Demographics

As a marketer, deciphering our target market is critical. Who we are selling to starts the 4 P’s,—price, product, place, and promotion—the origin of marketing. Our company could have the most innovative product on the market, but if we don’t know who can benefit from it, or make it easy for them to purchase, chances are the product will not be a success. As marketers it is our job to know and understand demography in order to successfully satisfy the customer while making a profit. Demography is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “the statistical study of human populations especially with reference to size and density, distribution, and vital statistics.” The statistics are exactly the things we focus on: income, education, home-owners, means of transportation, etc. Also it is important to not only focus on just one demographic factor, but how they all relate to each other as a whole. While it may seem like a good idea to put a toy store in a neighborhood that is highly populated with children, it may not be a wise idea to put that high-end toy store in an inner-city neighborhood when income is low. I know personally as a consumer, I am conscious of my income, and the things I buy reflect that. I am only a college student with a part-time job, and am not capable of living beyond my means, I am on a budget. I am also a younger person so there are many aisles I do not even walk down in Target, simply because they have no relevance to me. I shop for myself, and that is it. Wal-Mart is one store which does a good job with local demographics. While most think that Wal-Mart, is a store for everybody, this may be true; however Wal-Mart does a tremendous job at recognizing the neighborhood they are in and using the demographics of the zip code to stock the shelves of that store. According to Wal-Mart there are three types of shoppers, Price-Value Shoppers, Brand Aspirationals, Price-Sensitive Affluents.

Typically the Wal-Mart customer has been critiqued of not having any solid demographical foundation, but that it is a big box store for everyone. Though a study done at Indiana State suggests that, the states with more Wal-Mart stores than average, that their average income in lower than that of the national average. Also that the states who have an above average number of locations also tend to have lower educations as a whole. While Wal-Mart may cater individual locations to zip-demographics, an article by Beacon Asset Managers criticize Wal-Mart for not recognizing their market is changing. They claim that while Wal-Mart has been after the baby boomers, they keep following them as they age, and are failing to recognize that our generation should be gaining their focus. As our parents age, they need fewer things, plain and simple. Now that my parents are empty nesters they no longer go to Wal-Mart weekly, but MAYBE bi-weekly simply because the amount of things they go through now does not even compare to that they did when we all lived at home. That goes for everything, toilet trees, cleaning supplies, food, etc. They need to realize it is our generation that is coming into its own now, we are the ones starting families. We are the ones they want to catch. As the article states, “Generation Y…biggest generation in U.S. history is the new market. And new markets generally have very fickle tastes. If they don’t want something, it doesn’t matter if it is free–they just don’t want it.” So the big box approach is not something we are necessarily looking for as our parents did. Personally I feel as if our generation leans more towards Target because they already have recognized our potential buying power, knowing if they capitalize now, they will have us until we become the empty nesters, per say. Not only do they portray quality, but in that portrayal it suggests a finer-taste, or as stated earlier a “fickle taste”. I personally would much rather choose target over Wal-Mart, as the targets in my area are much nicer, cleaner, and all around have a better selection on stuff I tend to buy. Demographics are pure statistics, and the analysis along with correct application of these demographics can heavily affect the success of a company, a product, or even a service. While lots of consumers tend to align their purchases with their beliefs and values, it is important to recognize just what kind of numbers we are dealing with.

Works Cited
"Demographics." Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur Media Inc., 2012. Web.