E marketer taking_the_measure_of_millennial_men-as_sort-of-grownups_as_digital_users_as_consumers

TAKINGTHE
MEASURE OF
MILLENNIAL MEN
As Sort-of-Grownups, as Digital
Users, as Consumers
SEPTEMBER 2013
Mark Dolliver
Contributors: Christine Bittar, Jennifer Pearson, Monica Peart
Read this on
eMarketer for iPad

TAKING THE MEASURE OF MILLENNIAL MEN: AS SORT-OF-GROWNUPS, AS DIGITAL USERS, AS CONSUMERS ©2013 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2
CONTENTS
2 Executive Summary
3 More ‘Young’ Than ‘Men’?
5 A Digital Cohort
8 Millennial Men as Shoppers
13 Conclusions
13 eMarketer Interviews
14 Related eMarketer Reports
14 Related Links
14 Editorial and Production Contributors
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Millennial males in the US have earned a reputation
as laggards—less educated than young women of
their generation, less ambitious than men of prior
generations and seemingly content to drift through
a prolonged adolescence.To their elders (and to
many exasperated young women), they’re lazy, if not
outright losers.
But that’s not how today’s young men regard themselves.
Currently earning more on average than their female
counterparts (a state of affairs that likely won’t last), they
are generally happier with their careers than are women
their age. And amid much talk about struggles with the
breakdown of traditional gender roles, plenty of millennial
men seem happy to encroach on once-female precincts
like cooking and fashion. Moreover, digital knowhow is
important to young men, a proficiency many have come
to see as a modern-day form of male prowess. Gluttons
for entertainment, young men consume much of it in
digital form. And they also deploy digital technologies as
shoppers, capitalizing on the convenience they offer.
This report will examine the basic state of millennial
males, as others see it and as they feel it themselves. It
will look at this cohort’s digital usage, notably in its mobile
and social networking aspects. And it will examine young
men’s shopping behavior, including how they feel about
marketing content aimed at them.
KEY QUESTIONS
■■ Are young men really lagging behind young
women? Do they care?
■■ What role do digital technologies play in millennial
men’s lives? Have online pursuits shoved offline
pastimes aside?
■■ How do young men feel about shopping? How
do online and mobile shopping fit into their
purchase practices?
millions and % of male population ages 18-34
Key eMarketer Numbers: US Males Ages 18-34,
2013 & 2017
Internet users
34.7 (91.9%)
36.8 (95.4%)
Social network users
29.8 (78.8%)
33.3 (86.4%)
Smartphone users
26.4 (70.0%)
35.5 (92.1%)
Tablet users
18.7 (49.6%)
22.0 (57.2%)
2013 2017
Note: internet users are individuals who use the internet from any location
via any device at least once per month; social network users are internet
users who use social networks via any device at least once per month;
smartphone users are individuals who own at least one smartphone and
use the smartphone(s) at least once per month; tablet users are individuals
who use a tablet at least once per month
Source: eMarketer, Sep 2013
163259 www.eMarketer.com

