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AGE SUBCULTURES
Age and Consumer Identity
General marketing strategies are often modified to
fit specific age groups. Why?
Age exerts a significant influence on identity
Consumers undergo predictable changes in their values,
lifestyles, and consumption patterns as they move through
their life cycle
Marketers need to know how to communicate with
members of an age group in their own language.
Age Subcultures
What is an Age Cohort?
people of similar ages who have undergone similar
experiences.
How would you segment the Canadian market by age?
 Children
 Preteens
 Teens
 Generation Xers
 Baby Boomers
 The Elderly
Age Structure of the Canadian
Population
 In 1996 34% of the population or 9,748,210
people were under the age of 25,
54% or 15,550,160 people were aged between 25
and 64 years old and
11% or 3,27,970 were aged 65 years or older.
50% of youth under the age of 25 or 4,831,650
people reported an origin other than British,
French or Canadian.
CHILDREN AS
CONSUMERS
Children in the Marketplace
How do Children impact the Marketplace?
Directly influence the spending of their
parents.
Indirectly influence the spending of their
parents –necessities
 also have substantial spending power and
purchase several products
Parental Yielding
In 1997 US Children ages 4 to 12: spent or
influenced the spending of over $500 billion (
includes necessities such as food, clothing and
housing)
spent almost $25 billion of their own money.
Directly influenced $188 billion of their
parents' spending
indirectly influenced another $300 billion.
average of $12,500 for each of USA’s 40
million kids
Children as Consumers in Training
Consumer socialization: process by which people
children acquire skills, knowledge, attitudes relevant to
their functioning as consumers in the marketplace.
How does it Occur?
 observation,
 shared shopping experiences,
 direct experience
 Parental influence
television
Consumer Socialization
Influence of Parents:
– Authoritarian parents - restrictive with a
negative view about advertising.
– Neglecting parents - detached from kids and
exercise little control over what their children
do.
– Indulgent parents - less restrictive and want
children to learn about buying.
How does Television Influence Children to be
consumers?
Teaches children about a culture’s values, myths, and
idealized images.
Cognitive Development
 Children differ from adults, and can be segmented on such
psychological factors as cognitive development or ability to
comprehend concepts of increasing complexity, knowledge, and
experience
three broad stages of development
ages 3 to 7 (perceptual stage),
ages 7 to 11 (analytical stage),
ages 11 to 16 (reflective stage).
Each stage captures shifts in youths’ knowledge, development,
decision-making skills, and purchase influence strategies.
 Kids’ cognitive defenses are not yet developed enough to filter out
commercial appeals.
ZapMe! Corp. recently provided approximately 230 schools
in the USA with free computer labs with free Internet access,
computers, tech support, and maintenance. In exchange, the
schools must promise that a student will use each computer for at
least 4 hours daily while a banner ad appears constantly on the
screen. The computers that can monitor students' Internet
browsing habits and break down the data by gender, grade
level, and zip code. Another 6,000 schools have applied to
the program.
With a large captive audience schools offer an efficient,
inexpensive locale for polling large numbers of children.
Opening schools to marketers is also an attractive way for
schools to raise funds.
What do you think about Market research companies doing
research in schools?
Because children differ from adults in cognitive
development, knowledge, experience, and
ability to comprehend concepts of increasing
complexity, they do not react the same as adults
to the efforts of marketers. Consequently,
serious ethical issues surround marketing to
children. If you were a government official
responsible for protecting children from
unscrupulous marketers, what advertising
guidelines would you set?
Advertising Guidelines
 NO subliminal messages, i.e. messages below the threshold of
normal awareness
NO exaggeration of product characteristics such as performance,
speed, size, etc. Results from a drawing, construction, craft or
modeling toy or kit should be attainable by an average child
NO advertising or child-oriented promotion of products not
intended for use by children, e.g. drugs, medicines in
pharmaceuticals, etc.
NO advertising which directly urges children to buy, or ask their
parents to buy, a product or service.
