Families drive consumer spending in numerous categories, especially during back-to-school season which peaks in August. According to Deloitte, the back-to-school shopping season is the second highest spending season for parents after the holidays.
The various phases of parenthood drive different consumer habits. We explore several key stages in our analysis below. For information on these family groups and more, please reach out to Datonics here.
Millennial Parents - Millennials are parents to 50% of the world’s children, and about 1 million Millennial women become new moms each year. Millennial parents say where they shop matters, with 44% only shopping at brands that reflect their social or political values, a factor cited by only 23% of parents from other generations. Millennial moms and dads are some of the most socially savvy parents out there, so it’s not hard to find them online. This also means they’re well acquainted with digital marketing tactics and content. Those parents will often join groups on social media in order to feel part of a community and to get advice from experts and other parents.
Parents of Teenagers – This subset of parents is seeking information about subjects such as finding first cars, college admissions, and first phones. Today’s parents are parents to the most diverse generation in history. When it comes to marketing to parents of high school students, one key difference is that while high school students are largely focused on the present, parents are more concerned with their children’s futures.
Grandparents – This parenting group seek out information about how to connect with their grandkids, and how to make their lives easier. More than 54 million adults ages 65 and older live in the United States today (16.5% of the nation’s population). The states with the largest elderly age group are Maine (21.8%), Florida (21.3%), and West Virginia (20.9%). States with the smallest elderly age group are Utah (11.7%), Alaska (13.1%), and Texas (13.2%). In 2015 only 27% of adults 65 and over owned smartphones.