We asked 18-34-year-old women what interests they’re most passionate about right now—and here are their top responses…
When we talked about ads hitting the mark with Millennial women last year, we highlighted those that showcased inclusivity and authenticity, celebrated individuality, and captured how young females are feeling today. The generation is embracing the idea that femininity can exist on a spectrum, and reflecting that back at them has been resonating. They’ve grown up with a more diverse idea of what women can look like and what they can be interested in—and that diversity of ideas extends to the diversity of their interests. In our recent Ypulse monthly survey, we looked into what young consumers are doing in their free time (and what they’re doing when they’re off their phones). In addition to learning about their hobbies and offline pursuits, we asked 18-34-year-old females, “What interest are you most passionate about right now?”*
The last time we asked this question, in 2015, we noted that Millennial females are without a doubt a powerful group of consumers, regardless of their life stage. Across age groups, they’re fueling social movements and trends, and knowing their passions is key to understanding them, and communicating authentically to them. Here are the 20 responses we saw the most when we asked them about their interests this time around, in a rank of their biggest passions right now:
*These were open-end response questions to allow us to capture the full range of interests that female 18-34-year-olds are most passionate about. As with any qualitative question, the responses include those that are top of mind and those that are most popular. The list is ordered according to number of responses received, and alphabetically when ties occurred.
What Are They Most Passionate About Right Now?
18-34-year-old females
- Fitness
- Food
- Music
- Fashion
- Health / Wellness
- Books / Reading
- Cooking / Baking
- Art / Photography
- Politics / Social Justice / Equality
- Travel
- Kids / Parenting / Family
- Crafts
- TV
- Beauty / Makeup
- Writing / Journaling
- School
- Career / Business
- Sports
- Home Decorating / Improvement
- Gaming / Video Games
The diversity of their interests in crystal clear in this list, with everything from fashion and beauty to politics to gaming and sports named as a passion by many Millennial females.
Fitness is the number one interest named, followed very closely by music and food. We noted the increasing overall interest in fitness back in our 2015 trend Fit Gone Glam, and fitness and health were also at the top of Millennial females’ 2017 resolutions. Young consumers’ health-consciousness has spun out into a new realm. Workout gear has infiltrated the fashion world where athleisure is on fire. Fitness queens have taken over Instagram, where hashtags like #fitspo and #belfie connect communities of young fitness enthusiasts. Exercise plans have become almost cult movements, and 92% of 13-33-year-old females say it’s cool to work out these days. For Millennial females, fitness isn’t just about working up a sweat, or even losing weight, anymore. It’s a culture, and become one of their biggest passions. The fact that health and wellness also made the top five passions speaks to just how much they are concerned about their wellbeing – both physical and mental. In fact, our trend In Their Heads found that eight in ten 13-34-year-old females have noticed that people are making mental health more of a priority lately.
We also see some slight differences between the top passions among females 18-24-years-old and 25-34-years-old:
While the top three passions for each are the same overall, music is the number one passion for 18-24-year-olds, while fitness reigns for 25-34-year-olds. Food also ranks higher for the older group (as they likely have more expendable income to indulge in food as a passion). In addition, younger females are more likely to name art or photography as a passion right now, while older females are more likely to say that health or wellness is a major interest. When targeting these specific groups, keeping these small differences in mind could result in more authentically resonating campaigns.
To download the PDF version of this insight article, click here.
