Core Concepts of Marketing

EXTERNALFACTORSTHATAFFECTPLANNING 117

closesecond.ThenumberofHispanicsintheUnitedStatesincreasedfrom 22

millionin 1990 to 35 millionin2000.Thatnumberisnearlytwiceasmanynew

residentsaswereaddedbyAfrican-AmericansandAsians.Ifeachminorityseg-

ment keeps growing at current rates, Hispanics will outnumber African-

Americansinttnyears.Thistrendwillbeparticularlyimportantformarketing

communicatorsthattargetcertainregions,becauseHispanicsandAsiansare:nore

geographicallyconcentratedthanAfrican-Americans.

7. Babyboomersbecomemiddle-aged.MorethanhalfofAmericans areaged 35 or
   older,2Jldtheoldestbabyboomersarenowaged 55. Thelargestten-yearagegroup,
   peopleaged4 1-50,hasbeengrowingasit absorbstheyounger halfofthebaby-
   boomgeneration.Butthenumberofpeopleinthissegmentreacheda peakin 2000
   andthenstartedtodecline.Thefastest-growingagegroupismiddle-agedpeople
   aged45-54-theageatwhchincomeandspendingpeak.Middle-agedpeople
   arealsotheleastlikelyofallagegroups,0changetheirresidence.Thiscombi-
   naiionofhighgrowth,highincome,andlowmobilitywillprovideconsiderable
   lifttodiscretionaryspending,particularlyinthecategoriesofhomefurnishings,
   education, andinsurance.


8. Peoplearemovingsouth.Morethanhalf(54%)ofU.S.residentsliveintheten
   largeststates, andmorethanhalfofU.S.populationgrowthbetween 1990 and
   , 999 occurredinthesetenstates.NewYorkhadthelargestpopulationofallstatiO:S
   in1950,butinthe 1990s,fast-growingTexaspushedthebarelygrowingNewYork
   tonumberthree.Onereasonfortheexplosivegrowthinthesouthernstatesisthe
   influxofpeoplefromothercountries. Morethanhalfofthefourmillionimmi-
   grantsthatlocated intheUnitedStatesbetween 1990 and ; 995 movedtoCali-
   fornia,Texas,orFlorida.


9. Themiddle classgetshammered.AccordingtotheU.S.Census Bureau,theshare
   ofaggregatehouseholdincomeeamedbythemiddle60%ofhouseholdshasshrunk
   from 52 %in 1973 to49% 25 yearslater.Meanwhile,theshareofsuchincome
   earnedbythetop20%(averageincome$98,600)increasedfrom44%to48%.In
   otherwords, thetotalpurchasingpowerofthetop 20 %ofU.S.householdsnow
   equalsthatofthemiddle60%.7

DemographicGroupings
Inadditiontounderstanding generaldemographictrends, marketingcommunicatorsmu~t
alsorecognizedemographicgl'Oupingf.thatmayturnouttobemarketsegmentsbecause
oftheirenormoussize, similarsocioeconomiccharacteristics,orsharedvalues.Weexam-
inethreeexamplesofdemographicgroupingsbyagethathaveorwillbecomedominant
marketsegments:babyboomers,GenerationX , andthebabyboomlet.

TheRabyBoom Thebabyboomoccurredfrom 1946 through1964.:Curingtrjs
19-yeartimeframe. 76.4millionbabieswerebornintheUnitedStates.Today,approxi-
mately 70 millionofthesebabyboomersarestillalive.Theyrepresentaboutone-fourthof
thetotalpopulation.Becauseoftheirnumbersandbuyingpower, babyboomershaveand
willcontinuetoinfluencethemarketingmixfortheservIcesandproductsbusinessesoffer
andhowtheseservicesandproductsareoffered.Forexample,themajorityofbabyboomer
womenworkfuli-timeandviewtheirjobasa career.Thistrendhasimplicationsforchild-
care,fashion,automobiles, travel,andfast-foodmarl<:eting.Healthconcernswillal sogrow
asbabyboomers age.