Content area
Full text
Business and Aging
Yes, a demographic baby boom filled the nation's maternity wards between Jan. 1, 1946 and Dec. 31, 1964. But, no, there wasn't a monolithic Baby Boom Generation born during those 19 years. Two distinct new generations sprang from that robust post-World War II period.
Understanding key differences between these disparate cohorts is critical to businesses and nonprofits focused on aging. The beneficiaries of the coming retiree boom will be those who comprehend the differences between these two generations and the corresponding implications for products, services and marketing.
GENERATIONAL MARKETING
Generational marketing as an approach to market segmentation springs from a theory by a father of sociology, Karl Mannheim (1893-1947). As Mannheim observed, social and cultural events during the suggestible years of adolescence can foment and solidify a generation and its shared outlook, thus shaping ensuing life experiences and values with a collective consciousness. Social science has shown that the Zeitgeist phenomenon-the shared feeling for an era and the unique spirit of a generation-is not equally magnified for every generation. Those who become young adults during a quiescent historical period are less likely to experience a strong sense of generational connectivity.
Numerous experts have recognized that a period of 19 years, the traditionally accepted span of the boomer generation, is far too inclusive. Author David B. Wolfe, for example, argues that a true generational cohort occupies a much shorter duration. In his book Ageless Marketing (Chicago: Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2003), Wolfe notes that "from a subjective perspective, the age span of a generation is 12 to 14 years." Similarly, in the updated edition of her classic book Passages (New York City: Random House, 1995), Gail Sheehy argues that "given the acceleration of the life cycle, a generation is now encapsulated in 10 to 15 years instead of the traditional 20."
Further undermining the traditional 19-year boomer-generation concept is the reality that no generation has ever been defined by how many babies were born; generations stem from shared formative experiences, not head counts. Demographers originally pointed to the remarkable bulge in birth charts simply as an interesting phenomenon, not as a generation. Unfortunately, some in the media lazily started referring to this bulge as a generation, and subsequently the baby-boom-generation myth...