Barkley, in partnership with The Boston Consulting Group and Service Management Group, has recently conducted a large-scale study called American Millennials: Deciphering the Enigma Generation.

We’re still in the process of parsing the huge amounts of data from the survey, but we have already picked out some very interesting trends about how Millennials relate to brands.

Here are a few things we’ve already learned about Millennials compared to older generations in relation to various categories:

CPG

• Millennials prefer to shop for food at super centers.
• They consider availability of exotic foods as an important factor when selecting a store.
• They consume more fresh and organic foods, yet abandon their healthy eating habits on weekends.

Restaurant

• Millennials choose restaurants because they want a place to gather with friends or family, or socialize with co-workers or classmates.
• They say they eat at fast casual restaurants because they don’t have time to prepare meals at home.
• They demand variety – exotic, interesting and healthy food offerings served in a fun environment.

Retail

• Millennials love brand names and show it by shopping prominent higher-end brands.
• They consider the music a store plays to be the most important attribute during a retail experience.
• They are twice as likely to shop with friends or significant others.

Cause

• Millennials report a significantly greater awareness of cause-marketing programs in general than older generations.
• They prefer to participate and even lead events to raise money for causes, but are much less likely to directly contribute money to these causes.
• They are passionate about spreading the word about causes they believe in.

The study also asked Millennials about their digital, mobile and social media habits, their attitudes toward travel, and much more.

In conjunction with the study, Barkley is hosting the Share.Like.Buy. conference on September 22-23, 2011 in San Francisco. The conference is designed to teach brands how to market with Millennials, not to them. Confirmed conference participants and speakers include representatives from Facebook, MTV, Sony Music, Frito-Lay, Forbes Magazine, Forrester, Spiral 16 and many other thought leaders from the marketing industry.

Conference attendees will receive a copy of the research study results.

To learn more about the study and conference, visit sharelikebuy.com. To schedule a complimentary 30-minute call to discuss insights gleaned from this groundbreaking study, please contact Jeff Fromm at jfromm@barkleyus.com or (816) 682-5401.