Chapter 6—Scanning the Marketing Environment

Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter students should:
 Understand some of the major forces impacting an organization or firm’s
macroenvironment
 Know the major trends influencing marketing decisions in the macroenvironment

Chapter Outline
I. Introduction—successful companies take an outside-inside view of their business
II. Analyzing needs and trends in the macroenvironment —successful companies recognize
and respond profitably to unmet needs and trends in the macroenvironment
III. Identifying and responding to the major macroenvironment forces—“noncontrollables”
that require a response
A. Demographic environment
1. Worldwide population growth—although it brings with it inherent risk, it
also presents opportunities
2. Population age mix—a strong determinant of needs
3. Ethnic markets—each population group has specific wants and buying
habits
4. Educational groups—from illiterates to those with professional degrees
5. Household patterns—traditional household is no longer the dominant
pattern
6. Geographical shifts in population—migration to safer countries and
different types of areas
7. From a mass market to micromarkets—fragmentation is causing
companies to abandon the “shotgun” approach
B. Economic environment
1. Income distribution—nations vary greatly in their level and distribution
of income. It is related to industrial structure but is also affected by the
political system
2. Savings, debt, credit availability—affects consumer expenditures
C. Natural environment
1. Shortage of raw materials—infinite, finite renewable, and finite
nonrenewable
2. Increased cost of energy—oil is a finite nonrenewable resource
3. Increased levels of pollution—industrial activity will inevitably harm the
environment
4. Changing role of governments—environmental concern varies by
country
D. Technological Environment
1. Accelerating pace of technological change
1. Unlimited opportunities for innovation
 2

2. Varying R&D budgets—United States leads the world in expenditures

3. Increased regulation of technological change—complex products cause
safety concerns to arise
E. Political/Legal environment
1. Legislation regulating business—has three main purposes: to protect
companies from unfair competition, to protect consumers from unfair
business practices, and to protect the interests of society from unbridled
business behavior
2. Growth of special interest groups—number and power have increased
over the last three decades, putting more constraints on marketers
a) Cause-related marketing a key marketing outcome
b) Problems perceived that such efforts could backfire if consumers
fail to see a link between the product and the cause
F. Social/Cultural environment—the society in which people grow up shapes their
beliefs, values, and norms of interest to marketers
1. High persistence of core cultural values
2. Existence of subcultures—emerging from special life experiences or
circumstances
3. Shifts of secondary cultural values through time—swings from “core”
values over time that impact marketing efforts
4. Summary

Overview
Change in the macroenvironment is the primary basis for market opportunity. Organizations/firms
must start the search for opportunities and possible threats with their macroenvironment. The
macroenvironment consists of all the actors and forces that affect the organization’s operations
and performance. They need to understand the trends and megatrends characterizing the current
macroenvironment. This is critical to identify and respond to unmet needs and trends in the
marketplace.
The macroenvironment consists of six major forces: demographic, economic, natural,
technological, political/legal, and social/cultural. The demographic environment shows a
worldwide explosive population growth; a changing age, ethnic, and educational mix; new types
of households and geographical shifts in population; and the splintering of a mass market into
micromarkets. The economic environment shows an emphasis on global income distribution
issues, low savings and high debt, and changing consumer-expenditure patterns. The natural
environment shows potential shortages of certain raw materials, unstable cost of energy, increased
pollution levels, and the changing role of governments in environmental protection.
The technological environment exhibits accelerating technological change, unlimited
opportunities for innovation, varying R&D budgets, and increased regulation of technological
change. The political/legal environment shows substantial business regulation and the growth of
special interest groups. The social/cultural environment shows individuals are changing their
views of themselves, others, and the world around them. Despite this, there is a continuing trend
toward self-fulfillment, immediate gratification, and secularism. Also of interest to marketers is
the high persistence of core cultural values, the existence of subcultures, and rapidly changing
secondary cultural values.
 3

