OK, clearly they are not doing triathlon, or running races in the numbers that previous groups did. Harley Davidson stock just got hammered after new research shows young people have no interest in their motorcycles. Serious question - how are they spending their free time? What are their hobbies? Help me understand.
I know people will come up with smart a-- answers but I would like anyone who knows tell me. Any good marketers in the group?
Selfies, social media and video games.
They are too busy working two shitty part time jobs, and on top of that working odd jobs (so called gig economy) so they can pay off $50K in student debt loans and pay their share of the rent. It will only get worse for subsequent generations.
We have a few millennials here at work, a few of them ride. I can’t imagine any of them on a Harley Davidson, they’re on bikes like the Ducati Scrambler.
They are too busy working two shitty part time jobs, and on top of that working odd jobs (so called gig economy) so they can pay off $50K in student debt loans and pay their share of the rent. It will only get worse for subsequent generations.
^^and also this.
Traveling, brunch - experiences over things is the common trend for people under 30 with disposable income.
I am not in this demographic.
They are too busy working two shitty part time jobs, and on top of that working odd jobs (so called gig economy) so they can pay off $50K in student debt loans and pay their share of the rent. It will only get worse for subsequent generations.
The good ones aren’t.
Out of curiosity, whats your definition of a millennial? (range of birth year).
By the wikipedia definition, I’m technically a millennial though I feel that myself and people around my age are completely different than millennials.
Not a marketer, but I’ve worked with teenagers and college students for the last ten years or so. Also, I’m barely a Millenial with a February birthday in 1984. I think many of them are working long hours to cover the payments to debt they’ve found themselves in (and its not all student loan debt, thats just the easy one to blame…they like to spend money they haven’t made yet). They’re dreaming about traveling to the places their instagram/snapchat friends “always” seem to go to, and they’re eating out at restaurants. A LOT.
My theory on why they don’t ride bikes and go for long runs ties in to why races are seemingly declining in entries. Talked to a LBS guy a few years ago who pointed out that the average age of someone buying a bike lately is in the mid-40’s.
Why?
Because Millenial kids weren’t allowed to jump on their bike as a kid and disappear until the street lights came back on.
Since they didn’t grow up riding their bike all over creation and having that be their first taste of freedom, it has no connection to their soul as they grow older. So, they do other things that connect with their soul…like going out and eating at a fancy restaurant because that was the only time they gathered around a dining table as a family when they were kids.
They are too busy working two shitty part time jobs, and on top of that working odd jobs (so called gig economy) so they can pay off $50K in student debt loans and pay their share of the rent. It will only get worse for subsequent generations.
Yep. And those that can afford it have started families. From what I understand, it can be very hard to train for triathlons with young kids. Younger people also tend to work longer hours at full time jobs because they are trying to establish themselves.
They are staring at their rectangular phone screens. “Being entertained” instead of experiencing life.
Social media is a huge time sink.
They are too busy working two shitty part time jobs, and on top of that working odd jobs (so called gig economy) so they can pay off $50K in student debt loans and pay their share of the rent. It will only get worse for subsequent generations.
Yep. And those that can afford it have started families. From what I understand, it can be very hard to train for triathlons with young kids. Younger people also tend to work longer hours at full time jobs because they are trying to establish themselves.
There’s truth there too. I started a family early, and I was in my career quickly as well. Im just now able to devote time to training in the last year or so.
Have some friends/co-workers. I am technically a millennial too, although I don’t see myself as one.
I would say work, friends, concerts, going out to eat, traveling, tv-watching, some excercise/sports are on top of the list.
I’m 30 so I think I am considered a millenial. I don’t really associate with that crowd but definitely see a lot of them and I have a few that are employees of mine.
What do millenials do? Most are just about hanging out with friends drinking and smoking or sitting at home watching some type of tv (netflix, hulu, etc.) drinking and smoking. Kind of sad how much alcohol and drugs are apart of so many lives now. Just check social media and you’ll see everyone just “partying” in their free time.
Out of curiosity, whats your definition of a millennial? (range of birth year).
By the wikipedia definition, I’m technically a millennial though I feel that myself and people around my age are completely different than millennials.
I think birth years 1985-2000
They aren’t working:
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/it-s-less-work-more-playing-video-games-today-s-n782956
.
I am a Millennial and my peers who have seem to have an interest in exercise tend to gravitate towards crossfit instead of running, cycling, or tri.
N=1 (or 3 actually)
All 3 of my late-millennial generation kids have fit lifestyles as do most of their friends. They hit the gym regularly and run, etc but have no interest in devoting a huge chunk of their free time to fitness/competition as an outright hobby. My kids were all competitive swimmers through high school and kind of got that out of their systems. They are keen on being fit but do the minimum to stay healthy and look good. They don’t “train” they “work out.” Fitness is not an “activity,” it is just personal care like brushing your teeth. They do work a lot of hours (at very good jobs, thank God) and one of them is on the road a couple weeks a month and frankly they do not have the time for hobby, much less serious, competitive athletic pursuits a this point in their lives.
As for how they spend the rest of their free time, the one with the huge frequent flier mile balance does a ton of pleasure traveling. The other 2 have active social lives and one is starting a family. Frankly, they are behaving fitness/competition wise, and the rest too, exactly like I did in my 20’s and early 30’s. I could easily see any one of them when life settles down a bit becoming the typical mid life hobby competitive athlete.
I waste it away at work and reading Slowtwitch. I can’t provide much as my wife and I are both around 30 (only 2 more days for me to hit that number) and all of our friends are 50+ it seems.
I ride my bike, fish, hunt and do yard work for my free time. Maybe brew beer when I get the time and play a round of golf or two. Most my age are hunkered down with kids or drinking their time away.
I am a Millennial and my peers who have seem to have an interest in exercise tend to gravitate towards crossfit instead of running, cycling, or tri.
Agreed. We do love our mud-run/obstacle stuff. However without tough mudders, I probably would have never got into triathlon as it took a push from co-workers to get in the gym and prepare for this, after I got over that (1 year of fun), I was pushed into a sprint tri and have been hooked since (3 years and counting). I know I am a huge minority in that switch, I think most people get over the obstacle thing after injury or boredom or just quit athletic stuff altogether.
Other than that it is totally the internet, being a self-aware millennial, I can tell you that I am guilty of taking out the phone sometimes when I should be enjoying the view, conversing or out training. I do it much, much less than my other peers because I am quick to realize what an asshole I am being but it still happens more than I am proud of.
I guess I also feel like traveling takes most of our money but for me, mixing tri & traveling made sense and I love a good race-cation.