How Millinenials discover new products

how mobile natives
discover products
07.18.13

all rights reserved | 2013
dscout is a cutting-edge
research platform built for
a mobile and social world.

We thought a good way to
understand consumer trends
would be to study what
millennials bought, capturing
new consumers and new
products in one go.
+
millennials
new products
they discover

93%
Used facebook in
the last week.
Talking
Texting
Emailing
Takeing pics
On social media
Web browsing
Gaming 26%
68%
72%
52%
76%
86%
46%
I AM CONSTANTLY
100%
Smartphone
owners
So we recruited 246
millennials who relied heavily
on their smartphones for a
variety of tasks.

We call our recruits scouts. In
this particular study, we also
call them mobile natives.
66%
Women
62%
Employed
full time
average age
26
average income
66k

Scouts downloaded our
free app and used it to
document ﬁve product
purchases apiece. Scouts
completed their mission
between 05.07.13 & 05.12.13.

In total, scouts shared
1,183 purchases.

This is a Jose Eber clipless curling iron. Pardon my vanity
with this product, but this Iron is amazing. I have stick
straight hair that has never held a curl no matter what.
With all the amazing photos of long gorgeous
curls on pinterest, i longed for that look. I have
been looking for a good curling iron that could give me
curls that would stay all day without the use of hair
products. I tried just about everything. I asked me
friend who is a hairdresser what she recommend
an she said to get a professional clip-less iron. I
did some research Online and found the best
priced clip less curling iron with the highest
consumer rating. This iron appealed to me because it
reached a very high temperature (that's why it is
considered professional), and did not have the clip
(makes the iron quicker and more versatile) that
traditional curling irons have.
Amber D
Houston, TX
This is one such purchase.

For each purchase, we asked
scouts a series of questions to
help us understand:
// where it was first encountered
// how much time elapsed between
discovery and purchase
// purchase influences
// reason for purchasing
// place of purchase
Afterwards, we tagged our data
rigorously to reflect product category
and purchase method.

our mobile native scouts bought...

N =
1183
purchases
136food items
11eyeglasses
11phones
71shoes
7cars
6soaps
29alcoholic drinks
148electronics
3manicures
1set of juggling
knives
31bags
1kayak

Thinking about your first encounter
with this find, did it happen on a...
5%
Phone
4%
Tablet
31%
Computer
60%
Offline
The first thing we noticed?
Phones were almost
entirely absent from the
discovery process.

Which of the following things do you
think inﬂuenced you to buy this?
in store
friend
ecommerce store
chance encounter
an article
a blog/ forum
advertising
social network
nothing really
classified
other 14%
1%
4%
6%
7%
10%
10%
12%
18%
23%
39%
While “friends” were
perceived as hugely
inﬂuential by our scouts,
that did not extend to
social networks.

so that’s what we didn’t see. what did we see?

Is is a 50 mil macro lens made by Canon. I
work as a photographer and I love
building my collection equipment. Plus
macro lens are awesome! I've always
known about this lens, I just needed to
save up enough to purchase it. First time I
came across it was on a friend's camera. I
learned more about the lens from playing
with it hands on and researching it online.
Brittany W Chicago, IL
photography love

I bought a new concealer. The one I've been
using has not been working well ... I heard this
one looks really natural and won't make you
break out because it's skin clearing. I looked
through all of the different concealers at
target. I was worried that a lot of the drugstore
brands would look cakey. I read the packaging on
about five different concealers before choosing
this one. I think I gravitated towards neutrogena
because thy are a skin care brand (I've seen many
skin care commercials for neutrogena).
concealer
Brittany B Beaverton, OR

This chair is an exact replica of a chair from a
company called arhaus that cost $1600. This one
was $225. I'm not kidding. I just love it. It can
literally be put in any room and instantly make it
pop. It's cozy and has a high back and a feel seat
and who doesn't love the nail heads all over it!!!!
I just can't live without it. I have been looking
for a chair for our guest room
foreeeeeever. Nothing crazy just simple and
my friend saw this one and sent me a pic
immediately and I went and picked it up!!!
the most amazing chair.
Melinda W Naperville, IL

This is a Vince Camuto Scarf from
Dillard's. I found this scarf and
immediately realized that I had to
have it. It a really pretty light fabric
that is wearable for the Spring and
Summer ( in contrast to the number of
of thicker scarves I have to survive the
Chicago winters)... I purchased this
on a whim while shopping for a
dress.
a practical splurge
Davlyn T Chicago, IL

Brittany W
Chicago, IL
Brittany B
Beaverton, OR
Melinda W
Naperville, IL
Davlyn T
Chicago, IL
We chose these examples for a reason.
Each typiﬁes one of four modes of product discovery.

Seek
A laser-focused mission to acquire something
speciﬁc, right down to knowing the brand and
model in advance.
25%

Sift
A deliberate search for an item
in a particular product category,
when requirements are clear
but the landscape of available
options isn’t.
24.6%

Sift 24%Seek 24%
A sudden recollection that
you’d meant to purchase
something, only remembered
after encountering that thing
by chance.
Surface 23.6%

Sift 24%Seek 24% Stumble 26.6%A classic impulse purchase. See it, love it, buy it.

