As baby boomers move toward retirement and start shifting their financial resources to essentials like medical expenses and gifts for the grandchildren, marketers may want to set their sights on echo boomers.
According to a recent Visa USA study, by 2015 the echo-boomer generation (born between 1979 and 1989) will account for approximately $2.45 trillion in annual spending.
Who's influencing echo boomers' spending? Seventy percent said their spouses, while 63% said children and 48% parents. In contrast, only 63% of baby boomers named their spouses, 36% children and 34% parents.
The echo generation is also already thinking about its golden years — more than 70% of those polled are concerned about having enough money for retirement.
Echo boomers cited dining out in restaurants as their second-largest expense (45%), after housing costs. But surprisingly, when asked which of their monthly expenses they should cut back on, 43% said…dining out.
The random phone survey of 500 echo boomers and 500 baby boomers was conducted for Visa last winter by Yankelovich division The Segmentation Company.
Echo boomers' favorite self-rewards
A day for themselves 35%
Concert or sports event 22%
A night on the town 15%
Spa treatment 13%
New clothes 11%
Numbers do not total 100% due to rounding.
Source: Visa USA