MORE ‘YOUNG’ THAN ‘MEN’?
When people say “30 is the new 20,” it is seldom
meant as a compliment to today’s young men. A
whole academic discipline of “emerging adulthood”
has grown up around young men’s apparent
disinclination to grow up. Even Hollywood has gotten
into the act, with movies that mine humor from
millennial males’ extended adolescence.
It is all too easy to accumulate data that shows young
men in the US falling by the wayside.The US Department
of Education found men receiving just 41% of the
bachelor’s degrees conferred in the US in the academic
year 2012 to 2013, turning what had been a minor
disparity a generation ago into a yawning gap. An August
2013 Pew Research Center report, citing 2012 data, said
40% of US men ages 18 to 31, vs. 32% of US women
in that same age group, were living in their parents’
home—a figure Pew described as “the highest share in
at least four decades.” A 2012 Pew report, based on 2010
and 2011 polling, noted that US men ages 18 to 34 were
less likely than US women their age (59% vs. 66%) to say
“being successful in a high-paying career or profession”
was a priority.
Then there’s 2012 data from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention showing young men less likely
than young women in the US to have health insurance
(33% vs. 24% in the 25-to-34 age bracket) and more likely
to indulge in binge drinking (39% vs. 25% in the 18-to-24
age cohort). Consistent with all of the above, a February
2013 survey for FleishmanHillard and Hearst Magazines
found US men in the 21-to-34 age group less likely than
US women in that age group (54% vs. 70%) to describe
themselves as “smart.”
“They don’t see the same opportunities their dads
and grandfathers did,” said Barbara Ray, founder of
HiredPen, a policy research communications company,
and co-author of the book “Not Quite Adults: Why
20-Somethings Are Choosing a Slower Path to Adulthood,
and Why It’s Good for All Of Us.” “I think they feel the
rug has been pulled out from under them on some
levels.”Young women “have surged ahead” because
they’re a better fit for a postindustrial era, which rewards
“nose-to-the-grindstone education,” Ray added.
Even before entering the workforce, today’s young men
may have felt like their generation’s also-rans. “When
they were going through their formative years, there was
so much emphasis on the other gender,” said Jessica
Blumenthal, managing editor ofTheTrendera Files trend
study, which publishes a weekly email newsletter.
(Trendera is a marketing and research company that
specializes in analyzing younger adults.) She sees
millennial men “really trying to figure out what it means
to be a man in today’s society when there was so much
emphasis placed on women when they were growing up
and going through school.”
DOWN,BUT NOT OUT
Not all of the data about young men in the US points
in a sorry direction, however.Though they suffered
badly during the recent “mancession”—when the US
financial downturn wreaked havoc on male-dominated
employment sectors—many have regained jobs since
then. In the 25-to-34 age group, unemployment for US
men has been on par with that of US women in recent
months, though it has remained higher for men ages
20 to 24. Nine in 10 US men ages 25 to 34 (i.e., those
beyond the traditional college age) were in the workforce
as of 2010, according to the US Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics, vs. about three-quarters of US
women in that same age group.
Moreover, the most recent gender-and-age breakdown
from the BLS shows median weekly income for young
men in the US is significantly higher than for young
women.This may not last, as the female skew in
educational attainment exerts its long-term effects on
average earnings. But for now, young men can feel
they’re holding their own.
Median Weekly Earnings of US Workers,
by Demographic, Q2 2013
Male Female Total
16-19
20-24
25-34
Total
(16+)
Number of
workers
(millions)
0.6
4.7
14.2
58.2
Median
weekly
earnings
$373
$492
$731
$860
Number of
workers
(millions)
0.4
3.6
10.8
46.0
Median
weekly
earnings
$326
$440
$670
$707
Number of
workers
(millions)
1.1
8.3
25.0
104.2
Median
weekly
earnings
$362
$472
$706
$776
Note: full-time wage and salary workers; not seasonally adjusted; excludes
self-employment income
Source: US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Usual Weekly
Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers, Second Quarter 2013," July 18, 2013

The higher paycheck also yields higher job satisfaction.
In the FleishmanHillard/Hearst Magazines survey, 54%
of young men rated themselves as extremely or very
satisfied with their careers, compared with 35% of
young women. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll, data collected
between February 2012 and August 2012 showed 31%
of US men ages 18 to 29 agreeing “strongly” and 28%
agreeing “somewhat” with the statement, “I believe
I will be more successful than my parents were.”The
figures were somewhat lower for young women, with
25% agreeing strongly and 27% agreeing somewhat to
the above sentiment. So while millennial men may seem
naïve about their long-term prospects, they’re not exactly
lacking in confidence or wallowing in despair.
In fact, Clark University’s April 2012 polling of 18- to
29-year-olds in the US found the women more prone
than the men to feel low.Twenty-seven percent of the
males and 37% of the females said they “often feel
depressed”; 53% of the men and 58% of the women
“often feel anxious.”The report also found somewhat
more emotional neediness among women in their digital
behavior: 56% of them, vs. 47% of the men, “rely a
lot on the support I get from friends and family through
email, texting and social networking websites.”
Older people might assume a 28-year-old man who
lives with his parents feels like a loser. But that’s not
necessarily the case nowadays. “This is the older
generation imposing our own horror at the idea of
living with our parents,” Ray said. In fact, young men
(and women) may see living at the parental home as a
sign of financial acumen. “They’re staying at home not
necessarily because they have to, but because it’s a
smart approach for them,” said Alex Abraham, senior vice
president at public relations firm Edelman and director of
its 8095 Millennial Insights Group. “They can save more
money that way, pay off debts that way, learn from some
of those mistakes their parents perhaps made and better
position themselves for success.”
ENJOYINGTHE NEW MASCULINITY
No doubt some young men are filled with angst about
shifting ideas of what masculinity means today.There are
also indications, though, that many are comfortable with
the evolution of gender roles.
“It’s really about the rise of gender neutrality,” said Joe
Kessler, president of Creative Artists Agency-owned
research firmThe Intelligence Group, which publishes
the Cassandra Report on young consumers.The erosion
of hard-and-fast notions of gender enables today’s young
adults to “curate their own identity,” he said. “They
have the opportunity to create their own mosaic as it
relates to how they want to project their own personality,
particularly through social media, but also in the things
they wear, the actions they take and the experiences they
invest in.”
One sees this as young men enjoy activities that used
to be largely the province of women. Cooking is a prime
example. In an interview with JWTIntelligence, Jon Berry,
vice president of GfK ConsumerTrends, cited research
from his firm that showed food and cooking had nearly
caught up with cars in the hierarchy of men’s interests.
“So, in a sense, what’s happening is that the garage has
moved inside, and it’s the kitchen now where men are
finding expressions of masculinity,” he said.
Just as striking has been young men’s embrace of fashion
and grooming as suitable areas of masculine interest. A
JWTIntelligence survey in May 2013 found young male
internet users in the US more open than their older male
counterparts to a range of nontraditional men’s grooming
products and practices.
% of respondents in each group
Acceptable* Grooming Habits According to US Male
Internet Users, by Generation, May 2013
Baby boomer
(48-67)
Skincare 48%
Waxing/hair removal 24%
Facials 21%
Foundation 4%
Eyeliner 1%
None of these
Millennial
(18-34)
62%
48%
31%
17%
8%
14%
Gen X
(35-47)
47%
36%
20%
2%
5%
27% 25%
Note: not all responses included; responses omitted were bronzer,
concealer, eyebrow waxing, fake tan, lip balm, nail varnish; *for men to use
or do
Source: JWTIntelligence, "The State of Men," June 5, 2013