Lecture 1— Demographic Data Analysis

This lecture is intended for use with Chapter 6, “Scanning the Marketing Environment.” It
focuses on the development of marketing environment information for marketing management.
The discussion begins by considering examples of particular approaches in developing
demographic-based market research. This leads into a discussion of the implications for the
introduction of other research opportunities to the firm and the industry.
Teaching Objectives
 To highlight the role of demographic analysis in marketing decision making
 To stimulate students to think about the critical issues in utilizing demographic analysis
 To offer points to consider in proceeding with a demographic analysis
Discussion
Introduction
For virtually every product or service, demographic data is an important element in the marketing
equation. Demographics can help the marketer learn more about the current and potential
customers, where they live, and how many are likely to buy the product or service based on prior
consumption of various products and services. Demographic analysis also helps marketers serve
their customers better by enabling them to adjust to their changing needs.
There are four primary steps in the demographic analysis process:
1. Identify the population or household characteristics that most accurately differentiate
potential customers from those not likely to buy
2. Find the geographic areas with the highest concentrations of potential customers
3. Analyze the purchase behavior of the potential customers to establish some
understanding of the cause and effect behind their purchasing patterns
4. Determine media preferences in order to find the most efficient way to reach the potential
market with an advertising message
From Mass to Target and Niche
Note: Depending on your areas of interest, there are several areas of connection between this
material and one or more of the applications computer exercises.
In a mass marketing approach there is one message communicated via the media: newspapers,
radio, and broadcast television. The assumption is that the message presumably will reach
everyone. No special effort is made to ensure that the message will appeal to or reach the most
likely customers.
The result of mass marketing efforts is that substantial resources are expended on marketing
products and services to groups in the population that did not want or need them. For example, a
motorcycle company expending advertising budget on prime-time television also would reach the
housebound elderly as well as the young adult target market. Likewise, a swimsuit manufacturer
placing ads in a national magazine would reach potential consumers in Alaska as well as Florida.
The obvious point is that a “shotgun” approach is not the most efficient use of marketing
resources.
Target marketing clearly has replaced mass marketing. The guiding principle is “know thy
customers.” It is essential to obtain answers to a number of important questions about your target
market: How old are they? Where do they live? What are their interests, concerns, and
 4

aspirations? The answers to these questions provide the basis to determine the specific
advertising media or marketing approaches most likely to appeal to those customers and whether
you are targeting the right customers. It is also possible that the firm will have more than one
group of target markets. Research shows, for example, that young women purchase low-fat frozen
dinners for obvious diet purposes, but retired people also purchase the product because they want
only a light meal.
The principle also applies in the situation where a firm knows that its customers are
predominantly college graduates, and it knows their zip codes. This information could be utilized
as follows:
1. First, obtain a tabulation of the number of college graduates by zip code, available
through various research organizations and information providers such as the American
Demographics Directory of Marketing Information or the U.S. Census Bureau.
2. Second, for any metropolitan area, establish the percentage of all college graduates in the
metropolitan area who reside in each zip code. The process is:
a. Calculate the percentage of existing customers who reside in each zip code.
b. Divide the percent of college graduates in each zip code by the percentage of
customers in the zip code (and multiply by 100). This provides an index of
penetration for each zip code. (See application exercises for more explanation.)
c. If the index of penetration is 100 or above, the market likely is adequately served.
If it is below 100, there is more potential that can be developed through direct
mail to the specific zip codes.
This analysis is conducted using any group of geographic areas that sum to a total market area,
such as counties within a state or metropolitan areas within a region. The object is to compare the
percent of customers developed from each submarket area against the percent actually there. The
resulting indexes essentially measure marketing performance and potential by specific area.
Demographic information is now readily available for various personal computer systems and
formats. Demographic statistics are obtained on CD-ROM or via the Internet, complete with
software for accessing the data. The software for highly sophisticated analysis of the data is also
readily available.
Although it is possible to analyze the data to provide customized market analysis, such as how
many pairs of shoes people own and how often they shop for new ones, there are limits to what
the basic census data can provide the marketer. Census demographics can provide basic
information to help determine the market, the size of the market, and where potential customers
live, but it cannot tell you how many times a week people use diet sodas, dishwashing liquid, or
pizza.
Customized Marketing Forecasting, Based on Demographic and Lifestyle Data
With the proper analysis techniques and capabilities, it is possible to merge primary census data
with more detailed customer data to form a clearer picture of the market and its potential. This
could involve the following:

