Marketers seeking growth sectors need look no further than the youth, senior and Hispanic markets, which represent the consumer sectors with the greatest amount of change, according to U.S Census data. But marketers should note that women make up a high percentage of the decision-makers--even more than had been traditionally considered.
While demographic watchers generally accept that the U.S. Hispanic population has been increasing, few thought that between 1990 and 2000 there would be 58% growth rates. Compared with other ethnic groups, the growth rate for Asians is 48% and for African-Americans, it’s 16%.
Hispanics now comprise 12.5% of the U.S. populace, up from 9% in 1990, making up a larger slice of the populace than blacks, according to John F. Long, chief of the population division at the U.S. Census Bureau.
Long attributed the growth to immigration and high fertility rates--Hispanic women tend, on average, to have half a child more than other ethnic groups.
Growth within the Hispanic market has geographically matched that of the U.S., with more residences in North and South Carolina, Georgia, the Mountain Time zone states and around major metropolitan areas such as Atlanta and Minneapolis.
And more and more ethnic populations--including Hispanics-- speak other languages at home. Twenty million do so as of 2000, compared with 14.7 million in 1990. Furthermore, 4.4 million are "linguistically isolated," up from 2.9 million 12 years ago.
One trick to reaching these consumers is going through children within a household, some of whom are the sole conduit to the English-speaking community, said Pamela Kiecker, chair of the department of marketing and business law at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business. In fact, Hispanic youths between the ages of 10 and 19 are considered very desirable consumers, both in their own right and as household-purchase influencers.
This mirrors a trend toward greater purchase recommendation among younger consumers. Today's youth have more influence on household spending than ever before, Kiecker said. They are more accessible through technology: Challenge them, allow them to interact with a marketing campaign, provide high-impact messages and they will respond well.
But they also have more grown-up worries, and are more realistic and serious than previous generations. zmarketing messages should reflect this.
If younger consumers are carrying adult concerns, older consumers are feeling younger. Marketers need to consider cognitive age in addition to chronological age. Consumers are more active and waiting later to retire, and most feel they are between 10 and 15 years younger than they actually are, Kiecker said.
In spite of how they feel, baby boomers are aging. The 55+ market, which made up 21% of the population in 1990, will jump to 29% by 2010. Marketers who want to reach consumers over 55 who are still active will have to avoid pitfalls such as referring to seniors, the elderly or "the golden years," Kiecker said. Consumers in this age category don't want to be made to feel old.
What does work? Messages that don't complicate their lives, messages that aren't so trendy that they highlight generation gaps and messages that reflect the roles of children and grandchildren as purchase influencers. Older mail consumers want information in a format reminiscent of a newspaper, while women seek information in a community-style setting.
The quest for community among women actually cuts across age lines. Women are more likely to be "constituent driven"--that is, making purchases for others in their lives, or exerting control over the direction of household purchases.
Women control 85% of household spending, Kiecker said, and 92% of spending on consumer-packaged goods. They buy or influence the purchase of nearly two-thirds of the new cars, and even influence half of the spending on computers, a traditional male bastion that has seen steady erosion during the past few years.
Long and Kiecker made their comments during the National Center for Database Marketing conference in Orlando.
