generation cohort

BEYOND DEMOGRAPHIC BOUNDARY:DETERMINING GENERATIONAL VALUES BY COHORTS

MAG Scholar Conference 2014

Ernest Cyril de Run & Hiram Ting

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan,

Sarawak, Malaysia.

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)

AcknowledgementThis paper is based on research at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)

under Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (No: FRGS/2/2013/SS05/UNIMAS/01/1). The authors express their gratitude to Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE)

and UNIMAS for sponsoring the research carried out.

Introduction


• For many years, segmentation strategies such as those based on demographic and psychographic bases have been utilized to better meet customers’ needs and wants (Kotler & Armstrong, 2011).

• However an innovative and highly successful profiling method utilizing generational cohort is emerging as prominent approach and becoming increasingly useful in tracking consumer behaviours (Meredith & Schewe, 2002).

• Despite being recognized as a demographic factor, generation unveils more than what a population trend does. Notably, Generation X and Generation Y, amongst others, are extensively appropriated to categorize and characterize consumers in marketplaces, not only in the West but also in the East.

Introduction (cont.)


• Despite the complexity in diverse societies, personal value is an evident reflection of human behaviours, including attitudes, consumption patterns, and actual actions (Kamakura & Novak; 1992; White, 2005).

• Personal value is described as individual belief about what is more preferable, and is thus related to inner desire (Solomon, 2011).

• While generational cohort is generally accepted as a demographic factor, personal value is regarded as a psychographic factor (Kotler & Armstrong, 2011).

Problem Statement


• Generational cohorts and their respective values from western sources are time and again generalized in other settings, including developing countries like Malaysia (Chuah, Marimuthu & Ramayah, 2014; Munusamy & Wong, 2007; Ramaprasad, 1994).

• The segregation of these cohorts is conveniently adopted to profile and understand customers, and explain their behaviours without theoretical basis (de Run & Ting, 2013).

• Moreover, since little is known about actual generational cohort in Malaysia, differences of personal values across cohorts still remain largely unknown.

Purpose of Study


• The present study is a part of a larger study which is aimed to investigate personal values across different generational cohorts by using List of Values (LOV), so as to determine generational values by cohorts.

• Instead of using western cohorts, the recently established cohorts in Sarawak are adopted to determine generational values in the state.

Brief Literature Review


Generational Cohort• Labels of generational cohorts, such Veterans, Baby boomers, Generation X

and Generation Y from the U.S sources, have been commonly used to classify consumers and understand their distinctive characteristics in marketing literature (Cennamo & Gardner, 2008; Munusamy et al., 2010; Yu & Miller, 2003).

• A generational cohort is defined as an individual group, who shares about the same age, born during the same time period, and experiences similar major external events during the developmental stages (Edmunds & Tuner, 2005; Kupperschmidt, 2000; Ryder, 1965; Smola & Sutton, 2002).

• The theory of historical generations proposed by Rogler (2002) emphasizes that major societal events instill greater and more permanent marks on the coming-of-age group than on other age-groups who live through the same period. Their personal attachment to these events will consolidate in them permanent orientation, thus affecting them throughout their lives (Rogler, 2002).

Brief Literature Review (cont.)


Personal Values• List of Values (LOV) is adopted in the study due to its relative ease of use yet

better predictive relevance (Goldsmith & Kilsheimer, 1993; Kahle, Beatty, & Homer, 1986). It is composed of three dimensions.

• Internal value is generally about how a person is internally fulfilled (Jago, 1997), and is measured by self fulfillment, self respect, sense of accomplishment, and excitement.

• External value hinges more on exterior factors, such as peers (Homer & Kahle, 1988) and is measured by sense of security, sense of belonging, and being well respected.

• Interpersonal value is a combination of the two former values (Kahle, 1991) and is measured by fun and enjoyment in life, and warm relationship.

Brief Literature Review (cont.)


Segmentation Approach• Demographic and psychographic bases are the two most popular segmenting

approaches (Burns & Bush, 2005; Kotler & Armstrong; Wasserman, 2002; Wellner, 2002).

• Even though generational cohort is largely regarded as a demographic factor (Kotler & Armstrong, 2011), it is only applicable in western contexts where cohort labels and descriptions have long been established in the US context.

• Past studies have demonstrated the great potential of cohort analysis in marketing strategies and the understanding of consumer behaviour (Meredith and Schewe, 1994; Schewe and Evans, 1998).

• When defining generational cohort in other countries, cohort segmentation base is later claimed to be a hybrid approach, which utilizes both the stability that age variable offers (Steenkamp & Hofstede, 2002) and the insights into consumer motivations which value variable offers (Hung, Gu & Yim, 2007).

Framework


How generational cohorts are identified and defined in Sarawak.

Political Aspect

Economical Aspect

Social Aspect

Technological Aspect

Major Events Generation Cohorts

Environmental Aspect

Formative Years

Control Variables:Age, Race, Residence

Methodology


Research Design• Quantitative approach

Population and Sampling• Four generational cohorts in Sarawak, and they are Neoteric-inheritors

(aged 22 and below as of 2014), Prospective-pursuers (aged 23 to 36), Social-strivers (aged 37 to 52), Idealistic-strugglers (aged 53 to 71). 1,116 were sampled.

