Tweens, Gen Y and Gen X

Traditionally, the business made sales through mass marketing which entailed offering standardized goods to all consumers. However, in the current competitive business environment, marketers have realized that consumers are varied and unique, with diverse needs, wants, as well as preferences. Hence, the marketers understand that they cannot satisfy all customers by offering the standardized goods or undifferentiated services. This has led to the concept of target marketing or STP, which stands for Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning. STP entails dividing the target market into distinct subsets of consumers based on their age and preferences. Moreover, marketers should recognize the fact that consumer behavior is often shaped by emerging technology and environment. Within the framework of this paper, it is affirmed that age group of consumers influences saving and consumption patterns hence an effective marketing strategy should be recognizant of the age factor.

Characteristics of Tweens Generation

Tweens generation is composed of preadolescent children approaching the age of teens but still behaving like kids. Their age gap ranges from 8 to 12 years. Tweens generation is still in school, hence they are not married. The media habits of this age group include magazines, radio, video games, and television. Tweens generation is the first one to take the online world for granted. In fact, tweens is a special audience of marketers, since they control tens of United States dollars in terms of spending power. In the United States of America, more than 20 billion people fall into this category according to the survey that was conducted in the year 2015 (Segev, 2015). The survey further indicated that, on average, an American tween spends $1.442 per annum, whereby $28.4 billion comes from his/her own savings, and their parents spend $221.6. So, 77% of tweens get the money they spend as a gift from other persons, not necessary parents or guardians. While 57% of tweens get the money they use for spending as gifts from parents or guardians, 58% get their money from allowances.

In terms of spending such money, 82% prefers the purchase of creational facilities, such as video games, movies, videos, and books. The number of people buying food, toys, and clothing is 58%, 42%, and 40% respectively (Segev, 2015). Even though tweens are raised in the Internet era, they do not spend as much time online as their older siblings. 48% spend less than forty-five minutes online per day, compared to 81% of the older siblings, according to a December 2014 study by the Nielsen Company. When tweens generations are online, they spend over 70% of their time playing games (Flynn & Goldsmith, 2015). Furthermore, tweens generation spend some of their time on social media, such as YouTube and MySpace.

Suitable Product for Tweens Generation

The best product for this group should be of the entertaining nature, such as video games, movies, comical novels, toys, virtual worlds, clothing, and accessories. This generation consists of super consumers hence they rarely save money (Flynn & Goldsmith, 2015). While the tweens project positive attitude towards shopping, their attitude towards saving is negative.

Advertising and Sales Promotions for Tweens

Tweens products should be marketed using sites and channels which they visit frequently. Studies indicate that tweens like to visit video sharing, music, television, sports, and magazines sites. Other sites they browse so often include MySpace and YouTube (Segev, 2015). The advertisement conveying marketing information should be designed in such a manner that will appeal to this buying category. For instance, advertising targeting the tweens should entertain, make them laugh, blend reality and fantasy as well as combine online and offline platforms. For this group of people, fantasy-reality marketing is rather appealing.

Generation X

People who were born between 1966 and 1976 are called generation Xers. Their present age ranges from 35 to 55 years. They are good task managers because they are highly educated and have a consumer mentality. Since the majority of the generation Xers are at the prime of their careers, they have large amounts of disposal income which they use to purchase goods and services. At the same time, generation-Xers set aside a fraction of their income for saving and investment purposes. The majority of them is married and has stable families. They are credit savvy; they are brand switcher experts and they can easily be reached directly through the mainstream media (Flynn & Goldsmith, 2015). Generation Xers normally undertake extensive research before they purchase a product. They read widely about a product and visit many online shopping sites compared to tween and generation Y. The majority of the representatives will not buy a product until they get sufficient information about it. Research indicates that 75% of United States generation X internet users logged on to online shopping sites at least twice a month in 2015 (Segev, 2015). Marketers targeting generation X should provide adequate information in their adverts in order to attract them.