A ban on the use of puppets, persons and characters (including
cartoon characters) well known to children, to endorse or promote
products, premiums or services
If accessories seeming to be part of the purchase are available only
at extra cost, this must be clearly said and shown. If toys shown
together are sold separately, this must be made clear.
NO advertising, except specific safety messages, can portray adults
or children in clearly unsafe acts or situations (e.g. using flames or
fire, or tossing food into the air and attempting to catch it in the
mouth).
Advertising cannot imply that owning or using a product makes
the owner superior, or that without it a child will be open to ridicule
or contempt, except in references to educational or health benefits.
 Prices must be clear and complete.
Assume your company manufactures and sells
bicycles targeted to the 10-12 age group. How
would you reach your target audience?
Marketing to Kids
 ratings for traditional Saturday morning television programming
fell 50 percent from 1994 to 1998.
 At the same time, radio became more popular
Kids who say they “like listening to radio a lot”
Age 6-8 45%
Age 9-11 70%
Age 12-14 80%
 In many families, it is the school aged children who are the
computer experts, rather than the adults.
 Web sites with special “kid-friendly” graphics may attract
their attention to your company
Teenagers in the Marketplace
Teen Facts
 Teenage Marketing and Lifestyle Survey that children ages 12 to 19
spent more than $153 billion in 1999, up from $140 billion in 1998
 Teens also spend $56 of his or her own money and $28 of his or
her parents’ money per week. Most of the money they spend is
discretionary.
 Teens also influence substantial additional family spending by
expressing their preferences for certain products or brands that
their parents then purchase
 Teens are trendsetters both for their peers and for younger
children who emulate them
 Teens are future consumers by winning the business of a teen, a
company may be able to create a lifelong loyal customer.
 Teens are a growing market; last estimate 29 million; expected to
be 35 million by 2010
 Teens, in contrast to adults, are able to spend much of their
money on discretionary purchases like movies, CDs, and
How would you characterize teenagers in terms of their:
Needs
Values
Lifestyles
Attitudes
Interests
What are the implications of these things for the marketing mix?
Marketing to Teens
 Marketers view teens as savvy about marketing and likely to
reject messages perceived as patronizing or trying too hard to be
“cool,” so that marketing to teens calls for more subtle methods.
 Advertisers have found that teens have little patience for hype or
pretentious ads and prefer ads that talk to them in realistic ways and
focus on their actual lifestyles.
age aspiration”
 Children watch their older siblings, those ahead of them
in school, older children in the neighborhood etc. Generally,
youth “aspire up” in their consumer behaviour, trying to
“live a step or two ahead of where they really are.”
 Marketers take advantage of children’s behaviour to link
their strategies for marketing to the teen and tween cohorts
by presenting older teens in the media, and desire aspects of
their lifestyles and behaviours.
 For example, to reach 12- to 15-year-olds, advertisers
might use 17-year-old actors, who will appeal to children
their own age as well as to younger children,
Direct Mail
Because teens do not receive the volume of mail that adults do,
they may be more attentive to direct marketing offers
“go where they are.”
 There are a multitude of media and vehicles targeted at youth,
such as cable music networks, teen-oriented magazines, teenoriented Web sites, and lifestyle special events
 substantial numbers of youth also comprise the audience of media
intended for a general audience, such as general circulation
magazines or television shows that are popular with both adults and
children.
The Internet
offering free samples T-shirts, CDs etc. teens who spread the word
Teen sites or through email
obtain consumer feedback while promoting products.
 One recent survey indicates that 2/3 of teenagers have either
researched products or purchased products online.
street or lifestyle marketing.
involves making a product a “natural” part of teens’ lifestyles
The goal is to reach teens where they “hang out” – at concerts,
coffee shops, arcades, and other gathering spots.
Specific tactics include hanging posters, giving away CDs or Tshirts, distributing flyers or postcards with the marketing message,
generating word of mouth.
College Students
College-age Children
 About 15 million in USA,
 Market estimated between $35-60 billion and $200
billion
 Advertisers Spend $100 Million a Year to
Influence Them
 Usually in process of forming brand preferences and
shopping habits
 Current and future prospects as consumers. If your
brand targets educated (and thus wealthier)
adults, you should begin building a relationship
with this segment now.
