Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic

Marketing: A

Global−Managerial

Approach, 14/e

5. Demographic
   Dimensions of Global
   Consumer Markets

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

140 Chapter 5

The major reason for the changing age distribution is that the post–World War

II baby boom produced about one-fourth of the present U.S. population. This large

group crowded into the schools in the 1950s and 60s—and then into the job mar-

ket in the 1970s. In the 1980s, they swelled the middle-aged group. And early in

the 21st century, they will reach retirement—still a dominant group in the total

population. According to one population expert, “It’s like a goat passing through a

boa constrictor.”

Some of the effects of this big market are very apparent. For example, recording

industry sales exploded—to the beat of rock and roll music and the Beatles—as the

baby boom group moved into their record-buying teens. Soon after, colleges added

facilities and faculty to handle the surge—then had to cope with excess capacity

and loss of revenue when the student-age population dwindled. To relieve financial

strain many colleges now add special courses and programs for adults to attract the

now-aging baby boom students. On the other hand, the fitness industry and food

producers who offer low-calorie foods are reaping the benefit of a middle-aged

“bulge” in the population.

Medical advances help people live longer and are also adding to the proportion

of the population in the senior citizen group. Note from Exhibit 5-6 that the over-

65 age group will grow another 14 percent by 2010. Even more dramatic, by 2030

the over-65 group will double in size and they will be almost 20 percent of the total

U.S. population. This ongoing growth creates new opportunities for such industries

as tourism, health care, and financial services.^11

While society—and many marketers—have been fixated on the aging baby

boomers, the ranks of teenagers have started to grow again. This is in part reflected

in the 14.0 percent growth of the 5–17 age group between 1990 and 2000 and the

13.4 percent growth rate of the 18–24 age group in this decade (see Exhibit 5-6).

But the coming changes are even bigger than this suggests. For 15 years, there was

a steady decline in the number of teenagers. Now that has reversed. Between 1995

and 2005, the teenage group will grow at close to twice the rate of the overall pop-

ulation. By the time the number of teens peaks in 2010, the size of this group will

top the baby boom–fueled teen explosion of the 1970s. In 2010, there will be over

The teen cycle is
starting again

Highly targeted advertising media
such as magazines and cable TV
are proving especially effective at
targeting messages to specific
groups.