Motivating Xer's

How to Motivate Generation X CITE Thesis Prepared by Todd Dunlap, CITE 1997 INTRODUCTION Meet Generation X a.k.a. "Xers," "Baby Busters," "'MTV Generation," and "Latchkey Kids." These are the members of the thirteenth generation which were born between 1961 and 1981. In the early 1980's a little known punk band used the name "Generation x" and later a Canadian newspaper cartoonist used the name to describe a group of jaded twentysomethings who dropped out of the rat race because the Baby Boomers had devoured everything leaving them with low paying, dead end jobs which Xers refer to as "McJobs". . . a slam burger flipping jobs like McDonald's. By the early 1990's advertising executives claimed the. term to describe some fifty million people that were difficult to pin down as a target market. When major publications began using the term, it stuck. Now, with more incentive target audiences consisting of more Xers, incentive planners are faced with the dilemma of how to motivate them. "A company's success in the coming decade will depend on its ability to turn the extraordinary promise of Generation Xers into a reality" says Bruce Tulgan, author of Managing Generation X. If companies do not learn how to motivate this generation they are sure to see their turnover rates skyrocket. To prevent this, companies and incentive planners must address the special needs of Xers if they are to be successful. All others involved in incentive programs including DMC's and hotels would also be wise to acknowledge these needs when providing ideas on their destinations to prospective incentive travel companies. Because Generation X grew up watching more television than any previous generation, they have also seen more promotion in the form of commercials. Xers can smell a promotion from a mile away and if the message is not sincere or one they believe in, they will ignore it. Incentive planners should keep this in mind when creating programs where the audience contains more and more...