• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, October 13, 2014

The millennial generation remains a diverse group of consumers with a broad range of interests. One thing is certain -- the family dynamics continue to change. Parenthood changes them. Overall, millennial adults entering motherhood become more conservative, yet remain fun-loving. A recent study suggests they still like to search and research the best deals before sharing information on social networks. Not all agree with these findings.

For many marketers, millennial consumers now take their place as the target demographic audience, as an increasing number of baby boomers retire. This group's purchase power continues to grow. The amount depends on who you ask, but Exponential estimates $170 billion annually. Millennial moms represent 46% of the total number of women in their age group.

Exponential released findings from a white paper analyzing user behavior of 4,000,000 millennial consumers, focusing on moms and using its advertising intelligence platform that collates, aggregates, and organizes more than two billion daily user events across its network.

A variety of economic, cultural and social shifts continue to change family dynamics. There are several major trends impacting how marketers effectively speak to the millennial mothers. The Exponential study points to a need for them to keep up with the neighbors, especially since social media amplifies the degree in which they showcase their home lives. A Forbes study suggests Millennial moms drop seeking advice or giving advice to friends on purchases.

Millennial moms, per the Exponential white paper, tend to spend more time online on desktop and smartphones searching and researching the best deals and well-liked products. The study found that corporate working mothers are much more concerned with researching cosmetics. In fact, they are 9.1 times and 9.0 times more likely to research eye makeup and lipstick, respectively.

The Exponential study also found Hispanic millennial moms are a key target in beauty and fitness. They are more likely to research beauty products and diets, per Exponential. The report suggests they are 8.6 times more likely to search for information on women's clothes, 7.7 times more likely to search for information on diets, and 6.5 times more likely to search for information on plastic surgery.

Millennial moms are also most likely to share information about brands they like. They are known to use 3.4 social networks on average and spend 17.4 hours on social sites. The more time on social sites, the more retail purchases become heavily influenced by social media channels and the pressure to have and show it off influences becomes stronger.

Once millennials reach motherhood, the study shows they become more interested in crafts. In fact, they are 11% more interested in do it yourself (DIY) projects. Social media channels enable moms to curate, share and show off their projects. Some 38% of Millennial mothers use Pinterest and 33% use Instagram.

Interestingly, Forbes offers a very different view.

"Mother and Child" photo from Shutterstock.