 A detailed lifestyle analysis as well as demographic data

 A determination of whether the product or service will be sold to an individual or a
household.
Refrigerators, for example, are household products, and most households have only one or two
refrigerators. On the other hand, everyone within the household has his/her own toothbrush and
dozens of other personal-care products. To demonstrate the complexity of this question:
 There are more than 280 million individuals in the United States and more than 100
million households.
 Those classified as “family households” include married couples with children (26
percent), married couples without children (29 percent), single parents living with their
 5

children (9 percent), and brothers and sisters or other related family members who live
together (7 percent). “Nonfamily households” include people who live alone (24 percent)
and cohabiting couples and other unrelated roommates (5 percent).
 Different types of households are more prevalent among certain age groups. For instance,
the majority of women who live alone are older than age 65, while the majority of men
who live alone are younger than age 45.
 Household types differ between generations as well. Younger people today are much
more likely to live in the “other” type of nonfamily household because they may move
out of their parents’ homes before marriage and live with friends or lovers.
Everyone in the United States (except for the homeless) lives in either a household or group
quarters. Many businesses ignore group-quarter populations, reasoning that nursing-home
patients and prison inmates probably do not engage in much shopping. However, if the market is
computers, beer, pizza, or any number of products that appeal to young adults or military
personnel, marketers cannot afford to overlook these populations. This is especially important
when marketing a product in an area where a college or military base is present. People who live
in these situations may have different wants and needs than those who live in households. In
addition, the area may have a much higher rate of population turnover than other locations.
Once the firm determines whether it wishes to market to households or individuals, the next step
is to determine which household segment or market segment would be most likely need the
product or service. Demographic analysis enables the firm to refine the market definition, the
potential market, and how it likely will change over time.
In general, forecasting the U.S. market or that of a specific state is easier to estimate accurately
than populations for small areas, such as neighborhoods, which often experience greater
population fluctuations. In addition, with shorter time periods, projections tend to be more
accurate because there is less time for dramatic changes to take place. We cannot make
assumptions for what a market will look like in 15 years because it is not possible to recognize all
the possible changes in the marketplace.
However, the firm can have some confidence in educated guesses about the future if researchers
in the firm understand past and present population trends, especially with major trends such as the
baby boom and baby bust cycle. Accordingly, it is important to understand the differences
between a generation and a cohort. The events for which generations are named occur when their
members are too young to remember much about them (i.e., the Depression generation includes
people born during the 1930s). Cohort groups provide classifications that are more useful for
marketers because they provide an insight into events that occurred during the entire lifetimes of
the people in question.

Baby Boomers in 2000

To illustrate, consider baby boomers born between 1946 and 1965. In their youth they
experienced a growing economy, but they also dealt with competition and crowding in schools
and jobs due to the sheer numbers in the cohort. Their lives were shaped by events such as the
civil rights movement, the Vietnam conflict, the Women’s movement, and Watergate. Baby
boomers witnessed increasing diversity and technology and are living longer, healthier lives than
prior cohorts. However, they also have not witnessed the level of U.S. and global adversity and
conflict of prior cohorts, deeply affecting their view of the world and the challenge of survival in
a world changing dramatically in the twenty-first century.
All these factors combine to make baby boomers a very different cohort than the 32 to 51-year-
olds of 20 years ago. Traditional ideas concerning the preferences of those aged 50 versus 30 no
longer are accurate. Beliefs concerning certain consumption patterns, such as “coffee
consumption increases with age” and “younger people drink cola,” no longer are as valid as they
 6

once were because people who grew up on cola often continue to drink it. The same is true for
ethnic foods and a host of other products.
The received wisdom will have to change constantly to reflect new sets of preferences and life
experiences. For example, baby boomers remember when the idea of careers for women was
considered radical. Not so for Generation X women; most of them work as a matter of course,
just like their own mothers. As a result, ideas about marriage, family, and jobs are changing and
will continue to change.
If the firm is marketing a product to a certain age range, it should be aware that the people who
will be in that age range in five or ten years will not be the same as the ones who are there now. A
strategy that has worked for years should be rethought as one cohort leaves an age range and
another takes its place.
Therein lies the challenge in contemporary marketing: it is no longer advisable to treat a market
as an undifferentiated mass of people with similar fixed tastes, interests, and needs. In the age of
target marketing, it is imperative to know who the customers are and how to reach them. When
the customer’s needs change, it is essential to know that the firm must adjust its marketing efforts
accordingly. In sum, a working knowledge of demographics and analytical tools for
demographics is important for a firm if it wishes to remain a contender in the market of the next
cohort and the next generation.