All in all, young men in the US as a group don’t appear to
feel beaten down, even if their elders think they should
feel that way.Their relative contentment with life might
mean they have lower standards than young women
and other people, but it’s contentment nonetheless.This
is clearly not “a man’s world” in the way it used to be.
Young men’s lag in educational attainment today will likely
exact its toll over the next several decades. Still, they
may not mind letting “leaning-in” women be the ones
to develop ulcers and keel over with early coronaries, as
ambitious men have done for generations. On their own
terms, they may feel it’s still a man’s world after all.
A DIGITAL COHORT
Young men in the US haven’t been slow to adopt
digital technologies. Indeed, digital proficiency is a
trait by which many define themselves.
In February 2013 polling byTelefonica and the Financial
Times among 18- to 30-year-olds in North America, men
were more likely than women to see themselves on the
“cutting edge” of technology.
% of total
Internet Users Ages 18-30 in North America Who
Consider Themselves on the "Cutting Edge" of
Technology, by Gender, Feb 2013
Female
17% 53% 25% 5%
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Source: Telefonica and the Financial Times, "Global Millennial Survey,"
June 4, 2013
Male
29% 58% 12%1%
Along with young women, young men are in the vanguard
of mobile and social adoption.They also devote plenty of
attention—too much, their detractors would say—to digital
games and video. More broadly, October 2012 polling by
Harris Interactive for nRelate found US male internet users
ages 18 to 34 more likely than US female internet users in
that age group (45% vs. 30%) to spend at least six hours
per week seeking digital content that interested them.
THOSE MOBILEYOUNG MEN
Young men are far more likely than adults in general
to have a smartphone, though a shade less likely than
young women. eMarketer estimates that by the end
of this year, seven in 10 US men ages 18 to 34 will be
smartphone users.
% of population in each group
US Smartphone User Penetration for Females and
Males Ages 18-34 vs. Total Adults, 2013
Female 18-34 71.8%
Male 18-34 70.0%
Total 18+ 52.6%
Note: individuals who own at least one smartphone and use the
smartphone(s) at least once per month

