MUMBAI, INDIA — September 16, 2009
Millennials, a term used to describe 18-25 year olds, around the globe are receptive to digital marketing messages, according to Epsilon’s Global Consumer Email Study. The research shows Indian millennials are active on mobile devices and willing to receive commercial email messages; however they are also very wary and concerned with email and Internet security.

Compared to other age groups in India, millennials are more likely to use tools such as instant messaging (IM), social networking and text/SMS messages as their primary tool for personal online communications although the popularity of IM amongst this age group in India is apparently much less than that in other Asia Pacific countries. Nearly two-thirds (61%) cited email as their primary communication tool, whereas 18% chose social networks, 14% instant messaging (IM) and 8% text/SMS. Over one-third of them use mobile devices to access emails (37%), only fractionally less than the 26-45 year olds.

Another notable characteristic of Indian millennials is that they are receptive to many types of daily email communications, including news (57%), work-related news (51%), weather (46%), finance information (46%), offers from online merchants, entertainment information and sports (45% each). They are also more switched on than their elders receiving most commercial emails on mobile phone.

Millennials in India want to receive offers more often and are more willing to stay in email programmes when compared to their their elders. This appears to be in line with global trends in North America and the Asia Pacific region as a whole. This study also reveals that irrelevant content (65%) and over-emailing (59%) will lead many Indian milliennials to unsubscribe, and they are more likely than other age segments to unsubscribe by using the spam button (30%) and blocking senders (26%). “This global research highlights the fact that marketers anywhere in the world should be focusing on segmentation strategies that address the needs of the age groups within their customer base,” said Dominic Powers, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific at Epsilon International. “The needs and desires of these groups are clear, and we regularly see that a targeted approach based on age segmentation can drive significant improvements in campaign performance.”

“The research also shows that it is very important for marketers to understand where their customers and prospects are in the customer lifecycle so that they continue to deliver content and offers of value. A product or service a consumer wanted three or six months ago is likely not relevant now.” The survey found that Indian millennials are – as expected - savvy online users and demand personalisation of content and actively filtering emails from the names of familiar brands or companies. They are more compelled to what is in the email subject line than the from-line. They are particularly responsive to subject lines that contain discount or free product offers from familiar brands or companies. Emails containing relevant content addressing their needs at the time (89%) and interests (78%) with products or services from familiar and trusted brands will strongly or somewhat increase their likeliness to respond.

Many millennials are willing to provide more personal information if that helps to bring them more targeted email offers. The millennials in India are also receptive to email coupons. About half of them frequently/occasionally make purchase online (46%) and offline (63%) using coupons or offer codes within emails.

The Indian millennials are very wary of all types of threats related to their use of email and the Internet, including scams (94%), spyware (94%), identity theft (93%), spam (93%), viruses (92%) and adware (92%). Marketers need to be respectful of the concerns among this group as they use a wide range of tools to prevent spam and email threats when compared to other age groups.

According to Powers, “This consumer group has a growing disposable income – one that is far greater than previous generations. As they advance in their careers, their purchasing power will only increase. They are a smart and switched on segment whose attention spans are stretched; they are also more predisposed to making decisions in networks. It is important therefore to ensure that communications are driven by just-in time life cycle marketing to maximise conversion opportunities in addition to word-of-mouth and network promotion of offers or brands.”

Epsilon provides comprehensive multichannel marketing services to some of the most-recognised brands in the world. Its Global Consumer Email Study is based on an April 2009 survey of over 4000 consumers in the US, Canada, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, India, Malaysia, Japan, the UK, France, Germany and Spain. The survey, conducted by ROI Research, of Lancaster, PA, explored email practices in various parts of the world. The study builds on similar research conducted in the US from 2002-2005 and APAC in 2008. Additional in-depth information about the Global Consumer Email Study can be found at www.epsilon.com/globalemailstudy.

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