Finding the Perfect Message | Undergraduate Honors Thesis
Spring 2016 | Thesis adviser: Valerie Fields | Honors level: With Highest Honors
Finding the Perfect Message: Millennials, Media and the Financial Service Industry
by Carol DeSalva '16
As the generation shaped by the Internet and the development of new technologies, millennials communicate and engage differently with marketing messages than previous generations. Financial service companies need to learn, adapt and deliver content to attract young millennials to their services. This is crucial not just for these companies’ success, but also for the wellbeing of the U.S. economy, which is currently in crisis as Social Security’s and Medicare’s resources are becoming depleted. Through focus groups, this study attempted to understand how college-attending millennials ages 19 to 21 felt about financial services. In addition, these focus groups aimed to determine what financial service marketing messages best engaged this demographic and which of these messages had the most potential to persuade millennials to contact a financial advisor. Results indicated participants preferred marketing content helped them trust the company and relieved some uneasiness they felt towards financial planning. Results also indicated participants were highly influenced third-party influencers, especially their parents. College-attending millennials ages 19 to 21 looked to them for advice and guidance about financial services. Their influence ultimately shaped their children’s financial attitudes. Future research should consider which marketing messages best engage older generations, such as Generation Xers and Baby Boomers. These generations can be used to target college-attending millennials ages 19 to 21. Finding loyal clients in these older generations can lead to more business from their millennial counterparts.
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The Hussman School Honors Program is available to students wishing to pursue an original and substantial research or creative project under direct supervision of a faculty adviser during their senior year. Learn more at mj.unc.edu/Honors.