As you like it
Being young: an attitude to life
How does your life feel? Of course, we asked about it. But we also threw ourselves into the middle of it. To those ends, we asked a photographer in Munich to explore the everyday lives of young adults. The result is a series of pictures that provide insights into life in the middle of the Bavarian capital.
Values: opposites attract
Rationality and fun, family and individuality, goal orientation and social awareness – these are all values that are important. What seem to be opposites are not necessarily incompatible.
Just do it – but please don’t break anything
Catchword personal independence: “I admire people who just do what they feel like doing. Just go for it. Don’t worry about the consequences,” says Tim (26, Hamburg). At the same time, he deplores egoism and places great value on social behavior. With this opinion, he is not alone in his age group. “I want to be able to rely on people,” says Jakob (23, Mannheim). So reliability and commitment continue to play a role. Whether at the sports club, at university or with a small fashion label for regional designers – personal commitment is not a foreign concept for the youth of today. For Patrick (24, Munich), egoistical behavior is a “no go” – especially in the field of communication: “Conversation egomaniacs: people who only try to place their own position in a discussion. That really gets on my nerves.”
Collect moments, not things
A saying that often appears on Facebook profiles, postcards or WhatsApp. In a way, it’s a good reflection of young adults’ attitude to life. For example, Sebastian (25, Hamburg) answers the question about his plans for the next ten years: “I don’t like the question. I just don’t want to think about it. So much is happening – who knows who I might meet in that time and what I might experience. Sure, having a regular job is important. But I’m very open and don’t have any fixed expectations – that can only lead to disappointment.” Patrick shares this attitude: “I don’t want to make a ten-year plan. I prefer to drift. Thinks will work out.”
Whoever now thinks that the under-thirties are completely detached from conventional moral concepts is wrong. We also get to hear very traditional views: “It would be ideal to have found a job by then that I can do for the next 20 years and be able to bring up a family,” says Jakob about his life plan. “Finish my studies, have kids at some point,” says Teresa (26, Ingolstadt). But she also has her focus – like many others in her age group – especially on the present: “To be honest, I only have a two-year plan, so that I can live more consciously in the here and now she says.
Digression: What makes our youth tick?
A theoretical stocktaking
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Trend frame – The trend frame is an instrument that locates moral concepts and their changes in young people’s ways of life. It defines four different dimensions that influence attitudes and behavior: I AM THE SUN, NEW SUCCESS, THE REAL THING and ORIENTATION WANTED. In the interaction between the various trends, an attitude to life arises that describes the generation’s zeitgeist. The influence of the respective value orientation is to be seen not as static, but as a process: As time passes, awareness changes. Some values become dominant, others fade into the background. The general focus shifts – and with it, what is currently “in” among young people.
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Young people’s values “I AM THE SUN” – The main feature of I AM THE SUN is hedonism, the celebration of oneself. This ego is the center of everything that is happening, the midpoint and reference point of all thoughts. Material success and status are therefore important parameters. Protagonists of this group are often self-promotors who like to be at the center of attention and act extravagantly. They are extroverts, do as they please, and prioritize their personal needs above everyone else’s.
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Young people’s values “NEW SUCCESS” – It is one’s own abilities that define this set of values – and thus an ideally based variant of success and performance. The protagonists are fairly down to earth and methodical, interested in politics and the environment, and therefore also conscientious.
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Young people’s values “THE REAL THING” – With THE REAL THING, the focus is on being. It’s usually a case of “doing one’s own thing.” This way of life features values such as authenticity, honesty and genuine individualism; it is highly realistic. In recent years, THE REAL THING has gained importance in the universe of values. But caution: The term “authenticity” is meanwhile verbally and visually overused, and sometimes provokes a defensive attitude among young people – even though they like the idea behind it.
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Young people’s values “ORIENTATION WANTED” – In the trend frame, this set of values is not coincidentally positioned on the opposite side to the hedonistic I AM THE SUN: The ability to take a broader view replaces the focus on oneself. Rationality is the main driver. Clear values, for which one campaigns, lead to clear positioning. Fairness, stability and organization play a central role in this set of values. Adherents are serious, goal-oriented and thoughtful, and often have strong social, political or environmental interests.
