There’s a “Peanuts” strip in which Linus, attempting to help Charlie Brown deal with his neuroses, tells Brown that an individual’s character develops until age five. “But I’m five!” protests Charlie Brown. “I’m more than five!”
“Oh, well,” shrugs Linus, turning back to his security blanket.
The oldest of the latest generation identified by Ann A. Fishman aren’t five yet, but their characteristics are being mapped. These consumers, “Generation 9/11,” are going to have the most protected childhoods of the 15 or so generations that have been raised in America.
Children born during the 21st Century are coming of age at a time when anti-kidnapping systems such as “Amber Alerts;” concerns about violence perpetrated by other students, such as the Columbine massacre; and fears of terrorist attacks are facts of daily life.
Marketers have already started to use this generation in their pitches to parents. For instance, companies such as OnStar, the vehicle assistance system, use young children in ads that tout the system’s security aspects, according to Fishman.
This constant message of “you are potentially under attack” is giving birth to people who will avoid risk, and who will place a high value on fitting in. When they come of age, they will seek conservative economic values and reassurances that their purchases will somehow further their personal safety.
Fishman, president of Generational Targeted Marketing Corp., presented insights into six consumer segments, ranging from the oldest (“The G.I. Generation,” who came through The Great Depression and fought in World War II) to the 9/11 Generation. Marketers’ messages need to match products and services offered to what motivates them, according to Fishman.
In some cases, this is simply good sales sense. Take Generation Y, which is quickly coming into high spending potential. This is a generation that has grown up with computers, and is very comfortable researching its purchases right up to the point of sale.
Fishman told of a young woman who had extensively investigated buying a new car before settling on a Honda Civic. She had saved for the initial payment, and approached a dealership with cash in hand
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