The notion of cohorts is becoming increasingly popular among trade journals and is even cited in undergraduate marketing textbooks as a segmentation technique; however, little empirical evidence exists to support the validity of the concept. The goal of the current study was twofold: (1) to examine the central relationship in the cohort concept—whether values can predict cohort groupings; and (2) to determine if consumers within cohort groupings cite similar external events as influential to them. Based on data gathered from 373 subjects, a multiple discriminant analysis was conducted to determine if subjects' ratings on seven value dimensions could predict their cohort membership. Additionally, cross-tabulations were conducted to explore the significant external life events each cohort cited as influential. The results showed that 45% of participants could be correctly classified into their cohort grouping and that external life events were related to these groupings; however, the results raise questions about the existence of consumer cohorts.
Articles on Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y are easily found. Trade journals such as Brandweek, Advertising Age, and Marketing News frequently cite differences among these groups of individuals and explain how these differences can lead to marketing opportunities. For example, Baby Boomers' disregard for authority and conformity is thought to fuel the alternative medication industry (Miller, 1994) while luxury car manufacturers are tapping into Boomers' indulgent nature (Time, 1999). The pragmatic and savvy side of Generation Y is creating the need for advertising campaigns that are unpretentious and for fashion models who look like “regular teenagers and not superglam androgynes” (Neuborne and Kerwin, 1999, p. 88), while Generation X's need for a balance between work and family life has them searching for products and jobs that bring fun into their lives (Booth, 1999).
Generation X and Generation Y (also called Echo Boomers and the Millennium Generation) are examples of cohorts, while the large group of consumers called the Baby Boomers comprises two cohort groupings. The term “cohorts” refers to proposed groups of individuals who are born during the same time period and who experienced similar external events during their formative or coming-of-age years (i.e., late adolescent and early adulthood years) Meredith and Schewe, 1994 and Ryder, 1965. External events, such as economic changes, wars, political ideologies, technological innovations, and social upheavals, are thought to define consumers' values, attitudes, and preferences. These “cohort effects” are proposed to stay with that cohort and direct its behavior over its lifetime. Additionally, these effects are thought to distinguish one cohort from another (Ryder, 1965).
As the definition of cohorts states, the environment in which consumers come of age is thought to be very influential. Not only does this environment influence consumers' values and attitudes, but it is also thought to influence their consumption behaviors over a lifetime. As such, cohorts can be a valuable segmentation technique for marketers. In fact, using cohorts to segment consumers has been featured in marketing management textbooks (e.g., Kotler, 2000). However, little empirical evidence exists to support the notion that significant external events can create unique groups of consumers with similar value systems. As such, the purpose of this paper is to explore whether cohorts exist by examining whether values can predict cohort membership and whether influential external life events distinguish cohort groupings.
To accomplish this task, the paper is organized as follows. First, theoretical arguments for how external life events influence value systems will be presented. Second, research illustrating the different environments in which consumers came of age will be reviewed. Taken together, these two streams of literature theoretically support the notion of cohorts. The final sections of the paper empirically test the cohort concept (i.e., whether cohort groupings can be distinguished based on their values and significant external life events).
The goal of the current study was to empirically support the cohort concept. Although the results found here did not fully support this notion, the findings suggest the need to reassess the theory of cohorts, what underlies group cohesiveness, and what, if anything, influences similarities within age groups. With the idea of cohorts spreading throughout trade journals, trade books, and into textbooks, empirical support for this idea is needed. This study was the first attempt to this end and illustrates the need for future endeavors to determine whether, or the extent to which, cohorts exist.
