WELL · 2018-02-27 · Generational Values — 3 WELL WE ARE ALL MILLENNIALS We are all Millennials — at least when it comes to what we expect from our engagement with brands, products,

Generational Values — 1

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CONTENTSINTRO

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Health Engagement: We Are All Millennials

PART 1

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Spotlight on Millennials

PART 2

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Spotlight on Generation X

PART 3

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Spotlight on Baby Boomers


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WE ARE ALL MILLENNIALSWe are all Millennials — at least when it comes to what we expect from our engagement with brands, products, and services. We use a range of powerful digital tools to make decisions; we comparison shop, often relying on the views of our peers; we're cost-conscious and expect a worthwhile value exchange; and we demand that communications and transactions be tailored to our needs. These trademark Millennial behaviors and attitudes have been adopted by all generations, especially when it comes to engagement with health and wellness brands.

This Millennialization of patient behaviors and attitudes defines the New Patient Economy. People demand more for their hard-earned money: more choices, more participation in decisions, more transparency, more convenience, better health outcomes, and an overall better health experience.

Patients hold more power than ever in their healthcare decisions and are redefining the very idea of what it means to be healthy. Enabled by technology, they are creating

a far more self-reliant culture, confidently taking matters into their own hands. In fact,

Health brands that understand these important differences when developing communications and experiences will be empowered to initiate and maintain high-quality interactions and relationships while also resonating with each generation’s needs.

HEALTH ENGAGEMENT-WISE,

25% of all patients (and 50 percent of Millennials) use a scorecard to choose doctors or hospitals.

While we all share this empowered Millennial sense of self, there are core values, beliefs, and behaviors specific to Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers that profoundly impact the health engagement of each generation.


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SPOTLIGHT ON:


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Why are we talking about Millennials first? They’re often considered too young and healthy to be important to pharmaceutical and healthcare marketers, but nothing could be further from the truth. Approximately 17 percent of Millennials have a chronic medical condition, and this number rises for Millennials in their 30s. Half of them are overweight or obese and are experiencing early onsets of metabolic disorders.

THE FIRST DIGITAL NATIVES

Part 1: Millennials

Millennials are approaching, or have already reached, the age at which many autoimmune disorders are diagnosed, such as multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. Millennials also exhibit high rates of stress, anxiety, and depression at a time when they are forming lifelong health habits.

HISTORYThe Millennial generation was shaped by tumultuous political, social, and economic events. As children and teenagers, they witnessed the Columbine shootings, the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, and widely publicized corruption at companies like Enron.

As their parents tried to protect them from the evils of the world, Millennials were kept busy as kids and were the first generation of children with schedules. Many entered the job market during the Great Recession of 2008, which created an extended period of unemployment, and faced unprecedented levels of student debt.

Despite the era’s socio-economic woes, Millennials are true digital natives. One-quarter of them had PCs in their homes from the age of 5, and the youngest of the generation were born to parents who had cellphones. It was also an era of scientific achievement that brought innovations like the Hubble Space Telescope and the mapping of the human genome.


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VALUESAs a result of the turbulent times they grew up in — and the economic challenges they continue to face — Millennials value happiness above all else. They focus on living for the moment instead of the future, and their motto is “You only live once.” Shared experiences are worth more than material goods, and Millennials are the first generation to value work-life balance above compensation.

Due to the scale of corporate corruption they witnessed, Millennials also have an aversion to institutions and extremely low social trust. Only 19 percent of Millennials say that most people can be trusted, compared with 40 percent of Baby Boomers. This leads to further alienation from institutions, but also a greater focus on self-reliance.

That self-reliance is multiplied exponentially by modern technology. With an overabundance of “anytime, anyplace” information and the dominance of social media, Millennials see limitless possibilities. They do things their own way and on their terms, and they highly value diversity and discovery.

Much like their unique value system — and, in large part, because of it — Millennials have profoundly different attitudes and behaviors toward health and wellness than prior generations.

SELF-EVALUATIONOn average, Millennials rate their health as excellent or very good. However, about half of them say their stress is very high, caused by everyday circumstances such as work, finances, and relationships. While they mostly live for today, 53 percent are fearful that today’s unhealthy habits and high stress levels will catch up to them tomorrow.

They even find researching their health stressful: Forty-four percent of Millennials say reading health information online stresses them out, and 37 percent have diagnosed themselves with health problems they don’t have. With the dominance of social media, Millennials constantly compare themselves to online profiles of other people, which reminds them of their stress and self-perceived inadequacies.

53% ARE FEARFUL THAT TODAY’S UNHEALTHY HABITS AND HIGH STRESS LEVELS WILL CATCH UP TO THEM TOMORROW.

