Page 101 - MYM 2015

A. Generational Differences between Beliefs and Attitudes
Beliefs are mental attitudes of acceptance or assent toward a proposition without the full intellectual knowledge required to guarantee its truth. (Dictionary. com) Attitudes on the other hand are the manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc. with regard to a
person or thing; a tendency or orientation of the mind. (Dictionary.com) Beliefs are assumed to be more strongly held and thus more lasting than attitudes which often can change quite rapidly as witness the attention given
to corporate blunders as reported on twitter or Facebook. (Plattner, 2012) Most twitter, Facebook and other social media, therefore likely have to do with current attitudes, which are not necessarily supported by beliefs. In too many instances, it appears marketing managers confuse the two concepts, often to their later dismay.
In an American Pulse omnibus study conducted by Prosper International in April, 2013, 3,538 consumers were asked to give their beliefs on a number of unrelated subjects, i.e. global warming, belief in angels, that humans will eventually be replaced by robots and the longevity of shopping malls. The responses by
age grouping, as shown in Exhibit 8, are somewhat surprising.
questions. Only two have been selected for this paper, but, they do provide a glimpse into the differences between generations or age cohorts. Again, the basic marketer groupings were used, i.e., ages 18-24, 25- 34, etc. While not necessarily generational groups, it is interesting to see the differences among the various age cohorts. That is shown in Exhibit 9.
Exhibit 9
Attitudes by age and Gender American Pulse – May 2013 (n=2,638)
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Total
Male 1.76 57.8 Female 1.61 51.6 Total 1.69 54.7
Male 1.92 54.9 Female 1.76 59.3 Total 1.84 57.5
Male 1.93 52.5 Female 1.51 57.6 Total 1.71 55.5
Male 1.53 63.4 Female 1.39 66.7 Total 1.46 65.4
Male 1.47 63.0 Female 1.32 66.1 Total 1.40 64.7
Male 1.43 61.2 Female 1.38 77.7 Total 1.41 68.9
Male 1.65 59.4 Female 1.49 64.1 Total 1.57 62.0
2.47 4.03 2.60 4.34 2.53 4.18
2.53 3.75 2.54 4.26 2.54 4.04
2.75 4.03 2.88 4.36 2.83 4.22
2.98 4.02 3.11 4.26 3.06 4.17
2.92 4.54 3.01 4.64 2.97 4.60
3.02 5.10 3.07 4.93 3.04 5.02
2.82 4.36 2.91 4.49 2.87 4.43
*0=none, 1=1 hour or less,
3=3 or hours
**Percent yes
***1=Excellent, 4=Terrible ****1=Make Money, 7=Enjoy Life
Sports (in hours) Practice a Overall state Money or On Daily Basis* Religious Faith** Economy*** Enjoy Life****
Exhibit 8
Beliefs by Age and Gender Omnibus Study - April 2013 (n=3,538)
Global Believe in Replaced Shopping Warming Angels By Robots Malls
18-24 Male Female
Total
66.1 60.7 30.1 45.2 74.1 72.7 26.5 47.8 69.9 66.3 28.4 46.4
25.34 Male Female
Total
66.9 57.5 26.9 42.2 73.3 70.4 25.0 44.7 70.1 64.0 25.9 43.4
35.44 Male
66.2 55.8 25.3 37.9 Female 76.3 79.1 23.1 33.4 Total 71.2 67.2 24.2 35.7
45-54 Male 63.4 Female 71.0 Total 67.5
67.3 27.8 41.0 75.9 25.7 43.2 72.0 26.7 42.2
55+ Male 64.7 Female 66.9 Total 65.8
62.8 23.5 36.6 76.3 22.5 45.0 69.7 23.0 40.9
Total Male
65.9 59.7 27.4 41.6 Female 73.2 74.1 24.9 43.1 Total 69.5 66.8 26.1 42.4
While there are different belief patterns among the generations in terms of the four questions, there is little difference in age groups or in gender. Two-thirds or more believe in global warming while roughly the same percentages believe in angels. Only about 20% believe they will eventually be replaced by robots and one-third or more in all age groups think shopping malls are good and that they will continue to operate well into the future. Signi cance tests were found for all correlations other than Global Warming and Angels, Global Warming and Age and Age and Angels. The correlations were low but the sample size was large.
Attitudes are a different matter. In an American Pulse study conducted in May, 2013, among 2,638 respondents, all age 18+, respondents were asked to provide responses to large battery of attitudinal
Some explanation of the chart is required. Column 1
is scored on a simple “Yes or No” response. As can
be seen, more than 50% of all respondents reported they practiced a religious faith. The response pattern is approximately the same until Age 45 is reached. At that point, all responses increase into the 60%+ range. In the 65+ age category, female positive responses increase dramatically, reaching 77% by the time they meet that age requirement. Thus, we can see that practicing a religious faith, at least in the U.S., tends to grow with age, but, does not increase dramatically until age 65+ is reached by females.
Column 2 consists of scores on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 to 7, with 1 being Make Money and 7 being Enjoy Life. These are what could be assumed
to be bi-polar differences often found in the millennial work force, at least, those are the ones most discussed in the marketing press. What is surprising about
these results is that age seems to have little to do with discriminating between age groups, that is when asked whether “Making money” or “Enjoying Life”
are compared, only males in the 25-34 age group
fall below 4.0 on the Likert-type scale. Recall that on a 7 point scale, 3.5 might be considered the mid- point. Thus, there is seemingly less interest in making money than in enjoying life, something which is often challenged in not only the commercial press but the academic reporting as well. It is not until males reach 65+ does their score reach 5.0 on the 7 point scale. The balance of the age cohorts all fall within a fairly limited range of responses with males and females scoring roughly the same throughout their lifetimes.
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