the Baby Boom
Generation evolution continues....
Marketing to the baby boomers is important because they are both a huge demographic, but one with a large amount of wealth and purchasing power. Boomers are successfully marketed to by television, magazine and newspapers, and the internet. They are also a prime market for electronic books and other publications.
Marketing to the baby boomers has become important to all phases of the market. That is because this generation of some 78 million members is both large and affluent to a large extent. Their size alone would make them an attractive market, but baby boomers have also been on the whole financially successful and control about half of the total consumer spending in the United States and half of its discretionary spending as well.In fact, the baby boomer generation accounts for nearly 80% of the total wealth of the nation. They are avid consumers of all sorts of products and services and even are responsible for the vast majority of leisure travel expenditures as well. They have witnessed many technological advances in their lifetimes and have been quite willing to purchase the consumer versions of these advances.
Baby boomers have been exposed to television advertising as a marketing tool throughout their lives and are certainly influenced by it. Though many retain a reasonable skepticism about some of the claims in television ads, they still do make purchases triggered by this tool.
Baby boomers are also a major target for many magazine and newspaper advertisers because of their size and massive purchasing power. Although some magazines target largely younger demographics, marketers are well aware of the potential of the boomer market and target them specifically in the types of magazines they are likely to read.
Since baby boomers are also likely to use the internet widely they are also appealed to by online sellers of goods and services. It is a rare baby boomer who is not computer savvy and who does not have a home laptop or desktop computer. In addition, baby boomers were early adopters of “smart phones” with internet capability and can often be reached during work and leisure hours with offers of things to buy.
Baby boomers are also responding to the burgeoning market for electronic books and other publications. For some, subscribing to electronic versions of magazines and newspapers is also attractive because of the lack of clutter and the environmental concerns about the use and waste of paper products. For some who have problems with arthritis in aging, the various e-reader devices are easier to handle than books and make turning pages more comfortable. Not having to travel to a bookstore saves time and gasoline as well.