Chapter 14Age Subcultures.ppt

* The baby boomer cohort consists of people whose parents established families following the end of World War II and during the 1950s when the peacetime economy was strong and stable. In addition to the direct demand for products and services this group creates, these consumers have also fostered a new baby boom of their own to keep marketers busy in the future. Because it wasn’t as big as the first, we call it a baby boomlet. * Older adults control more than 50% of discretionary income so it’s not surprising that marketers are recognizing their value as a target market. * Perceived age is how old a person feels and is a better yardstick of age than how old a person is biologically. Researchers measure age by feel-age (how old one feels) and look-age (how old a person looks). Marketers may need to emphasize product benefits rather than age-appropriateness in marketing campaigns for older adults because the older we get, the younger we feel relative to our actual age. * It is important for marketers to understand the psyche of older people. Researchers point to a set of key values relevant to mature consumers. These include autonomy, connectedness, and altruism. * The senior subculture is extremely large. However, these consumers are well suited for segmentation because they are easy to identify by age and stage in the family life cycle. Most also receive Social Security benefits. In addition to age, they can be segmented in terms of age cohort, marital status, and health and outlook on life. Social aging theories try to help us understand how people are assigned to different roles across their life span. We’ve reviewed many concepts in this chapter. The key points are noted on the slide. * Teen Values, Conflicts, and Desires Four basic conflicts common among all teens: Autonomy versus belonging Rebellion versus conformity Idealism versus pragmatism Narcissism versus intimacy Getting to Know Gen Y “Echo Boomers” = “millennials” = Gen Yers Make up one-third of U