Intergenerational Consumer Influence in the US and Republic of China

Abstract

As a consequence of the changing world demographics, and an increasingly global media in the form of TV programs, popular music and movies, marketers are seeking ways in which to exploit intergenerational and international relationships to improve the targeting of marketing related communications. It is well recognized that family members serve as influencers in consumption decisions both up and down the family structure. This paper examines the family relationships in the United States and the Republic of China (Taiwan or hereinafter ROC) as referent influences when targeting marketing messages. The members of family units in the two countries completed virtually identical surveys allowing the research to examine the consumer socialization of the family in a younger to elder structure, rather than the more common parent to child structure. Three hundred sets of surveys were distributed in each country through private high schools with student bodies of similar family income, education and occupation. All schools were in middle-class urban settings. The familial roles of teenager, parent and grandparent in the two countries are examined in light of possible alignments for formal and informal marketing message transmissions. This paper also considers the types of products or activities to be consumed, the member of the generational triad whose money is being spent, and potential differences between products or activities that are solely teenager consumed versus those consumed by the teenager as part of the f amily. Significant differences were found in the relationship pairing between the two countries, with the US grandparents agreeing with the teen's assessment most frequently, and the ROC parents and grandparents in closer accord. The alignments have potentially important implications for the advisability of intergeneration marketing efforts on a global scale.