Lecture 2—The Marketing Environment Takes a Turn, an Older

Turn
This lecture is intended for use with Chapter 6, “Scanning the Marketing Environment.” It
focuses on changing societal and business patterns. Here you should consider using very current
examples of developments that augment the material in the suggested lecture. This will enable the
students to identify the changes occurring in society as related to their growing knowledge of
various marketing management techniques and issues.
Teaching Objectives
 Introduce students to some of the more important issues in the contemporary marketing
environment
 Consider the role of marketing and marketers in the societal change and development
process
 Discuss specific marketing environment issues
Discussion
Introduction
During the 1990s, U.S. household spending patterns changed dramatically. There were some very
different demographics facing businesses during those years, and some of the same variables
continue to influence the marketplace into 2002 and beyond.
The U.S. economy grew through the 1990s at a rate not seen since the 1960s, unemployment and 
inflation were the lowest in decades, and the stock market set records with regularity. Some 
economists explained the situation by claiming that a new economy was at work, one driven by 
deficit reduction, low interest rates, and technological advances. Others pointed to the Asian 
economic bust, the dot­com stock market collapse in 2000, and began to consider the inevitable 
limits to the economic and marketing environment. Some analysts felt that many firms would not
be able to maintain the pace of the new market environment, and they were correct, as the dot-
com bust and the market decline demonstrated.
 7

Even with the 2000–2001 market jitters and the Federal Reserve interest rate responses, many felt
that the economy was more stable and long­term than we gave credit because consumer spending,
which accounted for two­thirds of the nation’s economic output, continued to roll along at a 
steady pace. However, the inevitable slowdown in the economy and consumer spending had 
already begun, and the attacks on the United States in September, 2001, and the Enron/Anderson 
corruption scandals at the end of 2001 set the groundwork for not just a rethinking of America’s 
security and growth but also some rethinking about the way we would do business in the future. 
With this re­evaluation of many issues in the economic, social and political environments, we 
find the basis of a new economy and a new marketing environment.
New Life-Cycle Pattern
One of the more important predictors of the future direction for the new economy is life­cycle 
stage. Typically, households headed by twenty­somethings spend less than average on most 
products and services because their households are small and their incomes are low. Spending 
reaches the maximum in middle age, as family size increases and incomes peak, then falls again 
in older age as household size and income decline. 
These stages, combined with the baby booms and busts of past decades, have made evaluating 
and forecasting the marketing environment a complex endeavor. Add in a fundamental change 
that has been taking place in the life­cycle pattern of spending, and marketers are discovering that
doing business today is a lot like building a house in an earthquake zone. 
Two big quakes in spending patterns have reshaped consumer markets in recent years. One is the 
dramatic decline in spending by householders aged 35 to 44. This downturn is of significance to 
business because the 35–44 age group accounts for the largest share of American households, 
over 23 percent, and consequently the largest share of most consumer markets. Ten years ago, 
this group spent 29 percent more than the average household on goods and services. Today, it 
spends only 16 percent above the average. Between 1987 and 2001, householders aged 35 to 44 
cut their spending 9 percent, after adjusting for inflation.
Their spending once matched that of those in the age group (cohort) aged 45 to 54, but the 
recessions of 1991 and 2001 changed that, and the impact on retailers and manufacturers has been
significant. While the number of households headed by 35­ to 44­year­olds increased 31 percent 
from 1987 to 2000, their aggregate spending rose only 19 percent. By contrast, during the same 
period, the number of households headed by 45­ to 54­year­olds rose 44 percent, and their 
aggregate spending rose an even faster 46 percent. The shift has spelled trouble for toy 
companies, turmoil among fast­food retailers, and closings and consolidations in the shopping 
center industry. Even though some of these changes have been beneficial, getting rid of some of 
the weaker players in these industries, there are some fundamental long­term issues emerging. 
Depending on your perspective, this can be both good and bad.
What accounted for the younger groups spending decline? The answer is economic insecurity. In 
this life­cycle stage, people tend to have growing families and huge debts. The two recessions 
forced 35­ to 44­year­old householders to cut their discretionary spending in order to make ends 
meet. This is the bad side, from the perspective of some analysts, but others argue that given the 
huge amount of debt and lack of a savings habit with this younger group, the trend could be good 
for the future. The “big spender” title has moved on to another age group. 
 8

