In order to sell a product or service, the organisation must firstly know exactly who it is that they are trying to sell to, one way in which marketers can do this is through age segmentation. This enables them to provide products and services that have a distinct appeal to their target audiences.
Consumer spending habits are determined by numerous different variables such as income, gender and culture, however this slightly differs within generational marketing as the aim is to appeal to the age groups by the experiences they have had, their values and lifestyle as this is going to change as the generations grow older. Marketers need to determine what each of these groups value, need and want in order to appeal to them. This can relate back to groups in that if everyone in that age group is buying into the same product then people are going to feel the need to confirm as they wouldn't want to be buying into things that are older or younger than their generation.
To succeed in targeting a specific generation you need to understand what motivates them to make purchases, which interlinks with the underlying values or their generation. After this is achieved you are then able to produce an exclusive message especially aimed at that generation, this enables marketers to show this message with their products and services to respond to their needs and wants. Below I have found an advert which I don't think has used generational marketing very successfully as the product that they are advertising, I don't think meets the market that buys into it.
The life cycle can be used as a tool by marketers to determine exactly who it is that they are targeting, as this shows each stage that an individual goes through, helping them establish the ages during the different stages in their lives. Enabling marketers to find the most efficient means in reaching their audiences.
It is important that you split your market into groups, as a person's age can have an impact on his or her identity and often spending patterns. In society there are age sub-cultures which include age cohorts which are people of a similar age who share similar experiences. These are listed below;
Age Sub-cultures
- Millenials or Generation 2001ers, born after 1980 (also known as Generation Y)
- Baby Busters or Generation Xers born between 1965 and 1980
- Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964
- Mature Citizens born between 1909 and 1945
'Tweens' are more likely to be spending a lot more money compared to 'Generation X', this is due to various values that these two groups hold, as tweens being aged between 8-14 are starting to build on their social statuses in schools and with friends etc therefore are more affected by promotions and brands as they are wanting to fit in. Unlike those of generation X have changed in their priories and values and don't necessarily see new products and brands as being as important.
This goes back to the various life cycle stages and the experiences that the groups have had, as one group is more likely to have gone through more experiences, this has a significant impact on what they see as being important which in turn affects their spending patterns compared to someone who has had very little life experiences and doesn't hold the same values.
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