Part 1: Millennials


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1. Work-Life BalanceAccording to a recent study, almost half of Millennials consider work-life balance more important than regular dental or physical exams or having health insurance. Given their firm belief that a healthy mind leads to a healthy body, Millennials seek alternative forms of therapy — including talk therapy, nutritionists, acupuncture, and massage — to complement traditional medicine. A surprising 35 percent of Millennials believe that seeing a therapist or psychiatrist regularly is important to a healthy lifestyle. Only 24 percent of Gen Xers and 12 percent of Baby Boomers agree with that sentiment.

2. Self-RelianceThe Millennial approach to staying healthy is proactive and self-reliant. They created the “quantified self” movement. More than 25 percent of them enthusiastically embrace wearables and health apps to track their vital signs and fitness activities. And Millennials are more willing to pay extra for natural and organic foods in order

to maintain healthy lifestyles and prevent illness.

3. FitnessBecause of their focus on staying healthy, Millennials are less likely to be overweight or obese than older generations, although prevalence is still high at 49 percent. They’re also more likely to take better care of themselves:

25% feel it’s essential to eat organic foods.

Millennials define health as feeling and looking good, which is a more holistic view than the views of previous generations, who are more likely to define health as the absence of illness. But physical health is only half of the equation for Millennials. Mental health is the other half and is equally important to their definition of staying healthy.

FOUR DIMENSIONS TO HEALTH MAINTENANCE

Part 1: Millennials

65% exercise frequently(three or more ties per week).

49% have used a training program — such as P90X, Insanity, or Cross-Fit — in the past two years.


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ENGAGEMENT PREFERENCES Mobile and social channels are key to reaching Millennials, who make smartphones an integral part of their lives. They conduct most of their healthcare research on smartphones, and they want informative, functional, and interactive programs.

Social media also pervades Millennials’ lives as they track and share their goals and accomplishments. It allows them to provide one another with tips and motivation or to seek advice on treatments, side effects, specialists, and costs. And, unlike previous generations, Millennials are more trusting of the information they find. Nearly a quarter of them have researched online reviews for providers or hospitals in the past year. Also, 28 percent express confidence in what they find online, compared with only 19 percent of non-Millennials.

Seemingly contrary to their aversion to traditional medicine, Millennials are still the most responsive generation to pharmaceutical advertising across multiple channels. Though they watch less TV than other generations, TV still remains the most influential medium in this area. Yet authenticity is a prime factor in the efficacy of those advertisements. Celebrity endorsements, for instance, do more harm than good, with only 22 percent of Millennials trusting celebrity-endorsed pharmaceuticals.

4. Doctors

Self-reliance means Millennials spend much less time in the doctor’s office than other generations. They seek doctors only to treat disease, not for preventive health maintenance. Less than half believe in receiving regular medical and dental checkups, performing routine self-exams, and getting routine cancer screenings.

When they do visit the doctor, many Millennials use emergency rooms, urgent care clinics, and drugstore clinics. In fact, 30 percent believe that care from a clinic is as good as care from a doctor’s office. Like their live-for-the-moment approach to life, Millennials do healthcare their own way, with less of a focus on the traditional doctor’s office as the primary point of care.

This doesn’t mean that Millennials don’t trust their healthcare providers. They trust what their doctors say and respect what doctors do, but they don’t see them as the first or only way to get help. Instead, Millennials are more likely to do their own research on symptoms, at-home treatments, pharmaceuticals, doctor and hospital reviews, and even conduct price comparisons. For many Millennials, their doctor is not the primary source of information and advice, but rather the last step along a diverse journey of care.

Millennials are most likely to ask their doctors about a specific prescription, though, and consider efficacy and safety more important than price or convenience when contemplating alternatives. Even after receiving a prescription, 62 percent say they would research the prescription after visiting the doctor, and 53 percent would research an alternative treatment. And Millennials don’t always believe in taking their prescribed medication or following their doctors’ directions.

Part 1: Millennials


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Gen Xers are highly important to healthcare and pharmaceutical marketers because, as they enter middle age, the prevalence of chronic, life-threatening conditions increases. They’re becoming the primary consumers of medical treatments, and 17 percent of Gen Xers say they’ve experienced a health wake-up call in the past three years.

They also represent the largest group of caregivers, with 71 percent caring for or supporting children and 61 percent taking care of aging parents. Nearly half care for both children and elder parents, earning the tag “sandwich generation.” Gen Xers have significant influence over the treatments their children and parents choose and their adherence to therapy, and they consume healthcare in a very different manner from other generations.

HISTORYGen Xers learned independence early in life, often finding themselves home alone while their parents worked. An estimated 40 percent of Gen Xers were forced to learn

independence early as “latchkey kids.” While they fended for themselves, microwaving was considered cooking, and frozen dinners were the norm. Unfortunately, Gen Xers still reach for processed foods and consequently face higher risks of obesity and diabetes.

