Market segmentation 251
these are the ‘baby boomers’, those born in the
years following the Second World War – who
have become a very important target for mar-
keters. They were involved in a massive social
revolution which changed music, fashions,
political thought and social attitudes forever.
They were the generation to grow up in the
1960s, when the term ‘teenager’ hadn’t been
used previously. They were not ‘small adults’
who, in previous generations, had worn similar
clothes to their parents. The new generation,
however, wanted their own culture, their own
fashions, music and their own social attitudes
which rejected the values of their parents.
Coupled with this desire for ownership of their
thoughts and lives, the baby boomer generation
was the most affluent (generally) of any ‘youth
market’ until their era, so they were able to
engage in the consumer market, and marketers
responded with a fashion and music explosion
of which we had previously never seen the
like.
Such a consumerism-literate market
should be extremely attractive. Indeed, in the
USA, a baby boomer turned 50 every 6.8
seconds in 2001! Not all the over-50s are baby
boomers, of course, those in their 60s and 70s,
and indeed the over-70s are from other genera-
tions with lifestyles and attitudes of their own.
Overall, the over-50s have been termed the
‘third age’. They represent about a third of the
population (in the late 1990s) and are some 18
million strong in the UK. By 2020, they will
represent about half of the UK population. In
general terms, the ageing baby boomer genera-
tion is the most wealthy, in terms of inheritance
from their parents. That previous generation
was ‘blessed’ with low house prices when they
bought and a lifestyle which was much less
materialistic. As a result, their estates have
often (but clearly not always) been cascading
down to the new over-50 market.
Research amongst the over-50s has
revealed several characteristics. They don’t like
to be portrayed as ‘old’ but at the same time
would see through attempts to portray them as
‘young’, so caution is needed.
There are differences between those in
their 50s, 60s and above. Those in their 60s
generally prefer to use cash and are rather
cautious consumers. Those over 70 are perhaps
even further along this continuum. There has
certainly been an explosion of magazine titles
aimed at various over-50 groups, demonstrat-
ing that the market is not homogeneous and
that the various groups can be reached. The
profiling in this sector is not merely on the basis
of age, however; social grade and geodemo-
graphics are also being used, and there is a
trend toward overlaying this with attitudinal
research. An example of this comes from the
analysis of the TGI in 1993 (Cummins, 1994),
which found, based on shopping attitudes and
behaviour, that there are ‘astute cosmopol-
itans’, constituting about 19 per cent of the
50–75s and who are discerning consumers.
There are also the ‘temperate xenophobes’ (20
per cent of 50–75s) who are less likely to go
abroad or eat ‘foreign food’. The ‘thrifty tradi-
tionalists’ make up 20 per cent and a further 19
per cent are ‘outgoing funlovers’! The largest
group is the ‘apathetic spenders’ (21 per cent),
who use credit cards to extend their purchasing
power beyond what they can really afford
(Cummins, 1994).
So, it is important not to generalize when
targeting the over-50s and to take into account
the very real differences between the sub-
groups. These are issues which marketers
should clearly bear in mind when designing the
tactics of marketing campaigns. The drinks
company would certainly find useful clues in
this analysis for how to target that segment.Gender
Turning now to gender, the drinks company
sees both sexes as potential targets, but how
might this affect their marketing? Gender
stereotyping has been used extensively over
many decades, but it hasn’t always escaped
criticism. Reliance on ‘mother’ or ‘mistress’ or
‘career woman’ images of women in advertis-
ing sometimes attracts complaints on sexist or