Page 577 - Sociology and You

Chapter 16 Population and Urbanization 547
ociology
Demography for Businesses
Today
Businesses have discovered that they can grow bigger by targeting smaller groups of consumers. These groups, called generations, or cohorts, are defined by important life experiences. Events occur- ring when people first become economic adults (usually between ages 17 and 21) affect their life- long attitudes and values. These attitudes and values are unlikely to change as a person ages. So the kind of music that is popular during these formative years often remains the preferred type of music for life. Similarly, early lifetime experiences influence preferences in many other product and service categories.
Studies of the U.S. population have identified seven distinct groups described in the table below. Which cohort are you? Your parents?
Cohort
The Depression cohort The World War II cohort The Postwar cohort
The Boomers I cohort The Boomers II cohort The generation X cohort
The Boomlet cohort
Doing Sociology
Description
The G.I. generation
The Depression generation The silent generation
The Woodstock generation The zoomer generation The baby-buster generation
The echo-boom generation
Born
1912–1921
1922–1927
1928–1945
1946–1954
1955–1965
1966–1976
1977–
Popular Music Styles
Big band
Swing
Frank Sinatra/Rat Pack Rock and roll
Rock and roll, disco Grunge, rap,
country western Retro-swing, Latin
Have short interviews with members of at least two of the demographic business cohorts profiled above. Identify a number of differences in preferences for products between the members of different cohorts.
Source: Berkowitz, Kerin, Hartley, and Rudelius, Marketing, 5th ed. Chicago: Irwin, 1997.
The products in this mall store have been selected by taking into account the buying preferences of teenagers.
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