Changing Demographics

About Changing Demographics

The year 2000 is the beginning of a new millennium, a census year, and the Year of the Older Person.  The changing demographic makeup of the United States offers numerous marketing opportunities for textile and apparel companies. Despite the widespread influence of popular culture, consumers have specific wants and needs depending on their cultural background and age group.  Statistical information on the changing demographics and how marketers can use it is available at  American Demographics and the American Marketing Association.  

Consumers have things in common with others of their own age group.  Marketers have created names for different age categories in the United States and different products and techniques are used to capture the group’s attention.  According to consumer behavior experts Nancy Rabolt and Michael Solomon, “Although many apparel companies claim they design for a certain attitude, not an age group, fashion marketers often target products and services to one or more specific age cohorts."

Babies and Children (0-6x, 6-12) is one category.  Understandably, advertising is aimed at parents.  The Gap is a company that manufactures clothing for babies and children through Baby Gap and Gap Kids.  Foot Locker also targets this market with selections “for young feet.”

A major market today is the teen market which includes people born between 1977 and 1994.   Also known as Generation Y and Echo Boomers, the teen market is increasing nearly twice as fast as the general population.  Teens spend money on “feel-good” products.  What is popular in the teen market is hard to follow because it changes so rapidly.  Teens rely on peer groups and advertising for information on how to look and dress in order to “belong.” Many magazines aim at helping generation Y fit in with their peer group. Gurl  and  Teen People are two online magazines for teenagers featuring music, chatrooms, makeover suggestions, and information on colleges.  In addition many clothing companies have noticed this is a hot market and are vying for attention with stores, catalogs and Internet sites. Delias is a clothing site with trendy styles aimed at girls 10-20. Jerkface is also a generation y shopping site but also includes coupons and helpful opinions on clothing.

Generation X is made up of people in the 18-29 age range.  Also called Baby Busters and Slackers, this group spends $125 billion annually on cosmetics, fast food, beer, clothing and footwear.  Generation X women read Cosmopolitan magazine.  Major retailers for this group are specialty chains like Banana Republic , Gap, and Limited as well as department stores such as Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s.  An online magazine aimed at reaching Generation X is Base   while a good site for generation Xer’s planning on getting married is Brides and Grooms.

The Baby Boomers are the largest market segment.  Demographers have likened the baby boomers’ effect on population statistics as a “pig in a python.”  Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964.  They are interested in nutrition, fitness, and "cocooning."  A main retailer for the full figured woman primarily in this age group is Lane Bryant.  This site has an extensive showing of current styles.  Another shopping site is Boom, an online shopping mall for baby boomers.  Foot Locker has had a large ad campaign for middle aged persons.  Women have covered their gray with hair coloring products for decades, but men in the Baby Boomer generation are getting into hair color too.  Just for Men hair color aims at this market.

The final group is virtually untargeted.  It is the gray market, which is men and women from 55-64, and 65 and over.  They are targeted by JC Penney special needs and McCall’s patterns (perfect fit).  Recognizing the importance of this market, the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association organized an Active and Ageless symposium and fashion show in October 1999.  Entitled "The Changing Shape of Fashion," the educational symposium explored fashion design, lifestyle and marketing trends for the mature market. The "Generations of Style" fashion show featured trend-setting sportswear brands modeled by Olympian athletes, sports figures, and other celebrities. 

Other important demographic groups in the U.S. are based on race and /or ethnicity.  The major segments are Hispanic, Asian-Americans, and African-Americans..  More than 40% of Hispanic consumers say they deliberately attempt to buy products that show an interest in the Hispanic consumer.  Considering this and also that there are over 19 million Hispanics in the U.S., this is a market to watch.  Retailers aiming at Hispanics are Sandra Salcedo, Avon, and JC Penney.  Two online magazines are designed for Hispanics in the Generation X and Y age cohorts:   Salsa zine and Picosito  They include news, music, interviews, and advice pages.

Alvarez Brothers

The African-American segment currently makes up 12% of the U.S. population.  Magazines such as Essence, Vibe, and Ebony aim at this segment.  Companies targeting African Americans include Smiles fashions (Nefertiti collection), and JC Penney. Beauty is an online site for buying makeup for darker skin tones created by Iman, a model of color.  An online magazine for African-Americans is called Black Voices.  This includes shopping, chat rooms, and Oprah’s book club list, in addition to basic magazine features.

Ashley Addison	Chancellor Logan

The Asian-American segment is another important group.  There are 10.5 million people of Asian descent in America today and the number is growing by 20% annually.  The Asian American market is further divided into Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and South Asian.   Asians tend to be status conscious and face sizing problems due to their small frames.  A commonly read magazine in the 18-40 age range is A Magazine.  Companies that have addressed the needs of Asian-Americans are Wonderbra (which developed a line for Asian women), Sears, and JC Penney.  

These are only a few of the major demographic shifts in the United States today.  Demographic trends constantly change as a result of factors such as economics, war, immigration, and health epidemics.  It is a marketer's job to stay on top of these trends.  A final site, showing how global fashion markets have become can be found on CNN. 

This page was created with the assistance of Nancy Conner.