Data Collection• Self-administered questionnaireData Analysis• Descriptive analysis and ANOVA.

Findings


Respondents ProfileTABLE 1: RESPONDENTS PROFILE

Variables Items Frequency Percent

Generational Cohort

Neoteric-inheritors (aged 21 and below) Prospective-pursuers (aged 22 to 35) Social-strivers (aged 36 to 51) Idealistic-strugglers (aged 52 to 70)

263 348 267 238

23.6 31.2 23.9 21.3

Race

Iban Chinese Malay Others

387 306 287 136

34.7 27.4 25.7 12.2

Gender Male Female

522 594

46.8 53.2

Present Residence in Sarawak

Kuching city Miri city Bintulu Sibu Others

315 183 175 170 273

28.2 16.4 15.7 15.0 24.7

Findings (cont.)


Descriptive Findings for Each Generational CohortTABLE 2: MEAN AND RELIABILITY VALUES BY GENERATIONAL COHORTS

Factor Neoteric-inheritors

Prospective-pursuers

Social- strivers

Idealistic-strugglers Overall

C.A. Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Self-fulfillment 5.816 1.222 6.043 1.016 6.006 1.057 5.517 1.070

75.7 Self-respect 6.202 1.019 6.273 0.840 6.297 0.809 5.819 0.945 Sense of accomplishment 6.149 1.054 6.244 0.842 6.293 0.844 5.731 1.073 Seeking excitement in life 5.681 1.315 5.667 1.366 5.307 1.452 4.853 1.696 Safety and security 6.328 0.976 6.422 0.823 6.529 0.753 5.949 1.116

78.4 Sense of belonging 5.894 1.158 6.122 0.910 6.210 0.850 5.846 1.156 Being well-respected 6.126 1.024 6.224 0.870 6.262 0.866 5.717 1.097 Fun and enjoyment in life 5.878 1.254 6.054 1.035 5.865 1.110 5.386 1.313 56.5 Warm inter-relationship 6.183 1.010 6.302 0.854 6.375 0.782 5.894 1.155

Note: S.D. indicates Standard Deviation whereas C.A. indicates Cronbach Alpha for all cohorts

Findings (cont.)


ANOVA Findings by Generational CohortTABLE 3: DIFFERENCES IN PERSONAL VALUES BY GENERATIONAL COHORTS

Factor Mean F value Neoteric-inheritors

Prospective-pursuers

Social- strivers

Idealistic-strugglers

Internal value 5.962a 6.057a 5.976a 5.480b 25.209* External value 6.116a 6.256b 6.333b 5.837c 19.000* Interpersonal value 6.030a 6.178a 6.120a 5.640b 19.436* Note: * p < 0.05; Means with different superscripts indicate that they are significantly different at p < 0.05.

Discussions


• Sarawakians in general are more concerned with external factors. How they feel about the surroundings, and how people treat them are more essential than how they regard themselves. Interpersonal value being more important internal value also suggests that they prefer collective activities more than individual contentment.

• Personal values of Idealistic-strugglers are significantly different from other cohorts. Given the fact that all of them are over 50 years old, and have experienced the insurgence of communists, curfews and even the formation of Malaysia during their coming-of-age years, their viewpoints and value orientations are expected to be different from others (Ting, de Run & Fam, 2012). As they struggled to adapt to some of the major environmental changes in the state, they hold on to many of their beliefs until today.

Discussions (cont.)


• Neoteric-inheritors are the youngest among cohorts and they are still in their formative years. While their personal values are largely similar to Prospective-pursuers and Social-strivers, they are still learning and inheriting things revolving around them. They pay more attention to external factors, such as their peers and the present social trends, more than the others, and thus are more gullible to changes (de Run & Ting, 2013).

• Personal values of Prospective-pursuers and Social-strivers are found to be similar. While Social-strivers experienced economic and social development in 1980s and 1990s before being struck by financial crisis in late 1990s, Prospective-pursuers experienced financial crisis in late 1990s and the recovery before being caught by another global economic downturn in 2007-2008 (de Run & Ting, 2013). Other similar experiences in political and social matters may well suggest the similarity of motivations within them.

Conclusion


• As people age and go through different stages of life, their attitude and behaviours inevitably change. Generational cohort, more than what a demographic factor can divulge, not only gives insights into the formation of values during formative years but also provides superior forecasting of their future behaviours.

• When advertising and promoting products, marketers have to understand the generations that customers belong to and come out with messages that match well with their values.

• Nationwide studies on generational cohort are to be done not only to identify cohorts in the Malaysian context, but also to facilitate cohort studies in other developing countries and cross-border studies.

THANK YOU

Ernest Cyril de Run, PhDProfessor of Marketing at UNIMAS

Email: [email protected]

Hiram Ting, PhDResearch Officer at UNIMAS

E-mail: [email protected]

generation cohort

Business

generational values

different generational

malaysia chuah

actual generational

western cohorts

established cohorts

differences of personal

respective values