During my first Project Y-ine ‘trip’  I discovered that people in their twenties are largely influenced by their friends and that world of mouth is the number one reason for them to purchase anything, not just beer and wine.  You can read more on my study on Palate Press, an online wine magazine under “Why Y-ine? The Post-Journey Report.“  Women in general talk to each other more about deals they get, etc. so it is easy to see that word of mouth travels even further in our lives.   In Carol’s post she discussed a new study on Millennial Women conducted by Radar Research for PopSugar Media which showcases just how important us young women should be to brands.

Gen Y women are also influential brand advocates. When they discover a brand they love, 61% said they “share it with as many friends as possible” and are likely to share it across a spectrum of platforms, including email, social networks, online reviews, blog comments, SMS/MMS, phone and face-to-face.

Women in general already have much of the buying power & influence in every industry (Every marketer has head the line “80% of all consumer purchasing decisions are made by women”). Take that and combine it with a generation that makes just as much, if not more than our male counterparts and we are truly powerhouse consumers.

We are traveling around the United States, conducing interviews with members of Generation Y that are over the legal drinking age (aka people 21-33).  The project is an attempt to get into their heads and find out what goes on up there when they go to purchase wine or beer at the store. To truly do a study, unlike any other, that focuses on the next generation of wine/beer drinkers.

This first leg of the project takes us from Tampa, through NOLA, Houston & Austin, TX, Southern New Mexico, Phoenix, LA and back up to Northern California — aka The South!

But, you can read all about that here: http://www.projectyine.com.

See you all in a city near you!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA]

The actual magazine has many more statistics that cannot be found online,  like how 92% of older Millenials (18-31) think that because they work hard, they deserve to splurge on luxury items for themselves, such as shoes, purses, jeans, sunglasses or haircare products.

Retailers need to take note: If you want to get into a boomer’s pocketbook, you’ve got to win her daughter over first.  Nothing is off-limits anymore. Young adults influence 88% of household apparel purchases. It is not all about the demographic target anymore, brands need to start looking at the psychographic demographic as well.

Read the article online and find out more about how my generation is changing the way you all do things….