Defining Markets, Defining Moments: America’s 7 Generational Cohorts, Their Shared Experiences, and Why Businesses Should Care

The last paragraph of this book is the best place to start a review of it, because the value to marketers is clearly given: This book is “about generational cohort theory and how it can help you understand, reach, and motivate your customers” (p. 349).

This help is provided in several ways, all of which add depth to an understanding of consumer buying motivation and behavior. The first is through a discussion of what “cohorts” are and how they are defined. The second is through a matrix diagnosis of these groups, and the third is through suggestions from the authors for specific methods to market to each cohort.

The ten chapters lead the reader through, first, from “one‐size‐fits‐all” to “one‐to‐one” (p. 3), through the Lifestage Analytic Matrix^TM, and then through the cohorts, which the authors say are societally determined as opposed to the biologically determined generations. If we used to think of the buying habits of people in their 50s with some consistency, this book tells marketers why that might be a mistake.

The chapters are:

1. 1.

   (1) Chapter 1: “Toward a New Era of Marketing”.

2. 2.

   (2) Chapter 2: “What Makes us Tick: Using the Lifestage Analytic Matrix^TM”.

3. 3.

   (3) Chapter 3: “The Depression Cohort”.

4. 4.

   (4) Chapter 4: “The World War II Cohort”.

5. 5.

   (5) Chapter 5: “The Postwar Cohort”.

6. 6.

   (6) Chapter 6: “The Leading‐Edge Baby Boomer Cohort”.

7. 7.

   (7) Chapter 7: “The Trailing‐Edge Baby Boomer Cohort”.

8. 8.

   (8) Chapter 8: “The Generation X Cohort”.

9. 9.

   (9) Chapter 9: “The N Generation Cohort”.

10. 10.

    (10) Chapter 10: “Taking Generational Cohort Analysis Global”.

This is the first book I have seen which points out the mistake marketers make when they try to market to a generation as opposed to a cohort, which is defined as “the idea that events that are happening when we are coming of age imprint core values. These ‘defining moments’ can include such things as wars, political dislocations, assassinations, or economic upheavals” (p. 6). “Events that take place when we first become ‘economic adults’ affect our life‐long attitudes towards jobs, money, spending and saving, food and eating patterns, apparel, and much more” (p. 7). As an example, Levi Strauss, knowing that “Boomers prefer informality … developed a line of casual slacks targeting Baby Boomers” (p. 30). As other cohorts rose to management ranks, their coming‐of‐age core values did not necessarily translate to this type of buying preference.

The Lifestage Analytic Matrix^TM outlines the “five crucial factors influencing people’s attitudes, behavior, and buying patterns as they age: Cohorts, Lifestages, Physiographics, Emotions and Affinities, and Socioeconomics” (p. 39). Lifestage analysis looks at lifestages that occur in our lifetime, such as buying a car or a home, switching careers, marrying, etc. Lifestage analysis “enables you to recognize the diversity of lifestage alternatives today, and not to pigeonhole a particular group on the basis of simple demographics” (p. 41). Physiographics are one of the more interesting areas because this book makes it so clear that the age of 50 is far different for the Baby Boom Generation than it was for the Depression Cohort. This is because the Baby Boom Generation is staying healthy and active longer; thus, their marketing attitudes are different than their chronological age might lead one to think. Emotions and Affinities, the fourth “crucial factor”, tend to arise when we are of a certain age. For example, “bodily appearance is very important when we are young and single” (p. 45).

By matching affinities of the various cohorts, a marketer might know that an N Generation Cohort is brand conscious while Generation X responds well to ads that celebrate diversity. The last step, investigate purchasing behavior, discusses how it is important to know that “the World War II cohort reads newspapers, magazines, and advertisements more thoroughly than most cohort groups and they prefer print media for information” (p. 119).

In each chapter, sound advice is offered for consumer marketers. For instance, in discussing the Postwar Cohort (born 1928‐1945), the authors suggest that “Web sites should avoid appealing to seniors or other terms that imply ‘old people’, and focus instead on lifestage topics, such as retirement and estate planning, social activities” (p. 163). With markets as competitive as they are today, this book can help marketers find the right message.

This book was about to go to print on 11 September, 2001. Despite that, the authors changed the cover and incorporated this “defining moment”, into the book as if it were there when they originally wrote it. This effort makes it even more current.

The authors have done consulting projects for companies such as Kellogg’s, K‐Mart, and Procter & Gamble, who use their theories to market products that meet current needs. For instance, they helped Kellogg’s understand why their traditional marketing to families did not meet the needs of today’s Baby Boomers and their children. Because of these examples, I think this book is useful in college marketing and strategy courses. I also think that consumer products companies should make it required reading for their marketing executives. It helps us go further in opening the “black box” we call consumer buying influences.

My only critical comment would be that there is a good bit of overlap between the biologically‐determined generations and cohort influences. However, it does not detract from the benefit to marketers.

In an ever‐more competitive world, Defining Markets, Defining Moments does a good job of helping marketers do the right kind of homework before and as they prepare their products for market.