Mere penetration numbers, however, don’t express the
degree to which young men (and young women) have
integrated smartphone usage into their lives. February
2013 polling by Ipsos MediaCT andTNS Infratest on
behalf of Google gave a detailed picture of the many
activities US male smartphone owners regularly perform
on those devices. During the seven days before being
queried, 67% of 18- to 24-year-old males and 56% of
25- to 34-year-old males accessed a social network; those
same age groups also browsed the internet (78% and
68%, respectively) and searched for restaurants and bars
(39% and 30%).
App usage also reflects young men’s reliance on
smartphones. Among the male respondents ages 18 to
24, the average number of apps on their smartphone was
35, of which they actively used 14. In the 25-to-34 group,
men with smartphones had an average of 35 apps and
actively used 13.
For a sizeable minority of young men in the US,
smartphone ownership has not sated the desire for
electronic gadgetry. One-third of US male internet users
ages 18 to 34 were tablet owners in June 2013, according
to a survey for Viamedia by Harris Interactive.
Mobile Device Ownership Among US Millennial
Internet Users, by Gender, June 2013
Female Male Total
Smartphone 80% 72% 76%
Tablet 32% 34% 33%
Standard mobile phone 18% 26% 22%
Ereader 20% 20% 20%
Other 5% 8% 7%
None 3% 6% 5%
Note: ages 18-34
Source: Viamedia, "2013 Television & Advertising Survey" conducted by
Harris Interactive, July 17, 2013
There’s no reason to think those tablets are gathering
dust. When polling for Belkin by Harris Interactive in
December 2012 asked US millennial internet users about
the device they anticipated using most during 2013, 23%
of males picked the tablet.
THEY’RE SOCIAL,TOO
As with smartphone adoption, young men in the US are
much more likely than US adults in general to use social
networks, although a bit less likely than the country’s
young women to do so. eMarketer estimates that
nearly eight in 10 US men ages 18 to 34 will be social
networkers by the end of this year.
% of population in each group
US Social Network User Penetration for Females and
Males Ages 18-34 vs. Total Adults, 2013
Female 18-34 84.2%
Male 18-34 78.8%
Total 18+ 57.4%
Note: social network users are internet users who use social networks via
any device at least once per month
Both sides of that story are evident in the Reuters/Ipsos
poll. Looking at the results for February through early
August 2013, one sees few male internet users ages
18 to 29 shunning Facebook, while more than four in 10
used it “throughout the day.” Large as that latter number
is, though, it’s considerably smaller than the proportion of
young women (six in 10) who said the same.There was
a narrower gap between the numbers of young men and
women using it at least once a month.
% of respondents
Frequency with Which US Millennial Internet Users
Access Facebook, by Gender, Aug 2013
Female Male
Continuously throughout the day 60.7% 43.8%
Once a day 15.8% 18.2%
A few times a week 7.6% 10.9%
Once a week 2.9% 5.4%
A few times a month 2.5% 3.8%
Once a month 1.1% 1.5%
Less than once a month 2.1% 3.0%
Don't use 7.4% 13.4%
Total
53.1%
16.9%
9.0%
4.0%
3.1%
1.3%
2.5%
10.1%
Note: ages 18-29; numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding
Source: Reuters and Ipsos, Aug 9, 2013
The same survey found young men a shade more likely
than young women to say they usedTwitter throughout
the day, at 16.8% vs. 14.4%. FrequentTwitter usage is
not the norm, though, even in this age group: 45.9% of
the men and 50.6% of the women reported not using it
at all.

Young men skip some social networks that have a
substantial following among young women. Polling by
Burst Media in March 2013 among US internet users
found 25.5% of women ages 18 to 34 had a Pinterest
account, vs. 3.6% of men that age. Likewise, 20.8% of
the young women said they used Instagram, vs. 8.4% of
the young men.
There are also stylistic differences in the ways younger
males and females use social networks. “One reason
young men go to social media is to prove to their
friends that they’re funny,”Trendera’s Blumenthal said.
By contrast, she said, young women “are looking for a
sense of connection” in their social usage. “They don’t
see social media primarily as a platform to prove that
they’re funny.”
February 2013 polling from the Urban Land Institute and
ULI Foundation of 18- to 35-year-old internet users in
the US yielded another perspective on the space social
networking occupies in young men’s lives. Asked to
identify the free-time activities they engaged in most
frequently, 28% of men (along with 33% of women) cited
online social networking.
Most Frequent Free-Time Activities According to US
Millennial Internet Users, by Gender, Feb 2013
Male Female
Watch TV 58% 54%
Listen to/play music 43% 39%
Play computer games 42% 21%
Spend time with friends 41% 43%
Spend time with family 38% 57%
Read 29% 47%
Online social networking 28% 33%
Go to the gym, exercise, indoor sports 25% 17%
Cooking 16% 29%
Shop online 16% 21%
Shop in stores 11% 24%
Note: male n=617; female n=634; ages 18-35; activities listed were cited by
at least 20% of the total sample; respondents could choose up to ﬁve
activities
Source: Urban Land Institute and ULI Foundation, "GenerationY: Shopping
and Entertainment in the Digital Age," May 17, 2013
As one would expect, there is a strong mobile component
to young men’s social networking: In the Burst Media
survey, 46.2% of male respondents said a mobile device
was their “primary” means of access to social accounts.
More specifically, 49.5% said they used smartphones to
access their social accounts.
KEEPINGTHEMSELVES ENTERTAINED
Millennial men are voracious consumers of
entertainment, and they rely on digital technology to
provide plenty of it. Electronic games and digital video are
conspicuous examples of this.
True to stereotype, today’s young men were twice as
likely as young women (42% vs. 21%) to cite playing
computer games among their frequent free-time activities
in the Urban Land Institute/ULI Foundation survey. On
the simpler question of whether one is a gamer, young
men have ceased to be outliers, as gaming has caught
on with both sexes and (to some extent) across the age
spectrum. A survey for payment company PlaySpan last
December by Frank N. Magid Associates found young
men overindexing as a share of the total US gamer
population, but not by a vast margin.
% of total
Demographic Proﬁle of US Video Gamers vs.
Nongamers, Dec 2012
Gamers
(n=601)
Nongamers
(n=115)
Total
(n=743)
Male
13-17 7% 1% 6%
18-24 9% 6% 8%
25-34 14% 3% 12%
35-44 12% 11% 11%
45-54 10% 22% 12%
Female
13-17 6% 3% 6%
18-24 8% 7% 8%
25-34 12% 9% 12%
35-44 11% 15% 11%
45-54 11% 24% 14%
Race/ethnicity
White 62% 77% 64%
Hispanic 18% 10% 17%
Black 12% 4% 11%
Asian 5% 3% 5%
Other 3% 5% 3%
Note: numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding
Source: PlaySpan, "Video Game Business Models and Emerging Trends
Among Consumers" conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates, March 27,
2013
When it comes to viewing digital video, young men (and
young women) in the US overindex for that practice, too.
In the Google polling of US smartphone owners, 35% of
18- to 24-year-old men and 40% of women in that same
age group said they watched video on their smartphone
daily. In the 25-to-34 group, the figure rose to 44% among
men but fell to 27% among women.

