Boom. Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer – The Baby Boomer Woman

Citation

Warrington, T. (2007), "Boom. Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer – The Baby Boomer Woman", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 182-183. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760710746193

Boom presents Baby Boomer women as the new power consumer – influencing significant amounts of spending for themselves and their households – and who are generally ignored or, at best, misunderstood. This book demonstrates the current and emerging opportunities available to marketers, and cites dozens of real examples of companies that are successfully courting the Baby Boomer woman. Examples from companies such as Palm Zire, Ford, Seabourn Cruises, Best Western, Vermont Country Store, and More magazine are peppered throughout the chapters, providing additional insight into concepts presented.

Chapter 1, “She's the sweet spot – the new demographic of choice”, successfully argues the importance of the Baby Boomer Woman as a target market. As the largest generation, Baby Boomers are an important market themselves, but consider that most Baby Boomers today are women. Baby Boomer women are the first generation of women to have significant spending power brought on by successful careers (these women are now at their peak earning potential), are managing (or soon to be) inheritances from parents or husbands, and are primary purchasing agents of their household. “In the next decade, women will control two‐thirds of the consumer wealth in the United States;” and Baby Boomer women are “… currently influencing as much as 80 percent of the $2.1 trillion Boomers spend on consumer goods and services” (p. 19). “She is already … spending well over a trillion dollars a year on consumer goods and services” (p. 9). Even in the “typically male” industries, women are responsible for more than half of the purchases. This is not just a US phenomenon – similar consumption patterns for this market have been identified in Japan, France, Great Britain, Italy, and Canada.

Chapter 2, “She's complex – why there's no such thing as ‘the’ Baby Boomer woman”, looks into the decision‐making process of this market, and posits that there are many dimensions to this Baby Boomer woman. This chapter compares the decision‐making process of men and women, and explains that men tend to use a more logical and linear decision‐making process where women are more layered and cyclical. Women spend a great deal of time researching all of the possible solutions to their problems, searching for the ultimate one.

Chapter 3, “She's her stage, not her age”, makes an appeal to marketers to think beyond the woman's age by focusing on her life stages and circumstances. Understanding that women's circumstances are more predictive of their consumption patterns than age, is an important lesson. Brown and Orsborn explain that a 40‐year‐old and a 60‐year‐old grandmother may have similar purchasing behavior in regard to their grandchildren even though they are 20 years apart in age. Additionally, it is important to recognize that Baby Boomer women may be in multiple life stages simultaneously, and that they might revisit a number of life stages multiple times. Brown and Orsborn discuss how life stage influencers play out in five categories – Body and Soul, Work and Money, Leisure and Travel, Home and Family, and Technology. Each category is subdivided by Trailing Edge Boomers (40‐mid‐50s) and Leading Edge Boomers (mid‐50s‐60s). These categories talk about the Boomer Woman's fitness definitions, financial savvy, planning for family travel, being the caretaker of the household (and do‐it‐yourself home projects), and internet use.

Chapter 4, “She's motivated – the 3‐D view of her”, discusses the psychographic and behavioral influences within each life stage, and proposes that demographics alone are insufficient to understand and segment this market. As such, Brown and Orsborn propose the use of three archetypes. The first – the Conventional Boomer Woman – is passive and seeks safety and comfort. “Her motivational orientation is that of maintaining security, seeking to ground herself in stability and predictability – even at the expense of her own sense of autonomy and self‐expression” (p. 120). The second archetype – the Transitional Boomer Woman – is open‐minded and experimental. As a result of some event – divorce, education, trauma, etc. – she has moved into a new life stage that is insecure and not yet defined. During this stage she seeks a new definition for her life. “This is the stage during which she becomes disillusioned with what she had previously taken for granted and begins to assert her own individuality” (p. 121). The final archetype is the Aspirational Baby Boomer Woman. At this level, she has redefined her life and seeks to live an “authentic life.” She is accepting of herself and her flaws. Each stage can be viewed through a variety of lenses – economic, work/life orientation, problem‐solving outlook, caretaker/relationship mode, and life stage impact. Brown and Orsborn present their Imago Diagnostic Tool as a model to demonstrate and describe each of these three archetypes.

In Chapter 5, “She's in the driver's seat – she'll problem‐solve her own way through the marketplace”, Brown and Orsborn discuss how the Baby Boomer woman shops. Using the traditional consumer decision‐making model, the authors bring the reader from problem solving through post‐purchase evaluation. As the primary purchasing agent of the household, the Baby Boomer woman is the problem‐solver who conducts a lengthy search to find the ultimate solution. In winning her loyalty, the authors project eight main deliverables for Baby Boomer women – help her solve a problem, provide her with genuine value, offer her customization, promise and deliver on authenticity, offer her filtering tools, feed her attention to details, satisfy her demand for service, and humanize the experience. “These women are smart, resourceful, and savvy. If your brand doesn't deliver on all its promises, or fails to speak to a consumer's specific, personal needs, your brand will become irrelevant” (p. 158).

Chapter 6, “She's changing channels – shaping the new brandscape”, notes that “… women of the Baby Boomer generation are powerfully connected and communicating to one another through a vast personal, professional, social, and spiritual network of tributaries” (p. 167). Women over 40 are more influenced by their social and personal networks than they are by mass media. This consumer is very relationship‐oriented. As such, marketers are wise to use public relations and word‐of‐mouth marketing to reach this market. Additionally, given the lengthy search process used by this consumer, marketers should consider using the Internet as an additional communications tool. Brown and Orsborn offer tips for developing the online experience.

Chapter 7 “She's waiting – the marketer's call to action”, specifically addresses marketing directors, corporations, Baby Boomer women and executives, and market researchers. Although this consumer market may be complex and challenging, its size and influence provide great opportunity for marketers. “These are exciting times to a woman 40+. She has never been more powerful, more creative, and more demanding. Get in sync with her, and these can be equally exciting times to be a marketer as well” (p. 215).

This book should be of special interest to companies who think they know Baby Boomer women, as well as those who aspire to (or who are currently) serving this market. Brown and Orsborn use a combination of statistical evidence, psychological life stage models, and real‐life company examples to guide the reader through a new understanding of Baby Boomer women.