Two Reasons Why Today's College Students Seek "Impulsive Actions"

As an industry-academia collaborative project, Dentsu Inc. worked with the Yuko Fujita Seminar at Meiji University's School of Business and Commerce for approximately one year, conducting diary surveys with 19 university students. Together with the seminar members, we investigated and researched young people's lives and their relationship with media. This final installment of the series, which has explored the "real lives of university students" based on this research, will see me, Mika Kibuse, delve into the behaviors of today's university students as a researcher.

When discussing today's youth, they are often described as "unadventurous" or "rational." Certainly, with smartphones ubiquitous and diverse information easily accessible anywhere, today's youth, who have grown up exposed to vast amounts of information daily, may indeed possess a high ability to prevent failure by thoroughly researching beforehand. However, they do not act rationally in every situation. Rather, we found that to enjoy their limited time as university students, they deliberately embrace "impulsive actions."

Case 1: "Whim-Driven" Trips with "Regular Buddies"

We arrived at Shinjuku Station at 10:00 and rented a car. In the car, we discussed what to do on this Izu trip. Sightseeing was an option, but given the group's personalities—not really the sightseeing type—and the fact we always go bowling together, we decided to bowl that day too. Even though we were on a trip, what we did was exactly the same as usual.

(Omitted)

We skipped lunch and kept bowling, so we were definitely hungry. We decided to look for dinner while in the car. We searched "ramen" on Instagram. Lots of ramen shops near Izu popped up, and we could see posts about them (get photos and opinions), which felt really convenient.

However, there weren't any places that looked as good as I'd hoped, so we reluctantly decided to have dinner at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant near our lodging.

Researcher's Notes

An Izu trip with the usual group of friends they hang out with regularly. However, aside from the lodging and rental car, nothing else was planned, and they started figuring out what to do only after setting off. Even though they could easily gather information using their smartphones and plan the trip thoroughly in advance, both their activities and meals ended up being "impulsive, go-with-the-flow actions." They deliberately enjoyed the "spontaneity of the moment" precisely because they hadn't decided anything. In fact, when interviewed, they said, "The trip itself was pretty disorganized, but traveling with the usual crew gave us 100% satisfaction."

Case 2: Rewarding "After-the-Fact" Successes

Originally, I was supposed to get off at Chuo-Rinkan on the Odakyu Line, but I overslept and ended up at the terminal station, Katase-Enoshima. I considered just turning back, but since I hadn't been to Enoshima in a long time, I felt nostalgic. Plus, my fourth and fifth periods were canceled, so I still had plenty of time. I decided to explore Enoshima and got off the train.

At Enoshima, I didn't buy anything in particular or head to any specific spot. I just gazed at the scenery I'd played in since elementary school and felt a bit sentimental. While crossing the bridge to Enoshima, I saw Chinese tourists using DSLR cameras to photograph the sunset visible from Enoshima. I saw the sunset too, and it was so incredibly beautiful that I took a photo with my smartphone and posted it on Instagram.

Researcher's Commentary

Despite committing a "mistake" of sorts—oversleeping on the train and ending up quite far away—the subsequent "spontaneous actions" yielded the "reward" of content to post on social media.

While this note might initially sound like a failure story, subsequent interviews revealed the researcher felt a sense of fulfillment from stopping at Enoshima. It seems they even enjoyed the mishap itself.

By photographing the unexpected sunset at Enoshima, they found content to post on Instagram, which then sparked communication with friends. Furthermore, receiving reactions like "likes" and comments becomes a significant "reward" for today's college students.

Looking at posts on SNS, you see many people turning all kinds of failures into content. These are also examples of how even a negative situation like "failure" can become a "reward" if you can use it as material to connect with others.

Two Reasons Why Today's College Students Seek "Impulsive Actions"

Why do today's college students seek "impulsive actions"? As mentioned at the beginning, they've grown up in a vastly changed information environment where easily searching for any information is the norm. In fact, I believe they efficiently gather information without waste by skillfully utilizing "SNS searches," as introduced in Part 2. Thorough information gathering enables them to take actions with a high degree of certainty. For example, when choosing a restaurant, they can check customer ratings on sites like Tabelog and verify real comments and the restaurant's atmosphere via SNS before deciding. This significantly reduces the chance of arriving at a place that doesn't match their expectations.

This tendency to gather information through every available means beforehand to ensure accurate actions is likely why today's youth are often called "rational." However, looking at the two notes introduced this time, it feels like today's college students actually enjoy engaging in irrational behavior. Why do today's college students seek out such "impulsive actions"? The study yielded two major insights:

① An Information Environment Enabling Impulsive Decisions

I believe the ability to search anytime, anywhere via smartphones has made "impulsive actions" easier to take. Travel, which used to require advance planning, now allows for endless information gathering on the spot, reducing the necessity for prior planning.

In fact, one could argue that this allows them to act in line with the "spontaneous vibe" modern college students value, making travel more enjoyable (if actions change based on the "spontaneous vibe," then planning ahead might actually be inefficient).

By acting on impulse, they're maximizing their enjoyment of each moment, aren't they?

② Seeking "chance encounters" precisely because everything is already known

Today's college students, precisely because of their high search skills, live in an environment where they can know everything without experiencing it firsthand. For example, even overseas tourist spots or remote locations can be understood through photos and posts on social media – what the place is like, what you can do there. That's precisely why they seek "encounters with the unknown," isn't it? While "encountering the unknown" might sound dramatic, the popularity of music festivals and experiential art events suggests a demand for real-life experiences unique to that specific place and time – experiences that can't be fully conveyed through social media or websites.

This time, we examined the "impulsive behavior" seen among today's college students. Often labeled as "rational" or "averse to waste," this generation of young people actually balances a rational side with a playful side, leading fulfilling daily lives. Perhaps the "laid-back approach" they demonstrate is something even busy adults could benefit from.

Over three installments, we've shared the "real-life habits of college students" revealed through diary surveys conducted jointly with current students. As our research progressed, we began to see that their way of life—shaped by growing up in an era of rapidly changing information environments—might hold clues for comfortably navigating modern society, which is saturated with vast amounts of information.