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Someone Compares How Differently Millennials And Baby Boomers Treat Businesses

Comparing different generations is a trend that has definitely grown within past years, with such articles as “Millennials are killing so and so industry” passing around and the same Millennials responding by pointing out flaws with such generations as baby boomers. Unfortunately, the conversation usually involves members of one generation criticizing or going as far as bashing the other. But with all the chaos and name-calling, it’s impossible to deny that generation differences exist, and they’ve been studied extensively in various fields of research. From economy to language studies, to social and psychological variations, generations respond and work differently no matter the similarities that we as humans share.

Comparing behavior between the generations is not a new thing and spans over a number of different fields

Image credits: Walmart

One Tumblr user decided to delve deeper into the topic and analyze why millennials and baby boomers respond so differently to certain business practices. What started as pondering about why baby boomers tend to cause scenes when they feel they’re mistreated by service while Millenials don’t, ended up with a conversation about ethical business practices and why millennials tend to support them more than the other generation.

One Tumblr user offered their own explanation on how differently millennials and baby boomers treat businesses

Since Tumblr is a social media that works as a digital discussion board, people, naturally, joined in on the conversation, offering their own input. Some expressed their agreements, others shared anecdotal customer experiences, while there were also those that were skeptical or pointed out inconsistencies in the original author’s points.

People, naturally, responded with their own opinions

According to Pew Research Center, while millennials are better educated than the previous generations, there’s also a large economic difference between those with a college education and not. Compared to the previous generations, millennials are also less fortunate in the household income department. According to the research center, “millennials with a bachelor’s degree or more and a full-time job had median annual earnings valued at $56,000 in 2018, roughly equal to those of college-educated Generation X workers in 2001.”

Probably led by economic disadvantage, as well as other social factors, millennials also struggle with forming their own households as compared to the previous generations. In 2018, 15% of Millennials (ages 25 to 37) were living with their parents who double what “early Boomers and Silents (8% each) and six percentage points higher than Gen Xers who did so when they were the same age”, PRS states.

Image credits: Corey Taratuta

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As a writer and image editor for Bored Panda, Giedrė crafts posts on many different topics to push them to their potential. She's also glad that her Bachelor’s degree in English Philology didn’t go to waste (although collecting dust in the attic could also be considered an achievement of aesthetic value!) Giedrė is an avid fan of cats, photography, and mysteries, and a keen observer of the Internet culture which is what she is most excited to write about. Since she's embarked on her journalistic endeavor, Giedrė has over 600 articles under her belt and hopes for twice as much (fingers crossed - half of them are about cats).

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What do you think ?

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AuntyJem 5 years ago

I'm Gen X. (We seem to be the forgotten generation these days-it's funny.) As part of this stuck between generation- I feel like each generation is making generalizations about the other. Not all Boomers are grumpy complainers as stereotyped by in younger generations, (remember- in the US, their activism in the 60s changed a lot in society for the good). Not all Millennials are slackers as stereotyped by some in older generations. Individuals in all generations are varied & wonderful as animals in the oceans. Times change rapidly. Before they know it, Millennials will be the older generation. Instead of each group into a category, we should try to appreciate others, & try to understand them.

55points

Smurfy5 5 years ago

My thoughts exactly! Stereotypes never help to bring people together... and while I don't believe in "making a scene," there is nothing wrong with respectful feedback when you are not happy with your service at an establishment. Being passive aggressive and complaining to everyone else about your experience is no more respectful. As far as brand loyalty... how many young people feel the need to have Nike, Abercrombie, American Eagle, Gucci, etc...? As a high school teacher I see a ton of kids who will wear nothing but name brands regardless of quality or cost. Consumerism affects people of all generations!

12points

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Fixin'Ta 5 years ago

Thank you! I agree wholeheartedly. And what I couldn't add in my own comment due to word limit, is that all the Millennials I know are awesome people. They care about the world, and I don't think of them as "snowflakes" or babies. And as a Boomer, I really hate being stereotyped as grumpy, complaining, and "old". Could we try to celebrate each generation instead of eviscerating each other? Can't change the world if we don't work together.

4points

Irina Deneva-Slav 5 years ago

Let's stay forgotten, otherwise we'll become a target for who knows what. :D

2points

Brandy Grote 5 years ago (edited)

Gen X is hardly forgotten. Baby BUSTERS are so forgotten that our "age class" has disappeared. We are rolled into the same age range as our children, wtf is up with that? I was a Baby Buster in the 70s and 80s, I do not identify as this Gen X thing at all.

-2points

Carson Skjerdal 5 years ago

Man the over generalization of generations is the worst. People are really quite different and arguably many of our behaviours have more to do with our age than our generation. As much as I like positive posts about my generation, I can find endless exceptions to every stereotype of every generation.

28points

Marcellus the Third 5 years ago

Yes, but are you expressing your disagreement by going away like a millenial, or shouting a comment like a boomer? =)

2points

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Brooke 5 years ago

People do make a scene in this generation, by filming people whose behavior they have deemed "problematic" so that their target can be publicly shamed. And also call out brands or individuals via social media where they can reach their widest possible audience.

15points

Kirsten Rasmussen 5 years ago

True... I am more likely to complain respectfully to an employee of an establishment so that the issue can be fixed than to call them out publicly. I would much rather have someone address me in this way as well... it could just be a bad day or moment and not indicative of consistent failing of the establishment.

3points

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