2015•The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Consumption and Consumer StudiesRequires access
Generation Y
Joeri van den Bergh
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Abstract
Abstract Generation Y is also known as “the Millennials.” Generational labels are often the result of popular culture. Some are linked to a historic event, others derived from drastic social or demographic changes or from a big turn in the calendar. Millennials belong to the third category. The terms “Gen Y” and “Millennials” refer to those born between 1980 and 1996, although different authors use different data. It is the first generation to come of age in the new millennium. “Y” was chosen as a popular label as this generation is the successor of Generation X, but there are many synonyms, such as Generation Why, Generation Search, Generation Next, the Net generation, the digital natives, the dot‐com generation, Echo Boomers, etc. They are the children of Baby Boomer parents, which explains why there are so many in spite of the declining fertility rates.