Editorial: The Changing Consumer

Customers don’t fit within the standard labels anymore. Are you ready?

By Mary Boltz Chapman, Editor-in-Chief -- Chain Leader, 4/1/2005

Remember the good old days, when you could define consumer demographics by just a few parameters: sex, age, marital status, household income and ethnicity? Next, marketers looked at psychographics, the attitudes and values of their customers. But analyzing consumers continues to get more complicated, and it’s difficult to put them into neat buckets. Some of the old labels simply don’t apply anymore.

Family Matters
Look at what “family” means today. It’s not mom and dad and 2.5 children. Sure there are still households that fit that description. But more and more, families are comprised of single parents, couples—married or not—with no kids, and people who aren’t even related. At COEX, presented by the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association March 6 to 9 in Miami Beach, J. Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich Partners Inc., said single households will soon displace married households as the most common type. This brings a new set of needs and values to address.

In households with children, the dynamic has changed so much since I was a kid that I have a hard time believing the power these children have. My parents decided what we ate for dinner, where we went on vacation and even which TV shows we watched. Today, kids shop for and prepare dinner, or select where to eat. They have an active role in decisions from which car to buy to what color to paint the living room. Marketing to children has come under fire, but successful companies will navigate changing regulations.

The number of women in the work force has continuously grown over the last several decades. And though those numbers have actually declined a bit in the last few years, gender roles have changed forever. There are a greater number of couples deciding not to have children and more stay-at-home dads. Do your restaurants have diaper-changing areas in the men’s restroom?

We’ve seen the rise of the “metro-sexual” male, as seen on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Many men are now into fashion, skin and hair care, and even plastic surgery. They care more about how they look and what they eat. Salads, wine and tea are not just for women anymore. Steakhouses that market a “ladies cut” show how old-fashioned they are. While you’re installing diaper-changers in the men’s room, add better lighting so they can check their appearance.

Making Tradeoffs
At COEX, Smith talked about what he called the mainstreaming of affluence. He cited Target: expect more, pay less. Customers expect comfort and prosperity, and don’t think they should be denied anything. Of course, most of us have to economize in one area in order to get the best in another.

In my household, for example, we shop at Sam’s Club—where we’re just as likely to see a Mercedes Benz as an old Ford Escort. We buy our paper towels and laundry detergent there to save a few bucks, then trek across town to Trader Joe’s for produce, where we spend what we saved. We order a pizza based on which place has the best coupon but don’t finish our steaks at Morton’s so we have room for dessert.

What does this mean to you? If you’re offering a product and service that customers can get anywhere, you’ve become commoditized and people will base their decision on price or which side of the street your restaurant is on. If you’re selling something unique, you can charge more and your guests will think it’s worth it.