Older Americans account for the second quake in life­cycle spending patterns. Between 1987 and
2001, spending by the 65­plus set rose faster than in any other age group, fueled by a more 
educated and affluent generation entering senior citizen status. Thus, older Americans’ spending 
is rising to approach the average, and the trend will only intensify as the hyper­educated boomers 
hit their sixties in 2006. 
Many businesses still haven’t noticed the aging consumer markets. Some are ignoring it entirely.  
Clearly older consumers are spending money, but they’re spending it on the industries that have 
been courting them. Here’s a look at some of the winners and losers as the new consumer 
paradigm takes hold. 
The Casual Consequence
Between 1987 and 1997, the average American household cut its spending on apparel 15 percent, 
after adjusting for inflation. Spending on women’s clothes fell even more, down 20 percent. 
Householders aged 35 to 54 made the biggest cut. The average household in this age group spent 
one­third less on women’s clothes in 1997 than it did in 1987. 
No wonder so many clothing retailers are wondering where their customers went. The growing 
popularity of khakis and polo shirts, less expensive than business suits, explains part of the 
decline. “There are a lot more wearing occasions for casual apparel due to a lot of companies 
going casual in the workplace,” explains a Levi Strauss & Co. spokesperson. A 1997 survey 
commissioned by Levi Strauss found that 53 percent of U.S. workers now dress casually every 
day of the week, not just on Fridays. 
However, more important is the clothing industry’s failure to create products that appeal to 
middle­aged women. The biggest spenders on women’s clothes are householders aged 45 to 54, 
followed by those aged 55 to 64. Yet, most clothing is designed and marketed to teens and young 
adults. With so little to choose from, women aged 35 and older are spending their money 
elsewhere. 
One forward­thinking company that has captured the attention of older women is DM 
Management in Hingham, Massachusetts, a catalog retailer that targets a neglected category: 
affluent women over 35 (see “New Look, Better Numbers,” October 1998). Sales through its J. 
Jill and Nicole Summers catalogs have grown rapidly, up more than 61 percent in 1998–99. 
Why? Maybe it is because the biggest spenders have nowhere else to shop. 
We Just Want to Have Fun
The entertainment industry is booming, and no wonder. Each year since 1987, Americans have 
devoted more of their budget to entertainment. In 2000, the average household spent over $1,900 
entirely discretionary dollars on good times, up from $1,686 in 1987, after adjusting for inflation
—an 8 percent jump. Behind this boom is an increasingly affluent population and the growing 
enthusiasm of older Americans for having fun. 
As in almost every other category, the pattern of entertainment spending has shifted markedly. 
Whereas householders aged 35 to 44 once were the biggest spenders on entertainment, that role 
has been overtaken, again, by householders aged 45 to 54. Between 1987 and 1997, the average 
household headed by a 35­ to 44­year­old cut its entertainment spending 10 percent. Meanwhile, 
spending by householders aged 45 to 54 surged 16 percent. By 2000 the 45–54 group spent 33 
 9

