With members of Alpha Generation growing up, and more on the way, it is time to start thinking about how to communicate with the next generation, a speaker said at a Public Relations Society of America webinar on January 14.
“These are your future consumers, your future voters, your future employees, future volunteers, future donors. So, it’s time to get to know them,” said Stephen Dupont, vice president of public relations at Pocket Hercules, an advertising agency based in Minneapolis.
Dupont explained who Alpha Generation is in the webinar titled “Are You Ready for Alpha Generation? Communicating With the Generation Coming After Gen Z.” Alpha Generation, the generation born between the years 2010 and 2025, will prove to be a diverse and digitally advanced generation, Dupont said, so it is important for members of the communication industry to learn who they are.
Alpha Generation will be defined by many different characteristics, some that might make mass communication a little more difficult. In the webinar, Dupont stated Alpha Generation will be the smallest, and will grow up in urban metro areas, with non-traditional families. Members will be more educated and have more empowered female inspirations, and the generation will be defined by technology and innovation.
“They are going to be known as a hardworking generation that wants a lot of structure in their lives,” said Dupont. He continued to say, “they’re going to put off traditional things such as marriage, for example, to concentrate on building their careers, starting their businesses, and traveling.”
Many factors will influence and dictate how the communication industry approaches Alpha Generation, from experiences to the digital landscape.
Dupont mentioned that Alphas will expect organizations to take a stance and will want transparency. Dupont stated that members of Alpha Generation are aware and watching what is happening in the world. Members are growing up and forming opinions on organizations based on their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the protests happening across the United States. Building trust with members of Alpha Generation will prove to be an important feat for the communications industry.
Members of Alpha Generation are going to be politically active, Dupont said in the webinar. Recently, Dupont said that Alphas are watching older siblings react and respond. They are going to grow up to expect organizations to take a stance on issues, and they will not be afraid to call them out. If organizations want to appease Alpha Generation, they are going to have to be transparent and honest.
Along with fighting to build trust with Alpha Generation, organizations are going to have an even harder time getting the attention of its members.
“If I wanted to go to communicate with young people I would probably need to go to the platform that they are naturally collecting in,” said Samantha Shorey, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at The University of Texas at Austin.
While this is common with current generations, the platforms that Alpha Generation will flock to are certainly going to be different, added Shorey. It is going to be difficult for industry members to communicate across a generational divide, especially when there has been a rapid acceleration of technological innovation.
If the communication industry wants to reach Alpha Generation, Dupont believes they are going to have to figure out how members relate to media and how they want to consume messages. We are already involved with digital media, but there will always be a gap between generations.
A PRSA representative in attendance mentioned that conversation of Alpha Generation brought up many doom and gloom topics.
Alpha Generation is going to be one of the smallest generations, and in a recent interview, Dupont mentioned it is likely going to be even smaller than expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Older members of the generation are growing up witnessing loss, economic struggles, and social isolation. On the technology side of things, Dupont mentioned in the webinar that future innovations might take jobs away from Alphas.
Dupont believes that awareness and empathy will be an important factor in communicating with Alpha Generation. The events that are shaping the worldview of this generation will have a psychological impact on members, so it will be crucial to account for this.
Communicating with Alpha Generation might prove to be difficult, Dupont said, but he thinks they are the future and have much potential. Dupont commented that he was “absolutely hopeful for these kids. We need them.”