Generation Y consumers know exactly what they want this holiday season — electronics and fashion —and it has nothing to do with gardening. A recent survey on what Gen Y consumers want most as a holiday gift, conducted for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) by promotions agency SLANT, found that for today’s younger consumers (aged 13-28) technology, fashion and luxury goods, such as designer watches and purses, rank at the top of their holiday wish lists.
“Gen Yers typically engage in a variety of media at one time, keeping them on the pulse of the hippest brands and hottest technology,” said Mike Gatti, executive director of RAMA. “As a result, Gen Y usually knows about the next big thing before it even hits the stores.”
Known for their technological savvy, it is no surprise that nearly half (46 percent) of Gen Y respondents identified tech-related items as their top gifts and 12.5 percent of survey respondents identified an iPod or iPod accessory as their most desired gift. Twenty-two percent of the respondents said they would most like to receive fashion-related items, citing such brands as Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister, and 14.5 percent of respondents identified money or gift cards as their most desired gift.
Gift giving can be difficult, especially when it comes to the social and spontaneous Generation Y. According to the survey, close to 1 in 5 (17 percent) respondents said they anticipate re-gifting at least one of their gifts this year. In addition, nearly 12 percent of Gen Y respondents have previously sold a holiday gift online, turning to sites such as eBay. According to the survey respondents, when it comes to getting rid of an unwanted item, men are more than twice as likely as women to sell unwanted gifts online (16.7 percent of men versus 7.7 percent of women).