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A new basic attitude – But which of these four completely different worlds says something about the youth of today? In fact, there is not just one right answer: Above all, two of the four dimensions influence young people’s attitude to life: ORIENTATION WANTED and NEW SUCCESS. That means it is mainly pragmatism and realism that affect ways of thinking and acting. The young generation is solution oriented and has a basic attitude that is largely free of ideology and unaffected by traditional dichotomies: Rationality and fun, family and individuality, performance orientation and social awareness, nature and technology, sustainability and luxury are not incompatible. The values of the hedonistic I AM THE SUN are increasingly being assessed negatively.
A special generation: They are on the move a lot, preferably without producing CO₂
Independence, sustainability, conscientiousness: These values influence the awareness of an entire generation. And that is reflected in their mobility behavior.
“I believe that the bicycle will become more and more popular: It’s not only good for the environment, it’s also very flexible. Besides, it doesn’t cost anything and I don’t have to look for a parking space,” says Sebastian. Lena transfers those thoughts into the future: “I would like more attention to be paid to nature and to have more transport by bicycle in the cities.”
In her everyday life, she does without a car a lot. Life in the city offers good alternatives. But that doesn’t mean that the car has lost its appeal: “When I have the money, I’ll buy myself a car. It’s simply a special luxury. I won’t want to share it then,” says Oskar (24, Cologne).
Wanted: a car for everyone who wants everything
On the question of future mobility, almost all of the young adults have a keen awareness of sustainability: For them, maximum protection of the environment and resources in the production and operation of a car is an essential goal. And they want to see that implemented in the near future. “The current status quo of our combustion engines […] could be developed much more towards sustainable and “aware” mobility with our technological expertise and progress,” says Jakob.
But for this age group, sustainability doesn’t only mean saving or doing without, but above all that manufacturers search for new technical solutions. “The main thing is that regenerative energy is applied and our resources are used carefully,” says Teresa. For the young adults, sustainability is not a question of doing without, but of the right technology. Creativity knows no limits: The young people want to have new materials that are lighter, close to nature, compostable and durable. In the discussion, ideas come up such as “solar-energy-absorbing outer skin,” the use of electromagnetic fields or of “ambient radiation” or of flow energy.
Increasing awareness of the environment and demands for its protection are less ideological than rational: The persons surveyed simply see it as sensible to protect resources. “Our generation was educated to be environmentally aware. The effects [of pollution] are already partially visible. For example, there’s no real winter any more, the River Alster no longer freezes over,” explains Tim, with regard to his personal interest in nature conservation.
That also applies to current concepts: Alternative drive systems are no excuse for boring cars, they say. The discussion about the electric car is uncompromising: They expect the same comfort and the same performance as with conventional cars. They see no contradiction between environmental awareness and driving pleasure or an attractive design. The latter is still a major expectation for a car. The time is ripe for cool electric cars – and not for more “eco vehicles.” The unwillingness to compromise applies to every aspect – also for generating the required electricity. Only when renewable energy sources are used can this be seen as a convincing solution.
Car sharing: getting there faster together
The fact is that young people want to be mobile around the clock – the main criterion is that it’s not too complicated. “Public transport is super: You don’t have to bother about anything. Just get on and get there. That’s less complicated than car sharing, when I have to search for a parking space,” says Tim. Whether parking is a problem or not, the young people surveyed see sharing options as a fixed element of their mobility portfolio. “Cars should be used more,” says Lena. And Teresa describes her own situation: “I arrive at a bus stop and have just missed the bus by a couple of minutes, and the next one is due in an hour. It would take an hour on foot, so I wait and watch cars passing every second, most of which have three or four empty seats and are driving in my direction. Then I think about how egotistically we actually use our mobility, instead of stopping and giving someone a lift.”
It doesn’t work: when suddenly nothing works
The young adults frequently discover gaps in the public infrastructure. “Especially at night, it’s often difficult to get home,” says Lena. “In the inner city, everything is OK, but the outer suburbs are the problem,” says Tim. Such mobility gaps provide potential for new services. They see piloted driving as a promising solution. But the concept is not yet quite tangible. Patrick is skeptical: “I don’t see piloted driving coming in the next ten years. But it would fit in with my idea of how to spend one’s time – we will have time for other things during a journey.” Oskar is more optimistic: “Autonomous driving will become normal – for cars as well as buses and trains.” Secretly, he is dreaming even further: “I hope that jetpacks take on. Flying would be really cool.”
About the study
For the Future Kids study, a detailed online-panel survey was carried out (with more than 100 participants) as well as telephone interviews (with more than 500 participants). There were also three workshops in Berlin with a total of 50 selected participants. The target group was young adults between 17 and 29 years of age.
Further information related to trend and market research at Audi: Audi Innovation Research
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