Confident millennials: Differences in consumer confidence across five generations

Abstract

This paper investigates if individuals experiencing different socioeconomic environments during their formative years have different expectations about future economic conditions. We use Swedish survey data to analyse differences in expectations across five generations of consumers by testing if they have different levels of confidence. The paper focuses on all the different generations of the 1900s as defined by Howe and Strauss (1997, 2000). In our econometric model, we use the Millennial Generation as a baseline, as this generation is about to make up the largest fraction of consumers in the economy. Contrary to the theory developed by the literature on generations, such as Howe and Strauss, our results show that confidence increases gradually across generations. We find that the Millennials are more confident than generations born in the first half of the 1900s, but similar in confidence to other generations born in the second half of the 1900s.

A Qualitative Approach to the Sustainable Orientation of Generation Z in Retail: The Case of Romania

“…According to the generational theory, Generation Z, also called Baby Bloomers or iGeneration, includes individuals born between 1994 and 2010 (Williams and Page 2011;Persson 2019). Outnumbering Millennials (Gen Y) by more than one million, Generation Z members or the iGeneration (Vasiliu et al 2016;Jacobsen 2017;Velčovská 2018) make up the most attractive segment for producers and retailers.…”

First-year Accounting students’ confidence levels during Covid-19: Evidence over a period of two years at a South African university

“…Similarly, students older than 22 years who reported a higher confidence level may have more life experience and could have been exposed to prior working opportunities in the accountancy field. According to the literature, Generation Z and Millennials (Moore et al 2017;Persson 2019;Duger 2021) types of students are characterised by being confident and to easily adapt to change, but it seems like students' confidence levels to cope with their studies and to actively engage with their academic instructors under Covid-19 conditions are resonating close to "uncertainty" and the level of only being "slightly confident".…”

“…The study by Duger (2021) determined the effect of individualism and collectivism cultural tendencies and selfconfidence levels of Generation Z on 297 university students on their motivation to lead and concluded that self-confidence has a significant and positive effect on social-normative leadership motivation. The study by Persson (2019) investigated the confidence levels across generations and found that confidence increases gradually across generations with the Millennials being more confident than previous generations.…”

Factors Driving Sustainable Consumption in Azerbaijan: Comparison of Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z

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