Millennials, sustainability is their purchasing guide. And don't play along with corporate bluffs...

SUSTAINABLE BEHAVIORS OF MILLENNIALS –

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are both chasing the vote (and opinion) that could decide the final race for the White House: that of Millennials, the generation born between 1980 and 2000But long before the two candidates for president of the United States, the entire consumer universe, which in America certifies the health or otherwise of the economy, is looking for the best magnets to capture the tastes, needs, and desires of Millennials, knowing that they are and will be the ones, especially women, who move the market. And young consumers, here is the news that is confirmed by all the most reliable research, It's as if they were shouting, in the global world and not only in the America of ex and post consumerism, their irrevocable decision: to put sustainability at the centre of the choices that determine the curves, and therefore the traffic, of consumption.More than a trend, we are witnessing one of the world's paradigm shifts since the outbreak of the Great Depression, with new opportunities that, if properly focused, will prove crucial for the relaunch and growth of everything Made in Italy, from manufacturing to agri-food. And this is demonstrated, with the precision of a multiplication table, by the combination of numbers and facts.

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MILLENNIALS' PURCHASING CHOICES –

First data: 65 percent of young consumers (the research is by Bain & Company) considers environmental protection, also with a view to future generations, an absolute priorityThis attitude, light years away from the ideological environmentalism, true and false, of the last century, is spilling over into the consumption of Millennials with the force of a hurricane. So much so that 57 percent of Italians (the study is by Global Lifestyle) When she goes shopping for clothing, she prefers, let's say: she wants, eco-friendly products, and she looks very carefully at the labelsIn short, natural fabrics and clarity on their origin and production methods.

MILLENNIALS AND SUSTAINABILITY –

The desire for well-being, health, and environmental safety, to be passed down from generation to generation, drives 81 percent of Millennials (the source is a PWC study), almost all of them, even to be ready, willing, to pay more for sustainable productsWhile the price-quality ratio will always remain an independent variable in consumer behavior, all companies with a dynamic vision of the market are aligning themselves with the new first commandment engraved in the minds of their customers, both existing and potential. And the primacy of sustainability is increasingly a glocal phenomenon. There's no global brand, from Adidas and Levi's to Ikea, from Burberry to H&M, that hasn't now developed a comprehensive strategy to capture consumer demand for sustainability.How? Through product evolution, which primarily means research, and the use of all communication platforms, taking into account that almost half of the discussions on sustainability take place online. Here are the jeans with fibres obtained from plastic recovered from the oceans, shoes branded products made with plastic bottles taken from landfills, entire collections made with recycled clothes and fabrics, LED lamps, affordable, as an essential choice for home lighting. At the same time, a few weeks ago I was invited to give a lecture at the First Festival on Sustainability and Design, in Polesine, in the province of Rovigo, entitled Eco Design WeekAs I visited the stands of the small companies present, one by one, I had a picture of the industrial Northeast's driving force, marching toward the shores of consumers in search of sustainability. Elegant natural wood tables, projects complete with prototypes, turnkey wooden houses, natural disinfectants without chemical additives, electric scooters with a range of over 100 kilometers, wedding dresses, and gala evening products, made with raw materials that come from the waste disposal and recycling chain. Medium-high prices, very high consumer demand. Like the organic cosmetics, a global market worth 13 billion dollars, with Italy in third place in Europe, and with products designed and obtained from rice (Genoa), grape peels (Pavia), orange and lemon waste (Milan and Catania), and leftover apricots and peaches (Naples).

Finally, Millennials, with a sustainability compass in their pocket when it comes to buying a receipt, are increasingly expert, competent, and demanding on the subject. This is the beauty market, one might say. But that's not enough. Armed with this knowledge, which the Internet is spreading like wildfire, young consumers rightly become very severe if they smell something greenwashing,let's say for example when companies pretend, for pure marketing, to make eco-friendly products or bluff with the rhetoric of Corporate social responsibility, not supported by the related investmentsAnd in this rigor, the demand for sustainability is increasingly strong: 58 percent of Millennials (again, the source is PWC) believe, for example, that fashion companies have not yet achieved sufficient attention to an issue on which, beyond consumption, our future will depend.

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