Advertising Generations

            Webster's Dictionary defines a generation as a group of individuals born about the same time; the average time interval between the birth of parents and that of their offspring. Advertisers use different generations to bind people together and to market to. Generational advertising is the marketing to people in common statistics and ages. Advertisers take the information of births and overlay major world events that occurred during a generation's influential years to create a representation of a generation's personality. These different generations include seniors, boomers, generation x, generation y, and millennial.
             The advertising generation of the seniors is born before 1946 and is 21% of the population. Seniors are often known to be forgotten in the advertising world. At the age of 50 and over it's a stereotype that all they watch is the news. The fact is that every eight seconds a boomer turns 50. One third of older viewers are also escaping from watching the television's top 20 because of the advertiser's belief that the viewing world is "forever young." When is reality, 50-75 year olds control 70% of the country's net worth. Seniors own their own homes, can purchase new cars, spend on vacations, and most get more than a $900 billion income. When advertising to the senior market it's important to keep those facts in mind, also, important concepts like respect, independence, personal growth, and recovery. There are a few myths that advertisers should be aware of also. One of these myths is that mature consumers are brand loyal. Seniors are just as likely to change brands as anyone else is. Another myth is that mature consumers care only about price. Seniors are more likely to buy higher prices products because they have the extra cash. A third myth is that mature consumers do not shop on the internet. Half of the population of seniors owns a computer and 70% of them with computers have the internet.