Page 97 - MYM 2015

gathered in the U.S. Similarities and differences among and between the various age groups in the U.S. and China was the focus of that text.
This paper is an addition to that stream of literature
but, with a more longitudinal and generalized view of consumer behaviors over time, that is, the “generations” and speci c age groupings which have developed and become measurable.
This paper is based primarily on Prosper’s MBI
data. The makeup of that group, in terms of age and gender, based on the December, 2013 wave of MBI responses is shown in Exhibit 1. As can be seen, in this respondent base of 15,411 consumers, the male/ female ratio is approximately, but, not absolutely the same in each of the various age categories, i.e., the
unless the surrounding venue or context is understood, generational analysis is often not only dif cult to interpret but, also may be misleading.
What is interesting about this analysis and the one that follows on music, is that it appears that media habits, established primarily in the teen years, seem to continue for the balance of the person’s life. This iis one of the basic “truths” in media usage although it does not necessarily hold true in other categories or other activities. That’s what creates much of the difficulty in generational analysis. Some behaviors, once established become static or continuing while others change and evolve over time. It is this “mixing and matching” which often creates problems and challenges in generational analysis.
For example, both the “Mass Generation” and the “Space Generation” shown in the exhibit above, include the rst consumer groups that were widely exposed to television, either through over-the-air or cable delivery. Our studies and others (Gerbner, et al, 1986) have shown that people who grew up during that time period have tended to remain primarily TV viewers throughout their lives (Gerbner, et al, 1986), that is, they tend to be very heavy television users/ consumers even today. That is, people in their 60s make up a large portion of TV viewers in 2014. This, in spite of all the new media forms which have appeared in the past few years, the persons who grew up with television in their teen and early adult years, have a much lower incidence of using online and mobile than the younger groups. They seemingly don’t adapt or adopt the new or emerging technologies as quickly as they did in their youth and rely on habits developed years earlier.
That “teen age” establishment of lifetime consumption habits is illustrated/con rmed in Exhibit 3. This is a
Exhibit 1
Size of Age and Gender Groups
MBI December 2013 - Adults 18+ (n=15,411) % of total
Male Female Total
18-24 18.5 21.2 19.9
25-34 16.9 15.9 16.3
35-44 17.0 16.3 16.6
45-54 18.4 19.9 19.2
55-64 14.8 15.1 15.0
65+ 14.3 11.7 13.0
Total 47.6 52.4 100.0
female group is larger in the 18-24, 45-54 and the 55-64 age bracket. Thus, we begin to see the need for longitudinal data to provide true generational
understanding. Exhibit 2 shows the media generations which were constructed from the MBI data for the 2009 “Media Generations” text, (Block and Schultz).
Exhibit 2
U.S. Media History and Generations
Mass Generation
(Leading Boomers)
1940: The first commercial Television station signs on the air,
1948: Cable Television become available.
1950: Nielsen’s Audimeter tracks television audiences.
1951: Color television sets go on sale.
1952: Atomic bomb test in Nevada show on live television.
1953: CATV system uses microwave to bring in distant signals.
1955: President Eisen hower’s news conference is televised.
Space Generation
(Trailing Boomers)
1957: Soviet Union’s Sputnik.
1958: First U.S. satellite, Explorer l.
1960: Tiros / is the first weather satellite.
1961: FM stereo broadcasting.
1962: Cable companies import distant signals.
1962: John Glenn’s earth orbit is televised.
1963: The Beatles shake up music.
1963: Communications satellite.
1963: Martin Luther king gives “I have a dream” Speech.
Hippie Generation
(Generation Jones)
1965: Vietnam War becomes first war to be televised.
1966: In China, the Cultural Revolution.
1969: Astronauts send live photos from moon
1969: The Wood stock music festval.
1970: Fm stations target population segments
1971: E-mail.
1972: Videocassette movies for sale or rent in stores.
1972: HBO starts pay TV service for cable.
1974: President Nixon resigns: 110 million viewers watch.
Computer Generation
(Generation X)
1975: Home version of pong from Atari.
1975: HBO bounce signal
off satellite to reach cable systems and customers.
1975: Bill Gates and Paul Allen start Microsoft.
1976: Small satellite dishes go in to residential backyards.
1981: The laptop computer.
1981: The IBM PC.
1983: Japan’s NHK presents HDTV.
1983: AT&T Forced to
break up: 7 Baby bells are born.
1988: A fourth U.S. television network, Fox, is added to ABC, CBS, NBC lineup.
Internet Generation
(Millennial)
1991: Internet made a vailable for commercial use.
1991: Collapse of Sovitanti- Gorbachev plot aided by the internet
1995: Direct Broadcast Satellites
1998: HDTV broadcasts begin in the United States.
2001: Satellite radio: XM begins broadcasting.
2001: Instant messaging, short messaging service (SMS), grows in popularity.
2001: The iPod music player.
2003: MySpace.com.
2004: “Pod casting” coined as term for Internet delivery of radio-style content
Exhibit 3
Timeline of Contemporary Music Formats
Niches continue... Hot A/C, Soft A/C, Classic Rock
Modern Oldies” in the form of 70s & Classic Hits
Niches begin...A/C, Urban, AOR
The NAC format develops as a Jazz hybrid
Continued fragmentation with the development of ‘80’s
Top 40... The hits from Rock, Pop & Soul
1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2004
FM Radio Rock
Music from the 50’s & 60’s heard again on Gold/Oldies
Source: katz Media Group Focus on Radio Seminar Series
The “Oldies” niche continues with the birth of Rhythmic Oldies.
Renewal of Top 40 in the form of CHR
Continued fragmentation & hybrids Churban & Rock A/C
Emergence of hybrid Rock/AC format-called “Jack”, Dave”
The most relevant events in U.S. history have been organized to provide a “generational view” rather than simply age groups or cohorts. Thus, we argue that many of the “generational cohort” examples which
are commonly used in marketing and communication research are greatly in uenced by events, technologies and activities which the group experiences. Thus,
timeline of contemporary music formats created by a commercial radio group. (katzmediagroup.com)
mind I97 your
marketing