percent more on entertainment than the average, pushing 35­ to 44­year­olds into second place. 
Rising to third place were householders aged 55 to 64, displacing the 25 to 34 age group. 
Nevertheless, the senior citizens have become America’s true party animals. The average 
household headed by a 65­ to 74­year­old spends more on entertainment than does the average 
household headed by someone under age 25. Even the very oldest householders are in on this 
revolution: Those aged 75­plus spent 98 percent more on entertainment in 2000 than in 1990, the 
biggest increase of any age group. 
The bottom line is that Americans aged 55 and older account for a larger share of spending on 
entertainment than those under age 35. Despite this fact, the entertainment industry has done little
to serve fun­loving older Americans, with some exceptions. Elderhostel is booming, precisely 
because it targets older consumers. However, many other businesses have risked bankruptcy 
rather than change their mind­set. The shopping center industry is a prime example, obsessively 
pursuing teens and young adults when they could reinvent themselves as entertainment venues for
older consumers. Mall visits fell from 2.62 to 1.97 per person per month between 1994 and 1997, 
according to Maritz Marketing Research polls. “What could possibly lure someone who is 49 or 
59 years old?” asks a retail consultant. “If anything, they are repelled by congested aisles and 
merchandise that is not appropriate.” 
The Stomach Wars
Americans are spending less on food than they once did, and that is a problem for the restaurant 
industry. Between 1987 and 2000, spending by the average household on food at home fell 3 
percent, adjusting for inflation. Spending on food away from home fell a much larger 13 percent. 
When Americans cut their discretionary spending in the early 1990s, restaurants were hit hard, as 
people turned to less­expensive take­out food. “Consumers opt for a take­out dinner at home a 
whopping 61 percent more often than they did 10 years ago, whereas they choose to eat dinner in 
a restaurant 4 percent less often,” reports Restaurants USA, the trade magazine of the National 
Restaurant Association. 
Younger householders have cut their food spending the most. In 1987, the best customers in the 
food­away­from­home category were householders aged 35 to 44, but the recession took away 
their appetites. From ’87 to ’00, they cut their restaurant outlays by an enormous 23 percent, 
ranking them second to 45­ to 54­year­olds in restaurant spending. Not only that, the average 
household headed by a 55­ to 64­year­old now spends more on food away from home than those 
headed by 25­ to 34­year­olds, despite the fact that older households are smaller. Adding insult to 
injury, householders aged 65 to 74 spent considerably more on food away from home in 1997 
than householders under age 25. Good­bye Planet Hollywood, hello early­bird special. 
Restaurants will have a difficult time recapturing those lost customers. “The low end of the 
industry is in for big trouble,” says the editor and publisher of a weekly newsletter for food 
marketers. “It’s falling behind because so many supermarket chains have made an effort to 
supplement their sales with home meal replacements.” 
Whether they are ready­to­eat or ready­to­heat, home meal replacements are changing the way 
supermarkets do business. Chefs and nutritionists now create signature menu items that shoppers 
can buy on the fly—everything from ethnic dishes to all­American comfort foods—and separate 
checkout counters speed customers on their way. In the battle for share­of­stomach, 
 10

“supermarkets are winning,” In the future, an analyst predicts, restaurant dining “will be more of 
an occasion.” 
Note: You  or some students may take issue with this view, so it might be interesting to check on 
the local or regional trends to compare with this perspective.
Upward Spiral: Health Care Costs
No one escaped the rising costs of medical care in the past decade: the average household spent 
over $2,000 out­of­pocket on health care costs in 2000, a 16 percent increase since 1987, 
adjusting for inflation. Nearly half that amount was for insurance. But since spending on 
insurance by the average household grew more than 40 percent across all age groups, the 
spending pattern did not change significantly. Householders 65 and older spent the most out­of­
pocket, 52 percent to 58 percent more than the average. The youngest householders spent the 
least. 
Not surprisingly, health care consumes a sizable share of older householders’ budgets. People 
aged 65 to 74 devote 10 percent of their annual spending to out­of­pocket health care costs. Those
aged 75 or older shell out even more—14 percent of spending overall, or $2,930 in 2000. Despite 
Medicare coverage, 53 percent of seniors’ health care dollars go to insurance bills. Out­of­pocket 
Medicare costs, plus the supplemental insurance purchased by many, boosts their spending on 
health insurance far above that of any other age group. 
These facts are of utmost importance to today’s middle­aged adults. Proposals to raise the age of 
Medicare eligibility could mean boomers would have to devote an even larger share of their 
retirement income to medical costs. Few boomers are aware of the enormous burden health care 
costs place on older householders. Their awareness—and their political involvement—is likely to 
grow as they approach retirement age. 

