ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Despite popular assumptions about the Millennials’ reliance on mobile and social channels, survey findings show this growing workforce is influenced by similar sources as their generational predecessors. What’s more, they have significant influence in B2B purchasing.
In fact, the millennial generation takes the lead in decision-making and has research power when shortlisting technology solutions, according to a survey released today by Arketi Group, a high-tech B2B PR and digital marketing firm.
The survey polled 262 business technology buyers across the three generations in today’s workplace – Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials – about their go-to sources of information. From evaluating a problem, to researching technology solutions, and creating a short list, there were differences and surprising overlaps.
How much power do they yield?
The national survey found more than half of Millennials describe themselves as decision-makers for technology purchases within their organization. One-third of Millennials report having budget and/or sign-off on enterprise technology purchases of $10,000+. By comparison, 23% of Baby Boomers and 27% of Gen X report the same authority.
Understand who they trust
When evaluating tech purchases, Millennials’ most frequently refer to industry analysts (38%), vendor face-to-face meetings (36%) and websites (33%). By comparison, Baby Boomers rely more on analysts (50%), colleagues (49%) and vendor meetings (48%), while Gen X prefers colleagues and vendor websites (both 40%), analysts and trade shows (both 38%).
"Two interesting trends stand out,” said Mike Neumeier, APR, principal at Arketi Group. “First, Millennials are less reliant on any single information source than the other two cohorts. Second, Millennials, although digital natives, prefer personal interactions not social media when making a significant business technology purchase decision.”
Interactive report is online
The survey results are compiled into a playful interactive infographic that compares how each generation approaches B2B tech purchases at http://arketi.com/3gens, where a printed version of the report can also be requested.
About the Research
The Not Your Father's Buying Decision: How Three Generations of B2B Technology Buyers Decide What to Purchase report is based on an online survey fielded in late 2015. The majority of respondents (60%) were with organizations with 1,000+ employees. Thirty-one percent were in senior management, 47% middle management, and 12% C-level. Respondents included 31% Baby Boomers, 39% Gen X and 30% Millennials.
About Arketi Group
Arketi Group is a public relations and digital marketing firm that helps BtoB technology organizations accelerate growth through intelligent strategy, PR, messaging, branding and demand generation. Consistently recognized by Chief Marketer as a B2B Top Shop, Arketi helps clients use marketing to generate revenue. Companies benefiting from this approach to B2B marketing include Cox, Equifax, NCR, Recall, UL and Xerox. More information at 404-929-0091 ext. 210 or www.arketi.com.
