is that Gen Y do not expect to wait. Furthermore, we have seen an increase in liberation and democracy throughout the world. Subsequent to this Gen Y are in many cases a free people, willing to make their own way in life. Moreover, race, gender and ethnicity divides are diminishing, leading to a greater acceptance of peers and improved unity.

=Learning Reflections= Looking back, the artefact almost flawlessly explains the socio-cultural constructs upon Gen Y. It is absolutely clear that Gen Y has been shaped by the world in which we live. For one thing, the media dominates the way events are portrayed. Skew and bias can be placed upon war, sporting events or even social occurrences in an attempt to incite opinion. In particular, the artefact presented vision of the gulf war, terrorism and major sporting events that have shaped Gen Y. As well, the dominance of brand names was alluded to and this was reinforced by the aforementioned literature. Social media and technology have further contributed to Gen Y’s attributes and lastly, the video portrays Gen Y’s versatility as a generation and their distinctive adaptations from Gen X.

This assignment has been very beneficial for me personally, as it has allowed me to investigate the socio-cultural factors of my own generation. I found it most interesting to discover some alarming statistics and understand the importance of health reforms. Moreover, the very unique attributes of Gen Y have become obvious. I particularly enjoyed applying the data and research to unfamiliar channels such as the YouTube artefact. With development, the ability to apply knowledge and research to unique circumstances will be incredibly useful and even invaluable.

Abraham Lincoln wisely stated that "the philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next."
 * //Generation Why So Serious?// Because Generation Y is __the most influential generation to date__.** (Patterson, 2007)

=Reflections of other Wikis=

Page
A Culture of Excess - How Consumerism and Individualism has shaped Generation Y’s health behaviours

Comment
//__Reflection - Great Wiki!__// Congratulations, I really enjoyed reading this wiki. Firstly, you took a slightly different stance on Gen Y than I did and I found this very interesting to read. I thought your artefact was particularly fitting and made me chuckle. Your use of figures was fantastic and they complemented your arguments very well, I also liked that you included data from the US and UK. In your literature review, I found the sections on food, and sedentary lifestyle to be an interesting read as these were topics I was considering looking into but decided against. Your statement about the differences in Gen Y behaviours for sub-groups (such as indigenous/low socio-economic status) caught my attention, and I would've liked to read more about it... Lastly, I liked your cultural and social analyses and thought you used social theory very well, but also explained it within the real world (which I feel is often a weakness of many social theories). But all in all very well done, I enjoyed this!

Page
Chlamydia, MTV and Pornography – Generation Y’s Sexual Revolution

Comment
__//Reflection - Interesting Read//__ Well done on a really good wiki! I enjoyed reading this information as it's a bit different from what we get in the mainstream media. Congratulations being bold enough to pick a topic that's probably a little harder than the others. Straight away when I saw your striking artefact I knew this would be interesting - I thought it was very suitable. I personally found your figures about STI prevalence to be very straightforward, concise and descriptive with no superfluous data. Particularly, I liked your inclusions about research limitations, especially the poor clarification that exists in the literature about 'sexual activity'. Following on from this I thought it was very appropriate that you included specific data on oral and anal intercourse, well done! I will say one thing though, just be a little bit careful when you describe/suggest a direct causal relationship... these are often grey areas. Nonetheless, I thought this was very insightful and well written - I felt I learnt from it.