Furniture versus Computers

Perhaps nothing exemplifies the battle for discretionary dollars better than the war between the 
furniture and computer industries. As spending on computers has surged, spending on furniture 
has fallen. 
By all accounts, these should be golden years for the furniture industry. The economy is up, 
relatively, homeownership is at a record high, and the baby boomers are in their peak furniture­
buying years. However, the average household spent 13 percent less on furniture in 2000 than in 
1987. In addition, householders aged 35 to 44, traditionally the biggest hearth­and­home 
spenders, cut their furniture budgets by a substantial 34 percent. By 1999, householders aged 45 
to 54 were the biggest furniture buyers, despite the fact that they, too, were spending 8 percent 
less than a decade ago.

Forget the new sofa— householders want a computer and Web access. In 2000, the average 
household spent $260 on computer hardware, software, and online services for nonbusiness use. 
While that may not sound like much, it is an average and includes those who spent something and
those who spent nothing. More impressive: if you rank all the products and services people buy 
for their homes, computers are in fourth place. The only items that account for a greater share of 
 11

the household operations budget are telephone equipment and services (average, $909); furniture 
($387); and day care ($232). The average household spends more on computer technology than 
on major appliances, lawn and gardening, or house wares. 

The biggest computer spenders are aged 45 to 54, and they spent 61 percent more than the 
average household in 2000. Second are aged 35 to 44. Seniors aged 55 to 64 are third, spending 
more on computers than householders aged 25 to 34. With computer spending surging, other 
discretionary categories have suffered, and a reversal is unlikely, despite the dot­com bust, as the 
Internet’s popularity grows. 

The New Adventurers

Americans spend substantially on travel. In 2000, the average household spent $1,259 on travel­
related transportation, food and alcohol, lodging, and entertainment. The travel market has long 
been dominated by older Americans, and for good reason: it’s one of the few industries that has 
courted them. “They saw the opportunity. They looked at who had discretionary income and time.
The industry has boomed ever since.” 

In 2000, the biggest travelers were householders aged 45 to 54, 55 to 64, and 65 to 74—in that 
order. All other age groups spend less than average on travel. Householders aged 55 to 64 devote 
the largest share of their spending money to travel, nearly 5 percent. In fact, this age group spends
more on travel (over $1,900 in 2000, on average) than it does on clothes ($1,753), and almost as 
much as it spends on furniture, appliances, floor coverings, bed sheets, and bathroom linens 
combined ($1,755).

Thanks to the aging boomers, the travel industry is likely to experience years of surging growth. 
When today’s workers, regardless of age, are asked what activity they most look forward to when
they retire, travel is mentioned by the largest share, 32 percent, according to a Gallup survey. 
When asked whether there is something workers are waiting to do until they retire, once again 
travel is the hands­down winner—cited by 45 percent of respondents. Despite, some fall­off in 
the early months after the 9/11/01 attacks, travel has again begun to increase toward prior levels. 
The news could not be better for the travel industry, and it could not be worse for other industries 
that will lose out to this travel bug. Before the losses mount, businesses should follow the money,
targeting the growing numbers of affluent, sophisticated, older consumers.  Travel and retail 
consultants are optimistic. As boomers inflate the ranks of older consumers, businesses may 
finally begin to get it. “Boomers are actually going to convince us that youth is something to be 
endured while you wait for your forties, fifties, and sixties.” 

Marketing Spotlight—Mattel
Mattel was founded in 1945 by two Californian dollhouse furniture makers, Harold Matson and
Elliot Handler. The decision to sponsor Walt Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Club” television show in
1955, the first sponsorship by a toy manufacturer, proved very helpful in attracting young
 12

