As a young specialist, you already know that you have to define your target group before starting your marketing activity. And even if you think your target group is parents, how old are the parents? Because Parents who are 25 (generation Z), 30 (Millennials), and parents who are 48 Gen X come from a different generation and have different needs.
Generation Z (1997 – 2012)
These are the young people between 10 to 25 right now in 2022. Those are the people who were born with technology in hand. GenerationZ prefer to be open and authentic. Girls are not using makeup, and their personalities come first. These are the more pragmatic people. They choose their education in priority of income (easy) and especially values social values the companies follow. Those are the people who open the corporate social responsibility pages. They are the one who is searching the internet and educates themselves before they will make their last purchase decisions. These are the people who easily make decisions to do online shopping, and they are brand advocates who will stick to one brand instead of looking for the best deals.
- shopping online on social media and willing to pay more for the corporates social values
- stick to a brand that shares the same values
- prefer personalization
- easily switching between different channels
Millennials (1981 – 1996)
The difference between the Millenials and Generation Z will be the difference in fulfillment from shopping online. We compare them to generation Z, they are the ones who quickly change their brands and hunt for sales. When generation Z mostly prefers personalization, the Millenials give more attention to the experience. They value good customer service and referral programs. Content is a king for this generation, and they are those who need an omnichannel (multichannel approach for selling online)
- willing to spend more money on experiences rather than material stuff
- relatively low income
- like to share their purchases online
- follow the influencers
- like products that are a presentation of their personality
Generation X (1965-1980)
This generation is mainly under the marketer’s eyes. Many representatives of generation X are in management positions and have a much higher income than generation Y (Millenials). That’s mainly why generation X have the highest purchasing power. Generation X has similarities to generation Z in extreme brand loyalty. Additionally, generation X’s interesting consumer behavior that differentiates it from other generations is that email marketing is still a powerful marketing tool for them. These are the people who constantly check their email boxes.
- still use the channels like print media/ radio and TV
- gen X spends the most time online on Facebook
- weather, news, and bank website are the best place to retarget generation X
- gen x primarily interested in the direct brand message (comparison list )
These are only minor differences, but you already can understand that you can not achieve the maximum with only targeting. Consumer behavior is an important subject for digital marketing, especially e-commerce activity. And consumer behavior of your target group can be different if the various generations are present in your potential customer’s group.
Sources: https://www.talon.one/blog/gen-z-consumer-behavior-what-you-need-to-know
https://www.forbes.com/sites/yec/2018/05/17/generation-face-off-comparing-gen-x-y-and-z-shopping-behaviors/?sh=237914e6631d
https://www.retaildive.com/ex/mobilecommercedaily/brand-loyalty-highest-in-gen-x-consumers-emarketer
