BA Marketing and Communications - Consumer Behaviour, Generation X & M&S by Charlotte Moore

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-22 09:38:42 UTC

To begin my research on Generation X and its demographic attributes, rather than diving straight into their purchasing behaviours, I wanted to gain insight into their common characteristics. The article below helped me to grow deeper understanding of Generation X's attitudes to work, life, technology and the potential economic state which may have influenced their attitudes to the above.

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-22 09:53:34 UTC

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charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-22 11:46:38 UTC

This article helped me gain a great amount of knowledge when it comes to Generation X's relationship with media and technology. Having the facts contextualised and backed up with a story-telling narrative assisted me in exploring why Generation X are the middle children when it comes to technology.

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-22 11:46:56 UTC

When carrying out research for Generation X, I was intrigued to find out what their relationship is like with social media and how active they are on each of the platforms.

According to this article Gen X "are the heaviest social media users (even more so than Millennials), spending seven hours per week on social media platforms." I would definitley say that this article excludes Generation Z because I believe that we are the generation with the heaviest social media usage. But when reading this, it surprised me, because when I read (from the other articles) that Gen X "work hard-play hard" I wouldn't have thought that they would have much time to spend on Social Media.

If you look at my Survey Monkey results, when asked 'what marketing strategies influence your purchasing behaviour' only 5 out of 28 (18%) opted for social media. So moving forward I believe that Social Media may not be the best way to communicate with Generation X, when targeting this generation brands should focus on email marketing, vouchers and offers and loyalty programmes.

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-22 11:47:10 UTC

This article caught my eye when I saw the first sentence "The majority of Gen Xers are
busy professionals...they’re online
activities are more driven
by purpose and intent than
casual browsing." I found this interesting because this could shape the way a company communicates with a Generation X consumer. If they are only going onto the M&S website, or the H&M website to find that specific dress that they are after, then the website would need to entice that consumer to browse for related items such as shoe suggestions or jewelery suggestions. Which may then cause Generation X to browse a little longer and in turn increase the brand's profit.

I then went to read further and found some great graphs and statistics (the graphs are below this post) that looked at Generation X's relationship to technology in relation to their purchasing journey. Apparently, even though new media continues to get stronger, traditional media such as TV ads, Magazine ads, billboards etc have a positive effect in getting Gen X's attention. Although, with Facebook being Generation X's ''social hub" they are starting to adapt and incorporate social media platforms into their purchasing journey.

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Image references:

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-22 17:01:36 UTC

•En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Joules (Clothing). [online] Available at: [Accessed 15 April 2020].

•LEVINE, J., n.d. Over 40? Whatever You Do, Avoid These 9 Dating Mistakes. [online] Reader's Digest. Available at: [Accessed 15 April 2020].

•H&M. 2020. H&M Offers Fashion And Quality At The Best Price. [online] Available at: [Accessed 15 April 2020].

•Publicasity. 2020. Creating A Stand Out Press Day | F & F PR | F&F PR Agency | Publicasity. [online] Available at: [Accessed 15 April 2020].

•Hitti, N., 2019. Zara Logo Gets Controversial Revamp By Baron & Baron. [online] Dezeen. Available at: [Accessed 28 April 2020].

•John Lewis & Partners. 2020. John Lewis & Partners | Homeware, Fashion, Electricals & More. [online] Available at: [Accessed 15 April 2020].

•Rochdaleonline.co.uk. 2018. Jobs At Risk At Tesco. [online] Available at: [Accessed 15 April 2020].

•Ocean Retail Park, Portsmouth. 2020. Lidl | Ocean Retail Park, Portsmouth. [online] Available at: [Accessed 15 April 2020].

•Glassdoor.co.uk. 2020. [online] Available at: [Accessed 15 April 2020].

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-25 12:48:53 UTC

As you can see below, the results for the first question 'what year were you born?' Were quite even. A higher number though, were born between the years 1976-1980 and 1960-1963. So the results that will follow, could be quite varied based on the fact that we are looking at consumers aged as young as 40 up to the age of 60.

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-25 12:55:47 UTC

Most of my survey was answered by females (93%). This makes me think either males don't like answering surveys about shopping, or maybe Generation X males aren't on social media as much as females are (which is where I advertised my survey).

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-25 13:01:25 UTC

I asked this question so that it would help me to decide what brand I would incorporate into my report. Out of the top 3, which were M&S, F&F and H&M (does it have something to do with the & sign?) I chose M&S. This is because I was interested in discovering how they correspond and communicate with Generation X.

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-25 13:06:39 UTC

The results for 'What do you do for a living' were very varied. With the most being part of the service or healthcare industry.

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charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-25 13:08:29 UTC

I was quite surprised with the results from this question. From my statistical research, I found out that Generation X mostly have a "a middle-class income, with an average of $50,400." but this does not correlate with my survey results. It was very averagely spread across £10,000 to £50,000 a year. When I look back at their professions, I assume that those earning £10,000 and below are those that are carers for family members or maybe retired with a very low pension. Then those that earn £50,000 and over are teachers or business owners.

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-25 13:17:46 UTC

The results from this question did not surprise me. It is quite clear that Generation X do not like to shop every day, and only a very low percentage will shop once a week. From these results, we can see that those in Generation X like to shop for clothes once a month or once every other month.

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-25 13:20:54 UTC

So, from the below results I can see that those in Generation X are not persuaded by how easy a garment is to care for, or what brand it is from. They do however care about the price, the design, the quality and most importantly the fit. This confirms to me why the brands above were so popular because they are all affordable, most produce good quality clothing and M&S specifically has collections to flatter different shapes and sizes.

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-25 13:32:03 UTC

Email marketing was by far the most popular in relation to strategies that influence Generation X's purchasing behaviour. This correlates with my research with 'email marketing' being the way forward with this particular age group. The least popular was advertising on billboards, which is a very old and traditional way of advertising. Maybe billboard advertising is on its way out if it doesn't even influence those that were born in 1960.

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-25 13:41:12 UTC

Unsurprisingly, Generation X prefer to shop in store rather than online. This, I assume is due to them being mostly influenced by fit and quality. In store you are able to touch fabric, and try on garments before you hand your money over, so online shopping is not practical when it comes to purchasing clothing.

charlotte_moore6 — 2020-04-25 13:44:27 UTC

For the last question, I wanted to give the Gen Xers a few statements and ask them to pick the ones they agree with. It turns out Gen X consumers are mostly spontaneous shoppers, if they like the look and fit they will buy it there and then without consideration. They also care very much about customer service, if it's not good then they will not stick around (now I know why Zara wasn't picked as their favourite brand). Most are also brand loyal, so once they have 2 or 3 favourite shops to buy clothes from, they won't make too much effort to find alternatives.

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M&S use Holly Willoughby for collaborations as a method of influencer marketing.

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