BABY BOOMERS—that generation of people born between 1946 to 1964—quickly switch from the automated voice guide in a call to talking to huma ns, according to a study the customer experience service provided Infobip called “Generational Messaging Playbook.”
“Press one to speak to a human,” is the usual next step done by Baby Boomers after listening to the welcome message or instruction spiel of from a customer call explains Marvin Ian Portillo, Solutions Engineering chapter lead. He highlighted that though boomers seem to want to ‘un-automate,’ meaning want to quickly transition to talk to another human being, they quietly appreciate the power artificial intelligence (AI). He said this at a small group media interview yesterday afternoon.
The study said that in the Baby Boomer set, many are less accepting of repetitive content, with 40 percent expressing a desire for more varied communications, compared to only 8 percent of Generation Z. Interestingly, Baby Boomers show a higher preference for chat apps than Generation X (born 1965-1980), has a 68 percent favoring this medium compared to 57 percent. The same demographic shows a strong preference for product and service updates, with 73 percent favoring this type of communication.
Infobip’s research indicates that while younger generations may be more adept at ignoring repetitive content due to their exposure to diverse media channels, older consumers are likely to feel irritated by such messaging.
For her part Cecile Perez Tizon, sales director, Infobip says that attitudes, apart from being generational are also related to how a company approaches customers. Eighty-six (86) percent of consumers across all generations expect targeted and relevant communications from brands. This statistic underscores the necessity for businesses to adopt a personalized approach tailored to each demographic.
Generation X Millennials (born 1981-1996) are more open to new communication channels, with 60 percent willing and have been able to make purchases through chatbots.
The youngest of the demographic, Generation Z (born 1997-2012) expects brands to understand them as individuals; 83 percent desire personalized interactions, while 65 percent want a two-way dialogue with brands. Interestingly, though not similar in market proportion, both the Z and the Boomers want to have meaningful conversations with voice. But for Gen Z’ers this conversation maybe not necessarily with a human.
During the question and answer session, Portillo highlighted the emergence of generative AI (GenAI) which helps power part of Infobip’s award-winning customer handling platform. To effectively engage customers across generations, brands need to focus on individual preferences—rather than just pushing offers via notifications or handling customer inquiries via scripts when interactions may be more effective.