Seek StumbleSift Surface25% 24.6% 23.6% 26.6%

back of mind
narrow aperture
broad aperture
top of mind
Stumble Sift
Surface Seek
Overall, we see two dimensions
underlying our modes of discovery.
One is aperture, which is the
speciﬁcity of a search. The other is
mindfulness, which is the
awareness of searching.
For instance, our “Seek” mode is top
of mind and narrow aperture
— meaning, a deliberate search for a
speciﬁc product.

Seek StumbleSift Surface
48%
52%
digital
physical
54%
46%
digital
physical
60%
40%
digital
physical
74%
26%
digital
physical
FIRST ENCOUNTER = DIGITAL / PHYSICAL
Top of mind discoveries were much more likely
to have had a digital inception.

65%
53%
33%
22%Seek
Sift
Surface
Stumble
% OF PURCHASES MADE WITHIN HOURS OF FIRST ENCOUNTER
Top of mind discoveries were less likely
to have had a short gestation period.

clothing fashion accessories food and dining
tech accessories sports & ﬁtness
shoes & bags
top of
mind
all or
nothing
back of
mind
home & garden health & wellness
Not all product categories exhibit
the same discovery patterns.
For instance, clothing purchases are
usually surfaced or stumbled — that
is to say, back of mind. In contrast,
electronics are usually sought or
sifted — that is, top of mind.
A few categories, like shoes, tend to
be stumbled or sought in equal
measure.
Seek
Stumble
Sift
Surface
electronics

SOURCES THAT INFLUENCED YOUR PURCHASE
Scouts also named a few inﬂuences for each purchase.
friend
store
ecommerce
other
blog/forum
article/review
ad
social site
chance
nothing
classified 1%
5%
8%
8%
10%
13%
13%
16%
21%
23%
30% store
friend
ecommerce
other
article/review
blog/forum
chance encounter
ad
social site
nothing
classified 2%
3%
6%
8%
10%
14%
15%
16%
25%
28%
30% store
friend
ecommerce
chance encounter
other
blog/forum
article/review
social site
ad
nothing
classified 3%
5%
5%
5%
8%
10%
11%
13%
18%
18%
46% store
friend
chance encounter
other
ecommerce
ad
social site
article/review
blog/forum
nothing
classified 0%
4%
4%
6%
6%
7%
8%
12%
16%
17%
58%

store
friend
ecommerce
chance encounter
other
blog/forum
article/review
social site
ad
nothing
classified 3%
5%
5%
5%
8%
10%
11%
13%
18%
18%
46% store
friend
chance encounter
other
ecommerce
ad
social site
article/review
blog/forum
nothing
classified 0%
4%
4%
6%
6%
7%
8%
12%
16%
17%
58%
Mostly, scouts characterized (physical) stores and
friends as inﬂuential — social sites, not so much.
store
friend
ecommerce
other
article/review
blog/forum
chance encounter
ad
social site
nothing
classified 2%
3%
6%
8%
10%
14%
15%
16%
25%
28%
30%friend
store
ecommerce
other
blog/forum
article/review
ad
social site
chance
nothing
classified 1%
5%
8%
8%
10%
13%
13%
16%
21%
23%
30%

friend
store
ecommerce
other
blog/forum
article/review
ad
social site
chance
nothing
classified 1%
5%
8%
8%
10%
13%
13%
16%
21%
23%
30% store
friend
ecommerce
other
article/review
blog/forum
chance encounter
ad
social site
nothing
classified 2%
3%
6%
8%
10%
14%
15%
16%
25%
28%
30% store
friend
ecommerce
chance encounter
other
blog/forum
article/review
social site
ad
nothing
classified 3%
5%
5%
5%
8%
10%
11%
13%
18%
18%
46% store
friend
chance encounter
other
ecommerce
ad
social site
article/review
blog/forum
nothing
classified 0%
4%
4%
6%
6%
7%
8%
12%
16%
17%
58%
ecommerce sites seemed to help most when scouts already
had a fairly clear idea of what they wanted to purchase.

Do people seek out or sift
through electronics — or any
category, for that matter —
because of some fundamental
aspect of electronics, or because
that’s the way the electronics
industry targets customers?
We don’t know. But we know you
should be thinking about it.
takeaways
1
electronics

Any way we slice it, online
media (including phones) don’t
have a huge impact on back-of-
mind modalities like stumbling
and surfacing.
In other words, the Internet isn’t great at
facilitating discovery.
takeaways
60%
40%
digital
physical
74%
26%
digital
physical
2(a)
StumbleSurface

That said, the emergence of
planned stumbling (via curated
product subscriptions) is
beginning to change the
landscape of online discovery.
takeaways
This is a dual lip and cheek stain pencil by Mirenesse.
It's a great product! It's a bright, bold, long lasting
color...I loved it so much that I ordered a second color
a few days after trying this one out. I received this
as a sample in my monthly Birchbox
subscription. It came with a card describing how to
use it, and Birchbox also posts great tutorials on many
of their product pages...
2(b)

A great number of purchases are
socially mediated, though not
necessarily by online social networks.
takeaways
3
friend
social site 8%
30%
friend
social site 6%
28%
friend
social site 5%
18%
friend
social site 6%
17%

We also suspect that an
enormous number of discoveries
do not touch the Internet at all.
In other words, our digital metrics
aren’t really measuring them.
takeaways
4
back of mind
Surface
Stumble

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