Further indication of young men’s interest in digital video
is apparent in the nRelate/Harris Interactive survey. In
that study, men ages 18 to 34 watched an average of 2.6
videos per session, vs. 2.0 for 18- to 34-year-old women
and 1.7 for total respondents.
While young men have a hearty appetite for digital
diversions, they have not cloistered themselves with
virtual pursuits and abandoned the real world. In the
Urban Land Institute/ULI Foundation survey, men were
more likely than women (44% vs. 27%) to report going
out to the movies at least a couple times a month.
Similarly, men were more likely than the women (34%
vs. 18%) to dine out “with your spouse/partner and/or
friends” at least several times a week.
Young men, it seems, are omnivores in the ways they
keep themselves entertained, layering the online atop
the offline.
MILLENNIAL MEN AS SHOPPERS
As the average age of first marriage increases, US
men are spending more of their lives as the primary
(or sole) shopper in their households.While they may
eventually turn shopping duties over to a spouse—or
try to—that day has yet to come for many.
It’s just as well, then, that young men do not hate
shopping. In DDB Worldwide data from January
2013, cited in Adweek, 52% of US men ages 18 to 34
characterized shopping as “a form of entertainment.”The
Urban Land Institute/ULI Foundation survey of millennial
internet users found that while males were less likely
than females to “love” shopping, a majority said they
found it enjoyable.
% of respondents
Primary Attitude Toward Shopping According to US
Millennial Internet Users, by Gender, Feb 2013
Male
29% 51% 15% 5%
Love to shop
Shop when necessary, and I enjoy it
Shopping is a necessary chore; I can deal with it
Hate shopping
Note: n=1,251 ages 18-35; numbers may not add up to 100% due to
rounding
Source: Urban Land Institute and ULI Foundation, "GenerationY: Shopping
and Entertainment in the Digital Age," May 17, 2013
Female
44% 45% 9%
3%
Total
37% 48% 12%
4%
This needn’t mean millennial men spend endless
hours in stores. Summing up findings of its “2012–2013
Consumer Food Shopping Survey,” CBD Marketing
offered this observation on young men vs. young women:
“Millennial men are significantly more likely to shop
quickly and spontaneously, largely driven by convenience.”
In the Urban Land Institute/ULI Foundation survey, just
11% of millennial males (vs. 24% of millennial females)
cited “shop in stores” when listing their most frequent
free-time activities.The tally was closer in the numbers
citing “shop online”—16% of the men and 21% of
the women.

