Baby Boomers

Baby Boomers

Thomas Alejandro

PSY/322

November 18, 2013

Mary-Lynne Ament

Baby Boomers

A growing concern among marketers is the group of Americans born between 1946 and 1964, better known as the Baby Boomer generation. Conlin (2013), ” According to an August 2012 Nielsen study, Baby Boomers account for nearly half of consumer packaged goods spending and will control 70% of disposable income within five years.” As this group continues to age they will have the highest spending power and understanding their needs, perceptions, and attitudes will increase a company’s profit.

Many Baby Boomers are empty nesters and some of them are also grandparents (Burns, 2013). With their children out of the house, empty nesters will have more money to spend on themselves. They also want to try to act cool and not sit on the porch like weathered old people watching their grandchildren play, they want to play with them (Conlin, 2013). With almost $2.3 trillion dollars in annual spending power, Baby Boomers can afford to spend money on luxuries.

Baby Boomers are also more individualistic, born from parents who were in World War II, these parents indulged in their children more than ever before. Many Baby Boomers went to college and were encouraged to succeed and they focused more on individual goals instead of team goals. There is a sense of self-empowerment with Baby Boomers that inspires them to be the best they can and messages that can support this can be very effective.

Computer knowledgeable is not something associated with Baby Boomers, but they are very knowledgeable of new technology. Most of them use technology at work and can use it for pleasure as well. Baby Boomers account for nearly 22.5% of the total audience of to social networks and blogs. Facebook is the most dominant social network used by Baby Boomers, but they also use Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. According to Conlin (2013) “Twitter is exploding in terms of growth and there are thousands...