Researching baby boomers, a guide to online sources
There’s much discussion these days regarding the aging of the baby boom generation and the effect their maturing will have on the marketplace. This attention is such that even businesses who haven’t thought about focusing effort on this group of people may now be considering it. If you’re moving into this space, differentiating yourself from the legions of other businesses doing the same is a must. One way to do so is by “knowing” this group of consumers as well as you can before you start to reach out to them.
We’ll get there, but first some background: The Census Bureau defines baby boomers as folks born between 1946 and 1964. The term “baby boomer” is – like “gen y” or “millennial” – a marketing term, coined by our friends at Yankelovitch. As such, no one actually thinks that everyone under this heading conforms to some sort of blanket set of characteristics or traits. Instead, using a heading like this one is a more or less effective way of articulating a target audience and making some general assumptions about that audience based on research. Individuals will vary within this demographic, of course, but by looking at research sources covering this age group, we can start to see some general characteristics and consumer preferences emerge. And you can start to feel confident about investing time and money in reaching out to them knowledgeably.
Today we’ll walk through three steps to researching the baby boom generation. First, we’ll look at this population in a particular place and recommend tools to analyze generational trends locally. Second, we’ll investigate purchasing habits and time use of boomers regardless of location. And lastly we’ll take a look at some specific consumer issues affecting this age group.
Characteristics of Baby Boomers by Location
These sources will provide information about people of a specific age in a particular place.
The best tool to start with when researching baby boomers in your market is the American FactFinder. It’s put out by the Census Bureau and is a great site to use whenever you want to find anything out about the people in a particular place. Search by city, county, zip code, or state to find all sorts of social, demographic, and housing characteristics of the people who live there. Once you’ve searched, click the “Show More” button next to the General Characteristics heading for a decade-by-decade break-down of population by age.
The FactFinder is a statistical demographic resource. For psychographic information about the people in a particular place, use the You Are Where You Live site. To access the search tool, follow the link and click the button in the right-hand column. Then enter a zip code. The site classifies the people in a place into descriptive groups like "New Empty Nesters" or "Beltway Boomers," and provides broad consumer activities information about each group.
For consumer activities statistics from the government, specific to U.S. regions, see this Consumer Expenditure Survey report which shows the annual expenditure for 55- to 64-year olds by broad U.S. region. Here’s the report for 45- to 54-year olds.
Many states also track their populations internally. These local demographic offices can be good sources for population projections and trend monitoring. Try a Web search for “your state AND demographics” and look for government sites (.gov, .state, maybe even .org). By way of example of what you might find, here’s a Minnesota Demographic Center report on Population Projections to 2030. And here’s a population projection report from the Nevada State Demographer’s Office. Each lists projections by age.
Sometimes third party organizations will also provide regional coverage, such as this Aging in Appalachia report from the Population Reference Bureau.
Another Population Reference Bureau report may shed light on a nation-wide location-based trend: boomers moving from urban to rural areas (U.S. Baby Boomers Moving Out, Minorities Moving in). This isn’t specific to any one location, but may provide insight generally.
Characteristics of Baby Boomers as a Whole
If you’re looking for more in-depth statistics and research on baby boomers, or are indifferent to location, consider the following sources.
A Census Bureau Backgrounder will provide a statistical introduction to the U.S. baby boomer population as a whole. This MetLife study overview (called The Average 62-year Old Boomer) will provide discussion.
The 2007 Time Use Survey looks at how Americans spend their time. Table 3 of this report breaks down time spent by age, along with numerous other characteristics.
The Consumer Expenditure Survey has numerous age-based reports which offer insight into how baby boomers spend their money.
- CES average annual spending by age, which provides characteristics of consumers by age including how much people in decade-by-decade blocks spend on various consumer goods.
- CES average spending by selected age, which groups people into bigger blocks by age range.
- CES share of annual expenditure, which will tell you what percentage of their budget people of a certain age spend on different items.
- CES annual expenditure by income for 55- to 64-year olds and 45- to 54-year olds, which will show the number of people of a particular age and income level along with how much those different income levels spend on various products and services.
Specific Consumer Issues
There are numerous sources that will help you research specific consumer characteristics and preferences within the baby boom generation. Here’s a sampling:
The AARP has information on socially conscious shopping among boomers.
The Digital Future Report, produced in association with the AARP, compares Internet activities of those above age 50 with those below.
Highlights from a Media Audit report on consumption patterns of people reaching retirement age can be found via the Research Brief blog.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research has a recent report titled The Housing Crash and the Retirement Prospects of Late Baby Boomers, via Docuticker.
And the Pew Research Center tracks data on consumer outlook (in an unfortunately titled report The Gloomiest Generation).
The sheer number, spending power, general intelligence, and charming good looks of baby boomers make them an attractive group of customers for a growing number of businesses. If you count yourself as one of those (the growing businesses, not good-looking boomers), we hope you’ll get some use out of these free online statistical sources.
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