Amid differences in shopping style, one thing many
young men and women in the US share is an aversion
to spending freely. “This is not a spendthrift generation,”
HiredPen’s Ray said.The recession had a “sobering”
effect, she noted, explaining: “The value of a dollar
suddenly became very clear to them.” Moreover,
millennials’ caution about money sometimes takes the
form of avoiding credit cards. “A lot of them are rejecting
the idea of credit cards,”The Intelligence Group’s Kessler
said, which often means “they don’t have a credit rating.”
Meanwhile, their facility with digital technology gives
millennials the tools to get the most for their money.
“They have a lot more resources at their fingertips to be
frugal,” said Jen Handley, co-creator and COO of research
firm Fizziology. “So it’s not about going from physical
store to physical store. It’s about shopping from site to
site and finding the best deal.”
Economizing makes brand loyalty an iffy proposition
among today’s young men. And money aside, they’re
open to taking a look at whatever catches their eye.
That’s what Ryan McIntyre, executive vice president
of marketing atThrillist Media Group, has seen at
JackThreads, an ecommerce arm ofThrillist’s young men’s
lifestyle website.
“If we have a well-known brand up against a potentially
unknown brand, but the unknown brand looks better or
is more on-trend, the unknown brand will sell better,”
McIntyre said.
Handley noted variation from category to category
in young men’s likelihood of being brand-loyal: “If it’s
something of particular interest to them—if they have
an interest or hobby—they will be loyal to the brand, and
they’ll spend money on whatever gear or equipment it
requires. Otherwise, they’re going to look for bargains.”
THEAPPEAL OF ECOMMERCE
Online shopping’s convenience wins it a large
constituency among young men. In the DDB Worldwide
survey of US internet users, 40% of the young men (and
33% of the young women) subscribed to the statement,
“Ideally, I would buy everything online.”
Some may already be approaching that state, judging by
one finding from the Urban Land Institute/ULI Foundation
survey.Young men were more likely than young women
to spend at least two hours a day shopping online,
with one in five saying they did so.The report added
that young men were especially likely to make online
purchases of electronics and computer equipment,
sporting goods and liquor. It also found the men more apt
than the women to be big spenders online: 20% of the
male respondents, vs. 7% of the female respondents,
reported spending more than $100 per week on
online purchases.
Millennial males might buy even more if the process were
more streamlined. In Optimizely’s June 2013 survey of
US internet users conducted by Harris Interactive, nearly
six in 10 men in the 18-to-34 age group agreed at least
somewhat that they would shop online more if the online
purchase process were quicker.
US Internet Users Who Would Shop More Online if It
Were Faster to Make a Purchase, by Demographic,
June 2013
18-34
58%
52%
35-44
47%
35%
45-54
50%
32%
55+
37%
29%
Male Female
Note: "somewhat" or "strongly agree"
Source: Optimizely conducted by Harris Interactive, July 25, 2013
For older consumers, ecommerce is likely to be a solitary
activity.That’s not true of young men and women,
according to Edelman’s Abraham. Prone to shopping in
groups at physical stores, they somewhat replicate that
experience when buying digitally. “Even if they are home
buying something online, we know that they are likely
texting, tweeting, emailing friends, calling friends, asking
for opinions there,” he said.

THE MOBILE ELEMENT
If online is good for young male shoppers, mobile is
even better. In a Jumio survey conducted in March 2013
by Harris Interactive, 86% of 18- to 34-year-old males
who owned mobile devices said they had tried to buy
something on their smartphone or tablet. In the DDB
Worldwide survey, young men overindexed for
mobile shopping activities that ranged from usage of
retail store apps to price checking via mobile phone.
Attitudes Toward Ecommerce Among US Internet
Users, by Demographic, Jan 2013
Male Female
Typically shop on auction sites
Ideally would buy everything
online
Typically use shopping apps
on mobile phone
An extreme couponer
Typically use retail
store apps
Have requested a price match
using mobile phone
Typically use mobile phone to
scan and ﬁnd the best price
in town for a speciﬁc item
Typically shop for and buy
items on mobile phone
18-34
43%
40%
30%
22%
27%
25%
25%
24%
35-64
31%
29%
15%
17%
15%
15%
15%
13%
Total*
33%
31%
19%
18%
18%
17%
17%
15%
18-34
31%
33%
28%
23%
24%
21%
20%
19%
35-64
27%
26%
13%
23%
12%
9%
11%
7%
Total*
26%
27%
15%
23%
14%
11%
12%
9%
Note: respondents who agreed with the statement (either that they engage
in the behavior or the statement describes their attitudes); *ages 18+
Source: DDB Worldwide, "DDB Life Style Study" as cited by Adweek,
April 24, 2013
Young men use their smartphones for prepurchase
research. But they are less inclined to access coupons
through the device, perhaps because that would
compromise the convenience and spontaneity that
make mobile purchasing attractive to them.The Google
survey found just 18% of smartphone-using men in the
18-to-24 age bracket and 20% of men in the 25-to-34
bracket saying they had used online/mobile coupons for
shopping in the week before being queried.
Mcommerce Activities Conducted Among US
Millennial Smartphone Users, by Demographic,
Feb 2013
Used a search engine for product search
57%
56%
Purchased a product or service
24%
19%
Used online/mobile coupons for shopping
18%
24%
Used a search engine for product search
18-24
25-34
42%
51%
Purchased a product or service
14%
21%
Used online/mobile coupons for shopping
20%
25%
Male Female
Note: in the past 7 days
Source: Google, "Our Mobile Planet" conducted by Ipsos MediaCT and TNS
Infratest, May 1, 2013
RENTERS OR OWNERS?
Some of the shopping that young men do is not aimed at
actually owning the product in question. Millennials are at
the center of the “sharing economy” that has attracted
attention in recent years. Short on capital and long on
flexibility, these consumers may be disinclined to own
items they need only occasionally.
Edelman’s Abraham thinks the recession affected
rent-vs.-buy attitudes as young people saw parents
struggle with overextended finances. “Millennials
are putting off some of those traditional purchases
their parents bought, somewhat because they don’t
necessarily have the money, but also because they’re
more savvy,” he said. “They’ve seen how purchasing
things is not necessarily the ideal anymore, and
‘collaborative consumption’ is a big way to go,” he
noted, citing examples like car-sharing service Zipcar
and urban bike-sharing programs.The Urban Land
Institute/ULI Foundation report said millennial men in
the US “are somewhat more inclined than women
to try renting,” adding that “one-fifth of GenY males
have rented business clothes for interviews or special
meetings/presentations.”

