Speaking Their Language: Marketing to Early-Career Scientists

Early-career scientists are reshaping how lab products get discovered, evaluated, and shortlisted, but they rarely sign the final purchase order. Speaking Their Language: Marketing to Early-Career Scientists delivers the first dedicated look at this cohort’s perceptions of life science brands, channel preferences, and purchasing influence. Based on a global survey of n=150 Millennial, Younger Millennial, and Gen Z scientists, this report equips life science marketers the intelligence needed to reach, resonate with, and convert the next generation of buyers.

The report maps the full research-to-recommendation journey – from initial discovery through evaluation and recommendation – including:

• Preferences for self-directed digital and in-person channels and content
• Vendor awareness and interaction patterns
• Messaging that resonates and drives engagement
• Generational differences in digital tools adoption and trust in AI
• The role early-career scientists play in purchase evaluation and approval

Whether your team is building go-to-market strategy, refining messaging, or benchmarking brand perception among younger scientists, this report provides actionable data to move with confidence.

• Understand what early-career scientists value in life-science brands, such as trust, transparency, innovation, and career support
• Benchmark impressions of leading companies and gauge whether and how younger scientists actually engage with them
• Identify their preferred channels and the message themes that resonate
• Map their digital research-to-purchase journey and quantify their influence on PI-level and departmental buying decisions
• Assess their adoption of AI-enabled tools, digital labs, and community platforms
• Identify preferred content formats and the communication styles that capture attention across generational cohorts

The following lab product vendors are mentioned and/or evaluated in this report. Unaided awareness, aided awareness, current usage, and vendor preference are assessed across generational cohorts.

• Abcam
• Agilent Technologies
• Avantor
• BD Biosciences
• Beckman Coulter
• Bio-Rad Laboratories
• Corning Life Sciences
• Cytiva
• Eppendorf
• Illumina
• MilliporeSigma / Merck
• QIAGEN
• Sartorius
• Shimadzu
• Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Waters
• Additional vendors evaluated in the appendix