“Ownership is over-rated,” my much-younger wife has always maintained, whenever we get into a discussion/ debate on topic of buying/ investing into a holiday home, a bigger house, a super-bike. “Why not enjoy new experiences? Why be locked?” she argues.
I have increasingly found myself becoming a convert.
Previous generations saw value in ownership, because it spelled:
- Financial success- a trophy if you will – but trophies mattered in societal setting where people knew you. They mattered because you had peers, friends, families, neighbours to whom the trophies could be displayed. They helped you climb the societal ladder and gave you access
- Asset building – a home, gold were not just safe investments that appreciated over time but were also assets for yourself and family.The current generation on the other hand lives for today, and, lives for itself. How will this impacting branding/ marketing/ purchase?
Makes me happy. In an ‘Uber-ized’ world, people will BUY cars only if they love them! https://t.co/OJViaeS52Q
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) October 13, 2015
10 things millennials won’t spend money on, includes Investment, Cars, Homes & Children. It’s becoming obvious that the current generation, living their dynamic lives – in a ‘Uber-ized’ world – are going to live their lives differently (more and more youth, free of existential worries, are choosing the carefree life – a life of freedom; of possibilities). My belief is that self-identity – our conception and expression of “Who am I?” – will likely gain prominence over national/ cultural identity, as our many lives are interwoven into multiple layers of groups, cultures, nations of which we are a part, sometimes physically, but always virtually.
- Things that define ‘me’ as unique
- When I will buy mass, I will personalise that – my custom bike/ car; my accessories define my look and so on
- Things that are an extension of my very life
- ‘My’ mobile phone
- Experiences that live today, drive memories tomorrow (than possessions)
- Travel, hot air balloons, music; life is a carnival
To look at the evolution of the individual in India, we must see what’s happening in the west, for physically we may be bound by geography, culturally we are global citizens.