consumers. Mattel can trace its success to the introduction in 1959 of the now legendary Barbie
doll. Named after Handler’s daughter, Barbie was an instant hit in the doll market despite her
dramatic figure and slender proportions, which were not typical of American dolls at the time.
Within ten years, over $500 million Barbie dolls had been sold. Barbie became the most
successful branded toy in history, and Mattel became a toy and entertainment powerhouse.
Mattel’s genius is in keeping its Barbie doll both timeless and trendy. Since Barbie’s creation, the
doll has filled a fundamental need that all girls share: to play a grown-up. Yet Barbie has changed
as girls’ dreams have changed. Her themes have evolved from jobs like “stewardess,” “fashion
model,” and “nurse,” to “astronaut,” “rock singer,” and “presidential candidate.” Barbie also
reflects America’s diverse population. Mattel has produced African American Barbie dolls since
1968—the time of the civil rights movement— and has introduced Hispanic and Asian dolls as
well. After sales flattened in the mid-1980s, Mattel rejuvenated the famed doll with introductions
such as Crystal Barbie (a gorgeous glamour doll), Puerto Rican Barbie (part of its “dolls of the
world” collection), Great Shape Barbie (to tap into the fitness craze), Flight Time Barbie (a pilot),
and Troll and Baywatch Barbie (to tie in with kids’ fads and popular TV shows). Industry analysts
estimate that two Barbie dolls are sold every second and that the average American girl owns
eight versions of Barbie. Every year since 1993, sales of the plastic doll have exceeded $1 billion.
Much of the renewed success of the classic doll was credited to Jill Barad, who had worked as a
marketing director for Barbie before being named president and chief operating officer then
gaining the title of CEO in 1997. One of her first moves with Barbie was to make the doll’s image
more consistent with the empowered woman of the 1980s with a campaign titled “We Girls Can
Do Anything.” It was a stunning success, and boosted Barbie’s sales by more than $100 million
within a year. Before Barad came to the company, Mattel had always followed a restrained
segmentation strategy, with at most three new doll introductions annually. Barad quickly ramped
up these introductions, and before long Mattel was introducing dozens of new Barbie dolls every
year in order to keep up with the latest definitions of achievement, glamour, romance, adventure,
and nurturing. Her aggressive reinvention of Barbie took the doll from $320 million in domestic
sales to nearly $2 billion in global revenues by 1997.
After this peak in 1997, Barbie endured a two-year decline. Contributing to the drop in sales was
the “age-compression” trend, marked by children exiting the toy market at increasingly earlier
ages. As a result of age compression, one executive noted, Mattel found itself having “to reinvent
80 percent of [its] base volume on an annual basis.”(David Finnigan, “A Knock-down, Drag Out
Fight,” Brandweek, Feb. 12, 2001). To keep kids interested in the brand for additional years,
Mattel expanded into interactive games and software with a $3.5 billion acquisition in 1998 of
educational software firm The Learning Company (makers of popular games “Carmen Sandiego”
and “Myst”). The move proved disastrous. A shrinking market for CD-ROM games and software
caused The Learning Company to suffer unexpected losses, which in turn cost Mattel $300
million in 1999 and depressed the toy company’s stock price by more than 60 percent. Barad was
forced to leave the company in February 2000. Kraft Foods veteran Bob Eckert was named as her
replacement. After finding a buyer for The Learning Company, he developed plans to revitalize
the company by concentrating on its core strengths.
Since Mattel relies on Barbie for roughly 40 percent of its profits, the doll figured heavily in
Eckert’s comeback strategy. First, Barbie was redesigned and given a slightly wider face that
made her look less “waifish.” Second, Mattel stepped up its merchandising efforts in stores,
adding, for example, 200 Barbie boutiques in Toys ‘R’ Us stores across the United States. Third,
the company segmented its markets further by marketing different styles of Barbie to different
age groups.
 13

Outside the Barbie franchise, Eckert pursued conservative growth opportunities that carried
minimal risk. For example, rather than design software and games itself, Mattel contracted with
experienced software providers to develop electronic entertainment for the company. The
company also reduced its licensing commitments, renegotiating with Walt Disney Co. in 2000 to
retain the rights to classic characters like Mickey Mouse while forgoing rights to characters from
upcoming Disney films, which typically come at great cost and are no longer guaranteed hits. By
focusing on the company’s core divisions, “Eckert is transforming Mattel from a volatile, hit-
driven toy company to a slower-growing but more stable consumer-products company,” says one
industry analyst. In 2000, sales bounced back, with total worldwide revenue up two percent to
$4.67 billion worldwide. Eckert seemed to have Mattel back on track, no small thanks to Barbie,
whose sales grew 10 percent domestically and 5 percent worldwide in 2000. After more than four
decades on the shelves, Barbie remained the company’s blockbuster brand.
Questions
1. How would you compare the marketing success of Mattel and Barbie in the years before
and after Jill Barad? Was Barad’s approach to marketing Barbie effective or not? Why?
2. What factors contributed to the success or failure of products such as Barbie? Can the
success factors provide indicators for other products?