Despite their small numbers, generation Xers have high purchasing power. Generation Xer when compared to other generations (tweens and generation Y), constitute an exceptionally unique customer base for marketers. This is because they have families to support in terms of meeting the basic needs, education, and healthcare concerns. Research indicates that generation Xers has superior purchasing power when compared to the others. For instance, in the United States of America, they earn 37% of the total income (Eastman & Liu, 2012). This presents a potential goldmine for marketers to exploit. Most of the populations from generation X are loyal to a particular brand of products. It is extremely difficult to influence their opinion through advertising and hence their allegiance towards certain brands. They are risk averse hence they cannot risk their funds to try a new brand.

Products for Generation Xers

A marketer who wishes to capture the market niche of generation Xers should offer high-quality electronics, such as laptops, smartphones, television sets, computers, and top-notch automobiles. Since generation Xers have families, medical, education, and insurance, a product will appeal to them (Gustavo, 2013). Besides, savings and investment opportunities appeal to them.

Advertising Channel to Target Generation X Consumers

Generation X responds to both traditional and digital advertisement. Its representatives spend a significant portion of time online searching for the product information. They are also avid readers of magazines and newspapers and frequently tune into televisions and radio. Generation Xers is tech savvy and uses smartphones and laptops so that they can allocate resources efficiently in their path-to-purchase. This is important in reaching these potential customers with the right information at the right time. They use multiple media, but the type of media they use is determined by the task they are doing (Gustavo, 2013). For instance, researching information on product use and health concerns, generation Xers prefer using the internet. Additionally, they prefer smartphones and laptops to shop services or products. Hence, a marketer should advertise on both digital and traditional media and provide sufficient information in order to appeal to these people.

Generation Y

Generations Y is people of the demographic cohort that was born between the early 1980s to earlier 2000s. They are also referred to as the millennials. The characteristics of generation Y vary from one geographical location to another depending on the economic and social conditions (Flynn & Goldsmith, 2015). However, the millennials are generally associated with a growing use and familiarity with media and communications, as well as various digital technologies. These people are highly educated and are career minded. They are not ready to get married but not deliberately postponing the idea of having a family like many individuals of generation X did. Generation Y spends more in a considerable way because most of them refer to the working class with a disposable income (Eastman & Liu, 2012). Having grown during the period the world was experiencing rapid growth, they were more of the spenders, not savers. Furthermore, the generation is highly socially connected. For instance, while an average Facebook subscriber has 200 friends, for them this number is even higher. In addition, the millennials start the consumption of wine at an earlier age as compared to the generation X.

Generation Y is less loyal to the brand because of the multiple alternatives at their disposal. Moreover, it is within their nature to experiment new brands; they are abreast with emerging trends and are anxious to change accordingly. However, they prefer their identity to be represented uniquely.

Product Development for Generation Y

Generation Y loves food and beverages. This generation likes dining out and takeaways. Its representatives have a growing appetite for organic and sustainably farmed food produce. Generation Y adults embrace healthy eating habits. They are in favor crockpot and slow cooking recipes (Eastman & Liu, 2012). They also start the consumption of wine at a tender age. Moreover, the millennials have growing demand for entertainment.

Marketers’ Response to Generation Y Needs

Marketers have to strive to penetrate the market segment of generation Y. The research indicates that it is easier to penetrate generation Y market as compared to generation X. The study further shows that in some categories, such as cosmetics, real estate, and leasing firms, even this generation will be loyal to a brand (Gustavo, 2013). This requires active marketing campaigns using media platform that appeal to the millenniums in order to penetrate these age set and establish loyalty. With the increase of demand for entertainment, generation Y craves for convenience in the new product offerings. The successful advertising of corporations, such as Dropbox and Uber, has majorly been anchored around the convenience and ease of use.

In conclusion, marketers need to analyze their target consumers before offering them any products. Tweens are avid consumers hence they save rarely. They love to be entertained and marketers who sell video games, movies, comical novels, toys, virtual worlds, clothing, and accessories to them can be successful. A marketer who wishes to capture the market niche of generation Xers should offer high-quality electronics, such as laptops, smartphones, television sets, computers, and top-notch automobiles because they are brand conscious. Meanwhile, a marketer who wishes to target generation Y should be dynamic and offer a product which portrays this generation uniquely.

This text is written by Bryan Morrell who is a writing editor at essay professors