Question

Compare Baby Boomers and Generation Xers in terms of attitudes toward purchasing, products, brands, advertising and price-quality attitudes.

10 marks on consumer behaviour

Answer 1

Meaning:-  

Baby Boomers: Baby boomers were born between 1944 and 1964. They're current between 56-76 years old (76 million in U.S.)

Generation X: Gen X was born between 1965 - 1980 and are currently between 41-55 years old .

Main attributes used in the study are labeled as Price(fairness of payment), Trend (popular or identified as“cool” by social media), Loyalty (psychological or mental attachment to a brand), Prestige (respect and reputation),Brand (well-known or recognized name), Fit (suitabilityof the product), Quality (excellence of standard,fulfillment of expectations), Advertisement (news and commercials of the brand).

In detail

1)Attitude related to product:- Baby boomers are the biggest consumers of traditional media like television, radio, magazines, and newspaper. Despite being so traditional 90% of baby boomers have a Facebook account. This generation has begun to adopt more technology in order to stay in touch with family members and reconnect with old friends. Boomers prefer to go into a branch to perform transactions. This generational cohort still prefers to use cash, especially for purchases under $5.

Preferably brand:-

Ne’er the two shall meet” Keep them separate
At this point in their lives they are interested in flexible hrs and are looking to create balance in their lives after working most of it.

This generation is experiencing the highest growth in student loan debt. While this might seem counterintuitive, it can be explained by the fact that this generation has the most wealth and is looking to help their children with their student debt. They have a belief that you should take care of your children enough to set them on the right course and don't plan on leaving any inheritance. With more Americans outliving their retirement fund, declining pensions, and social security in jeopardy, ensuring you can successfully fund retirement is a major concern for Boomers.

Generation X

Attitude related to product referred by generation X till reads newspapers, magazines, listens to the radio, and watches TV (about 165 hours worth of TV a month). Since they are digitally savvy, Gen X will do some research and financial management online, but still prefer to do transactions in person. They believe banking is a person-to-person business and demonstrate brand loyalty

Age and stage of life cycle may play important roles in this generation’s cynicism as it pertains to marketing. Baby Boomers, more so than Baby Busters( Gen X), felt that marketing could be offensive, useless, offer little benefit to society, and lead to higher prices,and that marketing practitioners were not socially responsible. This generation’s focus on money and careers in the 1980’s has given way to a more balanced approach to life today. An important quality of life issue includes balancing financial concerns with other quality of life issues.

Preferably brand :

Gen Y consumers are more aware of their purchasingpower and are likely to spend their cash as quickly as they acquire it, usually on consumer goods and personal service services. Today’s consumers won’t be “sold”; they want to be seen, known, and respected – and only those marketers and retailers that invest in relationships through empathy, deep understand and insight will prevail. Millennails seem to have a different decisions pattern (psychological – mental state) towardsb loyalty when compared with Baby Boomers.

At this point in their lives they are interested in flexible hrs and are looking to create balance in their lives. They have pushed hard,all work and no play and they are beginning to wonder if it was worth it.

GenX is trying to raise a family, pay off student debt, and take care of aging parents. These demands put a high strain on their resources. The average Gen Xer carries $142,000 in debt, though most of this is in their mortgage. They are looking to reduce their debt while building a stable saving plan for the future.

Generation Xers were less likely than Baby Boomers to feel that the following activities listed below were marketing:

1. Receiving a free sample of laundry detergent at the Laundromat.

2. Making friends with members of a business seminar as a new insurance salesman.

3. Church members being asked to maintain the church’s day care center.

Their buying decisions are more affected by social media other generations.