As we noted back in May with this post, Gen Y has taken over the mantle of the largest generation.  That does not mean they have surpassed the buying power of their parents, the Boomers, but any company that wants to grow needs to connect with Gen Y consumers as they move through college and beyond.  Kit Yarrow--Professor of Psychology and Business at Golden Gate University, and co-author of Gen BuY: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings Are Revolutionizing Retail--spent a year doing focus groups, surveys, and interviews with members of Gen Y, and she gained some important insight into their unique motivations and interests.  Marketing Sherpa's Adam Sutton shares some of the top-line findings from the research.  Here are the top five insights of the research:

Insight #1. Visuals and symbolism resonate

Insight #2. Gen Ys want to be appreciated and understood

Insight #3. Innovation attracts attention

Insight #4. Gen Y wants faster processes

Insight #5. Gen Y craves drama and emotional connections

We think the fifth insight might be particularly instructive to marketers.  Here is how Sutton elaborates on the insight:

Gen Ys respond better to messages and content that is emotionally intense. Yarrow points to widely popular reality television shows and the Twilight book series as examples.

Marketers should add more drama to their campaigns when targeting Gen Y. Products should be featured in the context of a story, and that story should include emotional connections that Gen Ys can relate to.

Marketing campaigns do not always have to dwell on the benefits of their products. Yarrow points to a recent series of successful commercials for men's bodywash.

"The product was the subplot," Yarrow says. "The real plot was the connection people have with the spokesperson and his quirky way of doing things. There isn't that much talk about the product itself."

Read more at Marketing Sherpa, here.