In a survey conducted in May 2013 by Harris Interactive
for Sunrun, a company that leases solar energy setups to
homeowners, US men ages 18 to 34 expressed interest
in “disownership” (i.e., renting, leasing or borrowing) of a
range of items. Asked about their plans for the summer,
27% said they expected to “disown” cars; 21% said the
same about bikes and 19% about boats.
HOWTHEY REACTTOADVERTISING
Young men give mixed signals about the kind of
advertising content that appeals to them. In a July 2012
study, Break Media found men saying that advertising,
TV shows and movies presented “too many macho
men, skirt chasers and metrosexuals and not enough
good-hearted, self-sacrificing, hard-working, fatherly
men.” (One caveat:This survey’s respondent pool
included men up to age 49.)
But an online survey prior to 2013’s Super Bowl by
media and communications agency PHD found young
men enthusing about advertising that catered to their
less-virtuous side. Asked to pick elements that “make
a Super Bowl ad most enjoyable to you,” 6% of men
ages 18 to 34 chose “family themes.”They were far
outnumbered by the 45% who looked forward to ads
showing “half-naked women” and the 37% endorsing
“sexy imagery or innuendo.”
Half-nakedness aside, young men do have a taste for
advertising their elders might shun. A June 2013 report
from Nielsen said, “For millennial males, extreme,
off-beat and sports-related situations really resonate.”
There is also an openness to advertising that lampoons
old-fashioned notions of masculine prowess. “If you look
at the successful marketing campaigns among millennial
men, you look at a brand like Old Spice or Dos Equis
talking about these fantastical, amazing men,”Trendera’s
Blumenthal said. “They make these ridiculous statements
about how great this man is, and men think it’s hilarious.”
Thrillist’s McIntyre said humor is especially effective
because young men are inclined to share that sort of
content with their pals. “The humor angle, especially
if it’s intrinsic to your brand, can drive a higher level of
engagement,” he said.
With young men routinely sharing opinions and
information via digital technology, the old norms of
demographic targeting may not quite apply. “Even if
it’s a guy picking up a product off the shelf that’s been
marketed to him, he needs to be able to almost justify
or explain to the folks around him—whether it’s his
girlfriend or friends of all genders—why he’s picking up
that product,” Abraham said. “We need to think about our
target, but also the influencers of our target, and talk to
them in a relevant way as well.”
Since mobile device usage is a prime activity for many
young men, their attitude toward mobile advertising is of
special interest for brands. Advertisers will welcome the
findings of the Google polling on the basic question of
whether young men notice mobile ads. Six in 10 US male
smartphone users in the 18-to-24 age bracket said they
did so at least most of the time, as did half of those in the
25-to-34 cohort.
Frequency with Which US Millennial Smartphone
Users Notice Ads on Their Smartphone,
by Demographic, Feb 2013
All the time
30%
22%
Most of the time
17%
38%
All the time
18-24
25-34
22%
23%
Most of the time
27%
27%
Female Male
Source: Google, "Our Mobile Planet" conducted by Ipsos MediaCT and TNS
Infratest, May 1, 2013
Getting noticed is not helpful, though, if young men
notice ads but wish they were not there. On that matter,
the Google survey yielded a mixed verdict at best.
Slightly fewer than half of the young men—46% of the
18- to 24-year-olds and 45% of the 25- to 34-year-olds—
said they would be open to receiving mobile ads if this
entailed getting “freebies.” Still, that was a bit higher than
the proportion of total respondents (about four in 10) who
expressed such conditional willingness.