During the 1970s, the firstborn Gen Xers reached school age as the U.S. entered a recession. Their parents were faced with an energy shortage, high inflation, and high unemployment. Business bankruptcies rose 50 percent, they watched their parents get laid off during corporate downsizings, and they watched their country’s leaders lie during Watergate.

Generation X is also now considered America’s most influential generation. Gen Xers pioneered computers at school and witnessed an information and internet revolution before they graduated from college. While we credit Millennials with growing and expanding this digital revolution, Gen Xers believe they were at the core of its inception.

THE LATCHKEY KIDSGen Xers are the bridge between two, demographically distinct generations: the predominantly white Baby Boomers and the more diverse Millennials. They also fall in the middle when it comes to their use of technology. Though they engage with digital media, they’re more likely to engage with a broader mix of channels as well.

Part 2: Generation X


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VALUESIn 1982, a period of economic expansion, or decade of greed, began. Madonna’s “Material Girl” was made iconic by MTV in 1984. Ivan Boesky was glorified as Gordon Gecko in the movie “Wall Street” in 1987. Corporate raiders bought and restructured corporations, either by selling off their operations or by dismantling them. The era ended in 1989 when the stock market crashed.

Then young adults, Gen Xers graduated from college — more than any other generation before them — into an economy characterized by high levels of joblessness. They were also saddled with the highest levels of student debt at the time due to rising education costs and substantially higher interest rates.

Caught between two larger generations, Generation X has values, healthcare attitudes, and media habits that share characteristics with both Millennials and Baby Boomers. Gen Xers grew up during political and socio-economic events that created a more pragmatic generation that values family, independence, transparency, flexibility, and balance.

At the same time, having witnessed the birth of the digital revolution, Gen Xers characterize themselves as resilient and imaginative innovators. Gen Xers make up the highest percentage of startup founders (more than 1 in 4 have started or taken actionable steps to start their own business), and nearly one-third consider themselves entrepreneurial.

SELF-EVALUATIONGen Xers consider themselves to be a healthy group. However, the processed foods that they consumed as kids make them prone to serious diseases that begin with almost no visible symptoms. Therefore, they may have a false sense of security when it comes to their health.

Their independence sometimes gets in the way of their healthcare. For example, Gen Xers tend to delay going to the doctor or receiving necessary treatment because they fear being viewed as needy. When they visit the doctor, nearly 87 percent admit they don’t follow their treatment plans exactly as their physicians prescribe. Like Millennials, they prefer to do things their own way.

GEN XERS TEND TO DELAY GOING TO THE DOCTOR OR RECEIVING NECESSARY TREATMENT BECAUSE THEY FEAR BEING VIEWED AS NEEDY.



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PERCEPTIONS ANDDECISIONSGen Xers’ health practices are also a balanced, moderate blend of Millennial and Baby Boomer practices. Their definition of health is more traditional, yet 71 percent try to exercise their brain as well as their body. Unlike Millennials, Gen Xers are more future-focused.

Although fewer Gen Xers than Millennials use complementary treatments in addition to traditional medicine, they were the first to normalize this practice. Nearly 10 percent of Gen Xers use herbal remedies, meditate, or practice yoga, and 20 percent engage in brain health exercises.

Generation X is the first generation of true healthcare consumers. They shop for healthcare much like they shop for retail goods and services. They actively seek

health information online, including ratings and review sites. Gen Xers are more likely than Millennials to be influenced by their doctors or nurses when making health decisions but also to consider the opinions of family and friends.

ENGAGEMENTPREFERENCESGen Xers are receptive and open to advertising, and like other age groups, they’re most likely to click on ads aimed specifically at their generation. The challenge in reaching Gen Xers is that they are more diverse than others in their use of media, engaging in a broad mix of traditional and digital channels.

Most Gen Xers own smartphones, and 60 percent use their phones daily. Nearly 80 percent download streaming videos at least once a month. While they respond to TV ads and in-office brand messages more than other forms of healthcare advertising, they still find direct mail pieces and print ads appealing.

Gen Xers also value social media: Seventy-five percent consume content, 43 percent share/repost, and 32 percent publish or share original content. Nearly one-third of Gen Xers consume social content posted by brands or companies.


36% say they’re obessedwith preventing ill health.

60% say that exercise or sports are part of their daily lives.

About 25% say they have special daily dietary habuts to stay healthy.


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Baby Boomers have always been the sweet spot for pharmaceutical marketing because they’ve been the largest consumers of medication. They’ve even been dubbed the Medication Generation. Major advances in medicine and the adoption of healthier lifestyles mean they are living longer, albeit with more conditions. More Baby Boomers than ever are surviving cancer, which creates an ongoing need for medical, financial, social, and emotional support.

