Consumer behavior: yesterday, today, and tomorrow

Business Horizons, May-June, 1991 by Judith Lynne Zaichkowsky

The change in values from me to we. The changing values are apparent. in the near past, the conservative material ethic was necessary. In the 1960s and 1970s, the education system exploded. Wave after wave of baby boomers became educated. The early graduates got the good jobs. By the late 1970s and early 1980s we were dealing with the big group. The tabor market was flooded with bachelor's degrees. Employment was a major concern. The educated focus in the early 1970s was "what job to take." In the early 1980s it was "would I get a job." No wonder the majority had a consumer conservatism, big-business outlook. They all wanted to get ahead and the environment was competitive. It was every man and woman for himself/herself.

Now a new problem is emerging that compels the baby boomers to be more stable. Organizations are typically pyramids-one president, several vice presidents, even more assistants, and so on. These pyramidal or triangular structures work extremely well when there is a triangular work force. What we have is a society in which the majority of lower to upper managers are between 34 and 44. This group can be seen as moving along without changing its structure. Those who are 34 will have to wait 20 years to get jobs in top management. Also, there are fewer younger workers around to take the jobs of those who are now 34 to 36. Structural organizations, which function on the presumption that there are a lot of people at the bottom and very few people at the top, work very well until there is nobody at the bottom. Now everyone wants to be boss and nobody exists to do the work.

In the 1990s there is little promise for baby boomers to get their promotions within companies; lateral moves and job switching are more likely to occur. Therefore, they will become more stable in their jobs, and they will look to the quality of life rather than material goods. Non-career issues will take up the energy previously put into material pursuits of the 1980s. People will increasingly derive their personal satisfaction from activities outside the work environment.

People are also reflecting on ethics. Business ethics will be a major retraining tool integrated into every business school's curriculum. A Wall Street Journal article ("Tombstone Test" 1989) cites that managers want to be remembered for ethics, not sales. Eulogies such as "never cheated anyone" or "hiring employees that others have shunned" are the hope of the 1990s businessperson.

A change from needing things to wanting experiences. Besides this change of values due to the shift in focus from the job to non-work issues, the aging baby boomers also bring a shift in needs and wants. Growing up required acquisitions. However, once homes and furniture and cars are bought and the group moves over the age marker of 40, needs and wants change from possessions to experiences. A recent Wall Street Journal consumer survey ("Little Wishes..." 1989) showed three-fourths of the 2,000 consumers surveyed say they've fulfilled most if not all of their material needs. That is one reason why those who haven't married or had children are anxious to do so. It is the last chance for women in their late 30s to experience motherhood. People wishing to become respectable, ethical parents are turning from the me generation to the we generation. The BMW was nice, but that was the symbol of the 1980s. The 1990s are for children. This is the source for personal satisfaction.