Despite a multitude of efforts, research, and time, marketers are still falling short in their attempt to target one of the most coveted and hard-to-reach consumer groups: Generation X. The group
remains so elusive that even defining it becomes problematic. The U.S. Census Bureau says Gen Xers were born between 1964 and 1984, while others use cutoff dates of 1961 to 1981. Still others use the
much narrower definition of birth years between 1965 and 1979. Regardless of when they were born, there are somewhere around 80 million of them out there, which makes them highly sought after by
marketers. Ann Fishman, president of New Orleans-based Generational-Targeted Marketing, says the first step in capturing the market is to understand the kind of people who are in it. Companies need
to remember that Gen Xers were the first generation to come of age alongside technology and invented the art of Internet comparison shopping. Many of them grew up in broken homes or homes with two
working parents, and as such they became self-reliant and practical--some would say cynical--at an early age. As a result, they've never had a lot of patience with insincere marketing efforts.
Fishman says a GenXer would buy a car by selecting the make and model he wants, then e-mailing dealers within a 200-mile radius to see which can offer the best deal. A Boomer, by contrast, is more
likely to purchase from a dealer close to home.
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