Baby Boomers just aren’t built to grow old quietly, and as they take more control of their own healthcare, their behaviors are aligning with the New Patient Economy.

HISTORYBaby Boomers were brought up to believe in the American dream. After World War II, the economy flourished and supported large families. Older Boomers remember getting their first household TVs and watching the space exploration that resulted in the 1969 moon landing. They also witnessed great unrest, including the Cold War, the civil rights movement, and the rise of terrorism.

THE AMERICAN DREAMERSMore than 66 percent of Baby Boomers have multiple chronic health conditions. They take six to eight medications on average, have longer life expectancies (87 for women, 82-87 for men), and survivorship is seen as a distinct health state.

Part 3: Baby Boomers


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VALUESPost-war babies grew up to be the resisters and radicals of the ’60s and ’70s and the yuppies of the ’80s. Their values are oriented around prosperity, career success, and achievement. They are often considered workaholics, working long hours to establish self-worth, identity, and fulfillment, though they are also highly anti-establishment, especially if the establishment tries to constrain individualism.

SELF EVALUATIONYoung Baby Boomers fought hard for their American dreams, and as adults, they fight equally hard against growing old. About half of them rate their health as very good or excellent, thanks in part to today’s advanced treatments for chronic illnesses, but almost three-quarters are overweight or obese, which is the highest rate of any generation. They try to adopt healthier lifestyle habits but feel as though becoming healthier is a struggle.

PERCEPTIONS ANDDECISIONSBaby Boomers rely on their doctors for both illness and wellness, but they want a voice in the decision-making process. They prefer treatment options that are safe and efficacious as well as convenient, and they’re almost as likely to ask for a prescription drug as Millennials.

Eight out of 10 will search online for information before a doctor visit and will bring a list of questions. However, unlike Millennials and Gen Xers who have broken the price discussion taboo, Baby Boomers are more traditional in this area and are not likely to bring it up.

BABY BOOMERS RELY ON THEIR DOCTORS FOR BOTH ILLNESS AND

WELLNESS, BUT THEY WANT A VOICE IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS.



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ENGAGEMENTWITH TECHNOLOGYBaby Boomers developed their health habits before the digital age, and unlike younger generations, they are more influenced by their doctors than by any other source. However, they do use technology, and it impacts how they select and interact with their doctors.

Two-thirds own a smartphone and three-quarters have downloaded at least one health app. About 20 percent own a wearable health-tracking device, of which 66 percent wear their devices daily and 74 percent wish their doctors could access data from them. Baby Boomers also currently use technology directly in their healthcare. They communicate with their primary care physicians via portals to look at health data, view test results, fill or refill prescriptions, and check insurance coverage.

Baby Boomers prefer to see physicians who will engage with them using modern technology. All else being equal, they would choose a primary care provider who offers a patient app, virtual portal, and/or data collection from wearable devices over a provider who offers none of these.Baby Boomers spent much of their lives growing accustomed to instant media through television, and TVs are still king. But

Boomers’ consumption patterns are shifting. More of them are gravitating to video and mobile, spending about an hour a day on social medial sites. They’re also becoming more tech-savvy and utilizing their smartphones for more than just making calls. Being digitally engaged reflects their proactive desire for informative, as well as functional and interactive experiences.

While Baby Boomers don’t always readily admit it, they are more frequently experiencing declines in hearing and eyesight as they age, as well as dexterity

when conditions like Parkinson’s disease are present. The large touchscreens and voice control features of smartphones have driven adoption among aging Baby Boomers.

BABY BOOMERS PREFER TO SEE PHYSICIANS WHO WILL ENGAGE WITH THEM USING MODERN TECHNOLOGY.



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KEY TAKEAWAYS: HEALTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE NEW PATIENT ECONOMY

Each individual has his own unique set of healthcare needs, but his values, attitudes, and behaviors regarding his health engagement are largely shaped by his generation.

GEN XERSMILLENNIALS BABY BOOMERS

ALLMOBILE AND SOCIAL TV, DOCTOR, AND MOBILECHANNELS

CONTENT

USER EXPERIENCE

ADDED VALUE

PERSONALIZATION

AUTHENTIC AND CREDIBLENO SCARE TACTICS INFORMATIVE AND EDUCATIONAL

SUPPORT FEEDBACK AND REWARDSFRICTIONLESS INFORMATIVE

AND EDUCATIONAL

OFFER SERVICESCONNECT TO A SOCIAL CAUSE

FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATIONS

ESSENTIALESSENTIAL ESSENTIAL


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For healthcare marketers in the New Patient Economy, communications and experiences will need to be tailored for the values and expectations of

these three very demanding generations.

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WELL · 2018-02-27 · Generational Values — 3 WELL WE ARE ALL MILLENNIALS We are all Millennials — at least when it comes to what we expect from our engagement with brands, products,