 The college student market is one of the most
important segments most brands could capture,
but also one of the most difficult to reach.
How would you characterize College students in terms of
their:
Needs
Values
Lifestyles
Attitudes
Interests
What are the implications of these things for the
marketing mix?
Products
Apparel items, particularly hooded sweatshirts, and brightly
colored student supplies are the leading product categories at
campus stores
"comfort items" such as stuffed animals, candles/incense, music,
gifts, snacks/beverages and health and beauty products are also
importat products
In a recent survey most are considering purchasing computer
hardware and software, home electronics, jewelry, clothing and
concert, theater or event tickets.
Travel
Advertising to this age group has typically been very frivolous,
emphasizing things like personal freedom and expression.
Promotion
Direct mail won't work. College students usually don't stay in any
one place for more than a year.
College students listen to the radio and watch TV less than any
other segment of the population
ads in the college magazines or newspapers on the bulletin boards
around campus will work better.
Best bet will be the Internet and on-line services. 35% of college
students own a computer and even more than that have access to
one. Find out where they are hanging out and post your ads there.
Eight top college student sites: Spring-Break-Party.Com,
CollegeFreshmen.Net, CollegeSeniors.Net, Keg-Party.Net,
Magorder.Com, Greekspot.Com, TheSemester.Com, and ForeignStudent-Union.Com
Baby Boomers
1960
1990
2020
Baby boomers, I.e. those in their mid 30s to mid 50s have
had an important impact on consumer culture? Why?
 Power in Numbers.
 They created a revolution in style, politics, and
consumer attitudes.
 Consumers aged 35 to 44 spend the most on
housing, cars, and entertainment.
 Consumers aged 45 to 54 spend the most of any
age on food, apparel, and retirement programs
 one of the most affluent sections of the population,
controlling over $7 trillion in wealth
 While their parents often took and held jobs for life, baby
boomers are less inclined to do so.
Baby boomers are both widely known and regarded as the Me
Generation.
Many baby boomers grew up with television as a constant
companion, teacher, baby-sitter, and friend.
Many baby boomers are idealists who see their mission as
"changing the world." They are highly concerned with social issues
and causes.
Baby boomers married later, divorced more often, had children
later, and often have families that live together only part of the time.
A marketer targeting a message to the baby boomer segment
should bridge images of a rich past, positive images of today, and
visions of what can be.
In the near future, many members of the Baby-Boomer
cohort will be passing from the stage in their life-cycle
where the have dependent children to where all their
children have left home to start households of their own.
What impact will this have on Baby Boomers lifestyles?
How will this large group of consumers fill the void of
“empty nesters”
Looking ahead as a market planner, choose an activity,
product or service, whose market demand you think
would be affected (positively or negatively) by this lifecycle change, and explain why this would happen.
The Grey Market
The Gray Market
 The Gray Market includes people over age 65
 It is the second fastest growing segment, only behind the
Baby Boomers.
 By 2010, one in every seven Canadians will be over 65.
 Today there are more than 70 million Americans over
the age of 50. By 2015 that number will grow to 108
million
 This group is more diverse than any other market
segment, spanning those at the peak of their careers, to
active, independent seniors, to the elderly in need of
care.
 They control over 50% of all discretionary income and
in USA spend $60 billion annually.
 Most older people lead more active,
multidimensional lives than we assume.
 Their economic health is good and getting better.
 80% own their own home.
 15% are now on-line and when they do go on
line spend more time than kids
 Their three favorite things to do online – in
order are:
1. Chat with friends
2. Get information –especially news and weather
3. Buy products
What values motivate the Gray market?
Altruism
Autonomy
Key
Values
That Motivate
Older
Consumers
Connectedness
Personal
Growth
What are some of the things to
keep in mind when tailoring
marketing strategies to older
adults?
Guidelines for Effective
Advertising to the Elderly
Keep Language Simple
Use Clear, Bright Pictures
Use Action to Attract Attention
Speak Clearly, and Keep Word Count Low
Use Single Sales Message
Avoid Extraneous Stimuli