Page 100 - Marketing Management

COLLECTING INFORMATION AND FORECASTING DEMAND | CHAPTER 3 77

workers in two generations. Despite lagging family incomes, their disposable income has grown
twice as fast as the rest of the population and could reach $1.2 trillion by 2012. From the food U.S.
consumers eat, to the clothing, music, and cars they buy, Hispanics are having a huge impact.
Companies are scrambling to refine their products and marketing to reach this fastest-growing
and most influential consumer group: 29 Research by Hispanic media giant Univision suggests
70 percent of Spanish-language viewers are more likely to buy a product when it’s advertised in
Spanish. Fisher-Price, recognizing that many Hispanic mothers did not grow up with its brand,
shifted away from appeals to their heritage. Instead, its ads emphasize the joy of mother and child
playing together with Fisher-Price toys. 30
Several food, clothing, and furniture companies have directed products and promotions to one
31
or more ethnic groups. Yet marketers must not overgeneralize. Within each ethnic group are con-
32
sumers quite different from each other. For instance, a 2005 Yankelovich Monitor Multicultural
Marketing study separated the African American market into six sociobehavioral segments:
Emulators, Seekers, Reachers, Attainers, Elites, and Conservers. The largest and perhaps most influ-
ential are the Reachers (24 percent) and Attainers (27 percent), with very different needs. Reachers,
around 40, are slowly working toward the American dream. Often single parents caring for elderly
relatives, they have a median income of $28,000 and seek the greatest value for their money.
Attainers have a more defined sense of self and solid plans for the future. Their median income is
$55,000, and they want ideas and information to improve their quality of life. 33
Diversity goes beyond ethnic and racial markets. More than 51 million U.S. consumers have
disabilities, and they constitute a market for home delivery companies, such as Peapod, and for
various drugstore chains.

EDUCATIONAL GROUPS The population in any society falls into five educational groups:
illiterates, high school dropouts, high school diplomas, college degrees, and professional degrees.
Over two-thirds of the world’s 785 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (India,
China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Egypt); of all illiterate adults in the
world, two-thirds are women. 34 The United States has one of the world’s highest percentages of
college-educated citizens: 54 percent of those 25 years or older have had “some college or more,”
28 percent have bachelor’s degrees, and 10 percent have advanced degrees. The large number of
educated people in the United States drives strong demand for high-quality books, magazines, and
travel, and creates a high supply of skills.

HOUSEHOLD PATTERNS The traditional household consists of a husband, wife, and
children (and sometimes grandparents). Yet by 2010, only one in five U.S. households will consist
of a married couple with children under 18. Other households are single live-alones (27 percent),
single-parent families (8 percent), childless married couples and empty nesters (32 percent), living
with nonrelatives only (5 percent), and other family structures (8 percent). 35
More people are divorcing or separating, choosing not to marry, marrying later, or marrying
without intending to have children. Each group has distinctive needs and buying habits. The
single, separated, widowed, and divorced may need smaller apartments; inexpensive and
smaller appliances, furniture, and furnishings; and smaller-size food packages. 36
Nontraditional households are growing more rapidly than traditional households. Academics
and marketing experts estimate that the gay and lesbian population ranges between 4 percent and
8 percent of the total U.S. population, higher in urban areas. 37 Even so-called traditional house-
holds have experienced change. Boomer dads marry later than their fathers or grandfathers did,
shop more, and are much more active in raising their kids. To appeal to them, the maker of the
high-concept Bugaboo stroller designed a model with a sleek look and dirt bike–style tires. Dyson,
the high-end vacuum company, is appealing to dads’ inner geek by focusing on the machine’s revo-
lutionary technology. Before Dyson entered the U.S. market, men weren’t even on the radar for vac-
uum cleaner sales. Now they make up 40 percent of Dyson’s customers. 38

The Economic Environment
The available purchasing power in an economy depends on current income, prices, savings, debt,
and credit availability. As the recent economic downturn vividly demonstrated, trends affecting
purchasing power can have a strong impact on business, especially for companies whose products
are geared to high-income and price-sensitive consumers.