{"id":210125,"date":"2015-06-12T13:55:05","date_gmt":"2015-06-12T20:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cxcafe.maritzcx.com\/the-sorcerers-apprentice-generation\/"},"modified":"2015-06-12T13:57:27","modified_gmt":"2015-06-12T20:57:27","slug":"the-sorcerers-apprentice-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/the-sorcerers-apprentice-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sorcerer\u2019s Apprentice Generation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nI don\u2019t care what companies know about me, I\u2019m really not that interesting.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
This is what Nina, my 20-something running friend, mentioned the other day on one of our longer jaunts. She went on to say if someone really wanted to know what she read, listened to, or even her location, she really didn\u2019t care, especially if she benefited from it somehow.<\/p>\n
This kind of blew my mind, since while I am not particularly guarded about myself, many of my 40-something friends have quite the opposite attitude. They get angry about unsolicited emails, they refuse to post pictures of their kids on Facebook or Instagram, and some abstain completely from social media, summarily dismissing the whole business as\u00a0a \u201cwaste of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before you write some of my Gen X brethren off\u00a0as hopeless Luddites, consider my parents\u2019 generation. Gen Xers\u2019 attitudes about personal information sharing are a faint echo of the strident privacy paranoia of the \u201cSilent Generation.\u201d I remember as a child not getting discounted school lunch vouchers, not because our family didn\u2019t qualify or we didn\u2019t need them, but because then people would know about our economic situation by the color of my lunch ticket<\/em>. Not good in a small town. My parents would fret about\u00a0someone learning about out how much they paid for their house, their age or, god forbid, their annual income. That was and continues to be taboo topic for them. \u00a0I decided not to send them into a tailspin\u00a0by showing them\u00a0Zillow<\/a>.<\/p>\n
It turns out, there are major attitudinal differences among generations in regard to privacy and information sharing. Millennials and the newer cohort of \u201cPlurals\u201d (those age 18-22) are much more open to sharing their information. In a recent MaritzCX G-Tailing Poll<\/a> among a national representative sample of 1,400 Americans, we found that nearly 40% of Plurals agreed with my friend Nina and didn\u2019t care about who saw their information as long as they got something of benefit in return. Only 1 in 4 of the older Boomer cohort agreed with the same statement.<\/p>\n
Millennials and Plurals have been conditioned to this informational quid pro quo\u00a0<\/em>through online interactions with all sorts of \u201cfree\u201d services. In short, many are comfortable \u201cbeing the product<\/a>\u201d as long as the aforementioned product gets something in return.<\/p>\n
\n
- Free photo sharing, sure. What? Others\u00a0look at them too?\u2026Ok, no big deal.<\/em><\/li>\n
- Free online music?.. I have to listen to an ad from time to time? No problem.<\/em><\/li>\n
- Free email? What? You might you use my personal information for other purposes? Well ok.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The paradox of this apparent data nonchalance is that people are still freaked out<\/em>about the role of technology and their information. Almost half of the American population feels overwhelmed daily by information thrust at them. \u00a0Nearly 9 out of 10 Americans are concerned about the security of their personal information. \u00a0Big companies and governmental organization aren\u2019t helping with recent data breaches<\/a>, but the cloud continues to roll on. While younger generations are still clearly\u00a0concerned about where their personal information goes, they are significantly\u00a0less<\/em> concerned compared Gen Xers, Boomers, and the Silent\/GI Generation.<\/p>\n
So why is that?<\/strong><\/p>\n
One reason may be that younger generations are quite adept at using technology<\/em> to\u00a0control<\/em> technology<\/em>. They figure out work-arounds and countermeasures. They use technology to work in the shadows if they want to. Snapchat<\/a> allows temporary photo sharing.\u00a0Whisper<\/a> allows anonymous communication between individuals and groups.\u00a0Yik Yak<\/a> allows users to create anonymous messages (aka \u201cYaks\u201d) to all users within a 10-mile radius. This technological anonymity even extends into the dating world, with Tinder<\/a>\u00a0 allowing users to express romantic interest to one another anonymously.<\/p>\n
Likewise, members of the younger generations are finding hacks to fool systems. Well over 83 million Facebook accounts are fake. Forty-one (41%) of Millennials use fake email accounts to protect their privacy and also use services like 10 Minute Mail<\/a> that provide a disposable email account that self destructs in 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
In short, Millennials and Plurals are very competent Sorcerer\u2019s Apprentices<\/a> who seem to have, at least temporarily, gained control over the magical technological broom.<\/p>\n
What does that mean for CX?<\/strong><\/p>\n
If Gen Xers were the first generation to \u201cwise up\u201d and resist attempts of marketing influence and control, then this newer generation has turned the table completely. They have shown that they are more than willing to put the hurt on a company<\/a> if it isn\u2019t paying attention.<\/p>\n
In the fight for \u201ccontrol of the customer,\u201d there is no winner. Don\u2019t struggle. Don\u2019t fight to control. Let go. Breathe<\/a>. Use marketplace jujutsu<\/a> to take advantage of the customer empowered zeitgeist. Give your customers anonymity if they want it. Give them the choice of what they get and don\u2019t get. \u00a0Give them the power, or they will take it from you. Earn their trust.<\/p>\n
More than ever, there is a truly balanced relationship between customer and company, especially among Millennials and Plurals. The relationship has to be equitable or it will fall apart as Heider<\/a> said it would. At no time has social exchange theory<\/a> been more relevant in the today\u2019s CX environment. To get, you have to give.<\/p>\n
By tearing down the us\/them dichotomy between companies and customers, we can create a much more productive and profitable environment for both sides. To do so, companies must change, not the customers. \u00a0So be human, and provide choice to your customers. Give something back of contextual relevance to them. Earn a friend and use that information to be helpful, not creepy.<\/p>\n