CRM - November 2008 - (Page 30)

Generational Spending Generation X The Slackers’ X-cellent Adventure Generation X has a reputation for aimlessness, but, in truth, its members are concerned about the future—and they’re using their resources accordingly | By Marshall Lager “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy $#!† we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War is a spiritual war; our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.” —Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), Fight Club (1999) AGE: 32 to 43 (born between 1965 and 1976) BIGGEST FINANCIAL CONCERN: Caring for parents and kids BIGGEST POLITICAL CONCERN: The end of Social Security PREFERRED COMMUNICATION CHANNEL: Web research; in-store purchase; customer support by phone How do you define a generation that has resisted definition? The pop-culture quotes that best fit Generation X (we sprinkled a few across this article) show an aversion to predictability and routine, which has contributed to the broad dismissal of its members as “slackers.” But yesterday’s slackers are now raising families, buying property—housing crisis notwithstanding—and trying to endure their prime earning years without sacrificing their kids’, their parents’, or their own futures. Sources even differ on which years bracket Generation X, and that makes it difficult to get precise data. Some demographers use 1964 as the starting point and 1979 as the end; others start as early as 1961 or end as late as 1984. Some firms (such as Forrester Research) place Generation X between ages 28 and 41, while others have a lower limit of 25, and still others 32. For our purposes, Gen X will be those people born between 1965 and 1976 (now between the ages of 32 and 43), which most closely mirrors the definition used by the United States Census Bureau in its March 2003 Current Population Survey. But the Census Bureau itself isn’t always consistent; a planning document from 2000 described an intended Generation X study as “concentrat[ing] on the attitudes www.destinationCRM.com 30 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | NOVEMBER 2008 http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - November 2008

CRM - November 2008 Contents Front Office Feedback Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Working with the Years CRM on Twitter Virtual Spenders Contact Centers Chatting to Success The Complexity Chasm Required Reading Generational Spending: A Special Report Who, What, Where, When, Y The Slackers’ X-cellent Adventure The Boomer Boom The Matures Endure Boosting Productivity North of the Border Changing the Channel Invicta’s Thrill of Victory Secret of My Success Connect Re:Tooling Pint of View

CRM - November 2008

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