1.2. Generation Y
The concept of market segmentation based on demographic characteristics is not new, and has proven to be a successful marketing and positioning mechanism for many years (Furr, Bonn, and Hausman 2002). Development of demographic segmentation has led to more complex marketing models involving other elements of behaviour including psychographics, involvement and purpose for consumption (means-end); improving the understanding of consumer behaviour and allowing marketing activities to be more focused and economical than previous endeavours.
One market segmentation technique which incorporates a number of consumer characteristics is generational marketing. This technique attempts to segment consumers into generations based on their birth range, assuming that a consumer group which has grown-up with similar formative experiences, technology, culture and environmental changes is likely to desire similar products/product attributes (Furr, Bonn, and Hausman 2002). Strauss and Howe (1991 in Ritchie, 1995, p.17) describe generational characteristics as “peer personality”, defining this as “patterns of behaviour and beliefs that are dominant among a group of people born during the same period of time”.