I realize the term “Acquirers”
can sound a little cliché, just like so many other terms the advertising
industry has invented for itself. So to
fully appreciate the true significance of this group, think about this line of
questioning:
- Did you own your first NEW car on the day you turned 18? Did you by the time you turned 34?
- Did you have a place of your own by the time you were 18? Did you by the time you were 34?
- Had you filled that place with furniture when you were 18? 34?
- Did you have a spouse or significant other by the time you were
18? But by the time you turned
34?
- Did you have children when you were 18 years old? Did you by the time you turned 34?
This line of
questioning helps illustrate just how little you had at age 18, and just how
much you had acquired by the time you turned 34. That’s why we call it the Age of Acquisition: People in this life stage seem to be
consuming everything in their path.
Not everyone will
answer these questions precisely the same.
But generally speaking, at age 18 we’re often born into consumer
adulthood with virtually nothing, except that which our parents let us take
from home. And by the time we’re 34,
many of us owned at least one copy of almost anything it takes to run a typical
household. (And some stuff you don’t need to run a household!)
In addition to
those young adults who will leave their parents home, go off to college and
then venture off to start their own life, there is a large and growing segment
of young adults that are having difficulty with this move, or are purposefully
delaying it. Often, this hesitation is
in response to the post-recession labor market.
Often unable to find a full-time job in their chosen field after
graduating from college, many twenty-something adults return to their parents’
home until their income can match the cost of striking out on their own. Think of them as return-to-nesters. By the
way, this can still be a very attractive target group, as they often earn an
income that is not going toward a
rent or house payment (if they are living in a home that is paid for by someone
else). That leaves a lot of
discretionary income for things like entertainment, clothes, electronics, etc.
Marketing Implications: Serving people that are in the Age of
Acquisition is no small challenge. Yes,
with all the spending they do, one might be tempted into believing “this’ll be
easy.” But adults 18-34 are busy
building families (although later than ever), climbing their corporate ladders,
and still drawn to engaging in a highly active social life.
Millennials are doing
things differently, right down to the homes they live in. Where there may once have been a living room,
there is now a game room (equipped with at least one game console and a plasma
flat-screen). Where there once was a
formal dining room, there might now be more of a social center, which can be
used for homework (career or college), entertaining, or board games with the
family. They’ve never known a world
without very advance personal computing, and they’re driving the break-neck
speed of innovation in smartphones, tablet computing, and more.
The Age of Upgrades is
ready… to spend with companies that have upped their game.
Mike Anderson, for The Marketing Mind consumer trends blog, service of
The Center for Sales Strategy.
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