Insider: Keys to Reaching the Mature Segment: The 1st Hump in Your Hotel’s Generational Marketing
By Bonnie J. Knutson, Professor, The School of Hospitality Business, Broad College of Business, Michigan State University
Ms. Bonnie J. Knutson, PhD
An ancient proverb says that men resemble the times more than they do their fathers. Within the wisdom of this saying lies the genesis of generational marketing for hotels. Members of a generation are forever connected by virtue of the fact that they shared life-defining experiences during their formative years – world events, natural disasters, economic conditions, politics, and technology. These common experiences created bonds that tie the members of a generation together into cohorts with similar attitudes, values, and life skills that affect everything from how they spend, what they save, and, yes, even if they stay in your hotel.
The market always evolves to the different needs and values of each generation. And for the first time in history, there are four distinct generations to whom a hotel is marketing. So for today’s hotels, generational marketing must become a strategic business perspective that studies the effects of age cohorts on the brand’s marketing decisions.
This article is the first of a four-part series that will look at each of the four major generational groups. In my article "Keys to Reaching the Mature Segment" in the Hotel Business Review, we will look at the first “hump” of a hotel’s four-humped customer camel – the Matures or Silent generation. In subsequent articles, we’ll look at the 76+ million Baby Boomer group, the infamous Generation X, and the generation that will be filling your hotel’s coffers in the coming years – the Y or Millennial generation.
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Happy Reading!
Bonnie J. Knutson, PhD
Professor
The School of Hospitality Business
Broad College of Business
Michigan State University
517-353-9211
drbonnie@msu.edu
