Given a choice, we'll take it

American Demographics, Sept, 1996 by Crispell Diane

Depending on whether you're a half-full or half-empty glass sort of person, you might find the amount of choice in U.S. society a blessing or a curse. Although most Americans face financial and time restrictions of some kind, most of us also have a great deal of say about how we spend our time and money. And we take full advantage of the fact, as evidenced by virtually every article in this issue.

Self Navigators, the emerging values group described on page 36, may epitomize the result of choice in the 1990s. This group of predominantly younger adults doesn't give a hoot about living by time-honored traditions, which frees them to mix and match seemingly unrelated attitudes and behavior and create eclectic lifestyles.

African Americans as a group face some choice constraints because of their lower-than-average incomes. Many cannot afford to buy homes, for example. Yet even these consumers make the most of the alternatives they have in other categories, such as apparel and personal care (see page 52).

The same is true for mature consumers, whose life experiences and circumstances direct some, but not all, of their choices. Some older people who've lost their spouses and have poor health continue to make their way in the outside world, while others retreat. Older people with different perspectives react differently as consumers, as revealed by the segmentation system presented on page 44.

Sometimes the choice is in not making a choice at all. Americans who opt out of the election process this fall would probably agree with the early-20th-century French writer Jean Rostand that "far too often the choices reality proposes are such as to take away one's taste for choosing." Another way to avoid choice is to have your cake and eat it, too. Radio is a good way to achieve this enviable state, because you can do so many other things while you're listening to it--drive, clean, exercise, and so on. Classical, jazz, and other primarily instrumental music is especially easy to "multi-task" to, which may help explain the growth of its listening public noted on page 60.

Some choices are enjoyable to contemplate, such as whether to visit an historic site while on vacation (see page 13). Others are painful, such as making arrangements for a loved one's funeral (page 21). Some choices are merely dutiful, as is the case for dispirited voters who nonetheless trudge to polling places. Yet others are actively sought, as parents who want more say about their children's education push for school choice (page 4).

The value of choice is nothing new. Margaret Mead recognized it in her seminal 1928 book, Coming of Age in Samoa: "Chief among our gains must be reckoned this possibility of choice, the recognition of many possible ways of life.... A civilization in which there are many standards offers a possibility of satisfactory adjustment to individuals of many different temperamental types, of diverse gifts and varying interests."

Given a choice, Americans will take it. Those who want to get and keep consumers' attention have their work cut out for them. To help, we offer a dazzling choice of marketing products and services in the Marketing Tools Directory enclosed with this issue.