As it turns out, 45 percent of millennials don’t see anything wrong with flaking – which explains why they do it so often, according to new research.
A new survey of 2,000 Americans examined just how often people flake out of events or hangouts they promised to attend.
Results showed that the average person is a no-show to almost HALF of the events they are invited to – with 46% the average attendance score for those polled.
The survey conducted by market researchers OnePoll and commissioned by Evite revealed about three in ten (29 percent) of young Americans have even gained the notorious reputation of being a ‘flake’.
Luckily, the data confirmed that flakiness does decrease with age, which might be why seven in ten millennials have missed an event after giving their word that they would attend – more than any other generation.
While millennials are invited to more social events during a typical month, more than half (51 percent) have accepted an invitation with little to no intention of attending.
Forty-four percent of young Americans don’t see flaking as a lack of manners, and another 39 percent don’t think flaking is any inconvenience to the host of the event.
One similarity across all generations is that calling to apologize is the preferred method of getting out of an event – 49 percent of Americans of all ages say this is the best way to turn down an event.
The most common reason millennials flake is because they’re tired, followed by not feeling well enough to attend the event.
Half of Americans flake because they forget about the event even after promising to be there – that number climbs up to 58 percent if you’re a millennial.
Another 11 percent have overbooked their night with various social gatherings and are forced to flake out of one event.
But there’s not always a reasonable excuse for flaking. In fact, one in seven has flaked because they would rather just stay at home and watch TV.
One in five simply did not want to be around people and 15 percent did not bother attending because they thought it would be boring.
Three in ten have missed an invitation to an event because they don’t check their email as often to be reminded of upcoming events – half find it difficult to keep up with emails about a specific event they were invited to attend.
A spokesperson for Evite said: “No matter what type of event you’re having, people are going to flake.”
“But while there might be a few people who flake because of the event itself, the results of the survey also show that half of the respondents have missed a social event simply because they forgot all about it.”
While Evite can't prevent all flaking, our newest features such as text invitations are another way to help hosts get more people to come to their parties.”
“Evite offers a variety of features to help party hosts cope with the issue of flaky guests.”
“Providing an accurate and updated guest count in real time helps to alleviate the anxiety party hosts feel around who is actually going to attend their event."
Another one in six avoids committing to anything, even waiting until the last minute to rsvp in case they change their minds about attending.
Six in ten admit they can be a bit indecisive when it comes to attending a social event –
with the average person spending three hours mulling over a decision to attend a social gathering.
In fact, 18 percent of millennials view voluntarily missing an event as a sign of important social status.
But missing events comes with a price, as over two-thirds (67 percent) of survey respondents said they would stop inviting a person if they missed about four of their planned events.
Flaking has also put a damper on some friendships – 35 percent say their flaking habit has caused issues with a friend. Seven percent have even completely lost a friend.
TOP TEN REASONS PEOPLE FLAKE:
I didn’t feel too well
I was too tired
I forgot about it
I had a family emergency
I didn’t want to be around people
I had something better to do
I didn’t want to spend money
I thought it would be boring
I would rather just watch TV at home
I had a headache
TOP TEN EVENTS AMERICANS FLAKE OUT OF:
Birthday parties
Family gatherings
Weddings
Happy hour with coworkers
Reunions
Baby showers
BBQ’s
Girl’s night out
Halloween party
Sporting events
***This random double-opt-in survey was conducted by OnePoll, a market research company and corporate member of ESOMAR and adheres to the MRS code of conduct. For more information about One Poll’s research in the media, navigate to their portfolio here: http://www.onepoll.com/in-the-media/. This survey of 2000 US adults over the age of 21 was conducted between September 26, 2017, and October 03, 2017, by Market Researchers OnePoll and commissioned by Evite.
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