There’s a similar what’s-in-it-for-me attitude toward
advertising in on-demand video. In the Viamedia/Harris
Interactive survey, two-thirds of young male
video-on-demand (VOD) programming viewers said
they were accepting of commercials in on-demand
programming if it meant such content was free or less
expensive than it would otherwise be.
% of respondents
US Video-on-Demand Programming Viewers Who
Think It Is OK to Air Commercials During On-Demand
Programming, by Demographic, June 2013
Female
Ever
—When it makes the on-demand
program completely free
—When it reduces the on-demand cost
of the program
—Other
It’s never OK
Male
Ever
—When it makes the on-demand
program completely free
—When it reduces the on-demand cost
of the program
—Other
It’s never OK
18-34
81%
61%
16%
5%
19%
73%
49%
17%
7%
27%
35-44
71%
38%
27%
6%
29%
68%
50%
13%
5%
32%
45-54
69%
52%
13%
4%
31%
67%
53%
11%
3%
33%
55+
69%
52%
14%
2%
31%
52%
41%
9%
2%
48%
Total
74%
53%
17%
4%
26%
65%
47%
13%
4%
35%
Note: numbers may not add up to total due to rounding
Source: Viamedia, "2013 Television & Advertising Survey" conducted by
Harris Interactive, July 17, 2013
The payoff for young men need not always be in the
form of a discount, however. Entertainment, for instance,
is a commodity they particularly value. Speaking of
millennials in general, Abraham said, “We do know that
millennials want brands to entertain them.That did come
through very, very clearly in our research.” Beyond that,
he also emphasized the importance millennials give to
“co-creation” in their relationship to brands. “They want
to be able to have a two-way dialogue with brands, to be
heard and perhaps be able to influence the products or the
messaging or the content around it,” Abraham explained.
The Intelligence Group’s Kessler also noted the appeal
of such collaboration. “I don’t think it’s coincidental that
Kickstarter has become this phenomenon while GenY
is going through its prime years,” he said. “The idea of
participating in the creation of something is extremely
important to them.”
Of course, the ultimate test is whether the marketing
young men encounter makes them more inclined to buy
something. Here again, the Google survey offered mixed
indications. A significant minority of male respondents
said ads prompted them to seek more information about
the advertiser. For example, 20% of the 18-to-24 group
and 21% of the 25-to-34 group said they clicked on an
ad. However, few young men—7% of the 18-to-24s and
9% of the 25-to-34s—said they made a purchase in-store
after noticing an ad; 8% and 11% said they had made a
purchase via smartphone; and just 4% and 13% bought
via a desktop PC.

CONCLUSIONS
Young men have fallen behind young women in
the US by some significant measures, particularly
educational attainment.They seem less ambitious
about their career than young women or than men of
earlier generations, and many are drifting along in an
extended adolescence.
But for now, their average earnings are higher
than those of young women—as is their general
contentment with work and life.Young men in the
US don’t seem to regard themselves as losers, despite
what their elders might assume. And while some may
be struggling to figure out what masculinity should
mean to them, many are enjoying the freedom to take
up nontraditional pursuits such as cooking, fashion and
so on.
Young men in the US are avid users of digital
technology. While lagging slightly behind young women
in mobile and social adoption, they are well ahead of
other US consumers in those respects. And they make
extensive use of digital entertainment, notably games and
online video.
Convenience is key for young men as shoppers. While
they don’t hate to shop as older men often claim to, they
do want the process to be quick.This has helped create a
large constituency for ecommerce and mobile shopping
among young men in the US.
They have mixed feelings about the marketing activity
aimed at them. Humor is important to them. But so is a
sense of collaboration with the brand—a feeling they have
a say in how the brand presents itself and even in what
products it makes.
EMARKETER INTERVIEWS
No Longer Just for Moms, Crystal Light-Like Drink Big
with Millennial Men
Joe Mele
Brand Manager
Kraft Canada
Interview conducted on September 3, 2013
Alex Abraham
Senior Vice President, Director of
8095 Millennial Insights Group
Edelman
Interview conducted on August 21, 2013
Jen Handley
COO and Co-Creator
Fizziology
Joe Kessler
President
The Intelligence Group
Jessica Blumenthal
Managing Editor,TheTrendera Files
Trendera
Ryan McIntyre
Executive Vice President of Marketing
Thrillist Media Group
Barbara Ray
Founder
HiredPen

RELATED EMARKETER REPORTS
Millennials and Autos: How theYoung Can BeWon
Millennials in the Marketplace: A Generation Moving
on Its Own Unpredictable Path
Millennials in Aisle 2.0: KeepingYoung Supermarket
Shoppers EngagedWith Brands
RELATED LINKS
Break Media
Burst Media
CBD Marketing
DDBWorldwide
FleishmanHillard
Google’s Our Mobile Planet
Harris Interactive
Ipsos/Reuters Poll
JWTIntelligence
nRelate
Pew Research Center
PHD
ULI Foundation
Urban Land Institute
US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics
Viamedia
EDITORIAL AND
PRODUCTION CONTRIBUTORS
Cliff Annicelli Senior Editor
Kaitlin Carlin Copy Editor
Joanne DiCamillo Senior Production Artist
Stephanie Gehrsitz Senior Production Artist
Dana Hill Director of Production
Nicole Perrin Associate Editorial Director
Heather Price Copy Editor
Allie Smith Director of Charts

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