This article focuses on the changing trends in the spending culture by the youth. Youth which was once a car generation has now ditched this culture. They are perhaps ready to lighten their pockets for Smartphones instead. Housing is another sector where a typical family’s spending goes. The Great Recession is one of the main reasons for the youth changing their spending interests, along with the parameters of changing lifestyles, high fuel prices, stagnant wages and newer technologies. I believe that this is true, owing to changing lifestyles and rising prices (Thompson and Weissmann, 2012) The “sharing economy” is the latest fad. Young generation now share their cars, accommodations and clothes for less expenditure and higher savings. A survey by Zipkar also illustrated the fact that young people do not care much about owning a car; they would rather spend on a Smartphone or the latest technology. Tech-phones have overpowered the use of a car to feel connected to your family and friends. It has surpassed the time and space becoming omnipresent. Everyone wants to own a cellphone more than one wants to own a car. (Weissmann, 2012) Mobile-tech has also surpassed long distance friendships. Shopping, entertainment and socializing is now just a click or touch away. This has pushed a car out of their ways. The walking suburbs and pooling are becoming more important than a single person-single car philosophy. This has reduced a great deal of expenditure of Millennial’s generation on cars and has had an adverse effect on the economy. One more factor that influences today’s spending decisions is the low pay and low saving construct. The rising recession means higher interests on loans from banks. Houses are now becoming smaller, cheaper and affordable for the people. This is the only area that had led us out of the recession (Thompson and Weissmann, 2012).
The tourism marketing has one important implication for this generation. Mobile applications that feature the tourism industry are becoming popular day by day. The tourism marketers have developed many such applications that enhance the capabilities of this particular area. The advertisements of these applications can also be seen as a part of other applications. Over the internet one can witness these ads (Weissmann, 2012). The e-booking system is attracting attention of many, as by this, one doesn’t need to go to the stations to book the tickets, one can easily do so through internet or mobile apps. This reduces extra expenditure and saves money for the vacation.
Hence, we can justify the statement that today’s generation is the cheapest generation. From owning big cars the trend has changed to owning big smartphones that offers more services that an expensive car can.
References
Thompson, Derek and Weissmann, Jordon. "The cheapest generation." The Atlantic, 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 7 September 2013.
Weissmann, Jordon. “Why are young people ditching cars for smartphones?” The Atlantic, 7 Aug. 2012. Web. 7 September 2013.
