Demographic Trends in Consumption: Effects on Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy

This article discusses the impact of demographic trends on consumer behavior and marketing strategy in various industries such as vacation, cosmetics, and pre-cooked food. It also highlights the importance of conducting market research to establish the demographic characteristics of the target consumers.

Running head: DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN CONSUMPTION 1
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
STUDENT
COURSE
UNIVERSITY
DATE

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Population is composed of consumers who have various needs requirement according to
their: age, sex, race, income, education, occupation, marital status, family size and geographical
location. The organization should conduct a research to establish the demographic
characteristics. The research findings shall also enhance the marketing mix strategy to be
adopted by the organization in the market segment identified. The organization will also be in a
position to approximate the market potential for the products so as to determine the amount to
produce within a given period of time to avoid surplus which might be a waste if the products do
not satisfy the consumers’ tastes and preferences.
Table of Contents

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
PART A...........................................................................................................................................6
EFFECT OF DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND MARKETING
STRATEGY.................................................................................................................................6
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................6
UNDERSTANDING OF DEMOGRAPHY............................................................................6
DEMOGRAPHIC TREND......................................................................................................7
EFFECTS OF DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS ON VARIOUS INDUSTRIES..............................8
VACATION IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.........................................................8
Disparity in income distribution...............................................................................................9
Increased number of single men and women...........................................................................9
The perception of Generation Y with a growing family house hold and huge mortgage that
need to limit their expenditure..................................................................................................9
Effect of demographic trend on cosmetic industry....................................................................10
Elderly using cosmetics..........................................................................................................10
Men using cosmetics..............................................................................................................10
Difference in income among various individuals...................................................................10
Perception of the educated.....................................................................................................10
Effect of demographic trend on pre-cooked food industry........................................................11
Perception for present longer lifespan of senior citizen.........................................................11

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Perception of Baby boomers..................................................................................................11
Change of family structure from large to small.....................................................................11
Increased number of single adults..........................................................................................11
PART B.........................................................................................................................................12
OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS.......................................................................................12
CULTURAL DIVERSITY.....................................................................................................12
Effects on the industries above..................................................................................................12
Cosmetics industry.................................................................................................................12
Vacation industry...................................................................................................................12
Pre-cooked food industry.......................................................................................................12
CHANGE IN SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT....................................................................................13
Pre-cooked food industry...........................................................................................................13
Vacation industry.......................................................................................................................13
Cosmetics industry.....................................................................................................................13
References..................................................................................................................................14

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PART A
EFFECT OF DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND
MARKETING STRATEGY
INTRODUCTION
UNDERSTANDING OF DEMOGRAPHY
Demography refers to the thorough study of the population to establish various unique aspects as
per the researcher’s interest. The knowledge of the population composition is very important in
the field of marketing. This is because the consumers’ needs vary in urgency and intensity hence
the producer should have the target consumers in mind during production (Kessler and O’Connor
2017 p.42). The population aspects that are very significant in relation to the consumers’
purchasing behavior are: age, sex race, culture, income, education, occupation, the family size,
geographical location etc.

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DEMOGRAPHIC TREND
This refers to the determinable change in the characteristics of the population over a given period
of time. These changes result to the change in consumer spending habits across the entire
population which has an impact in the business enterprise The nature and quantity of consumer
demand change with time hence a good market research should be done for flexibility in current
business practices such as adjustment in quantity produced over a given period of time , change
in marketing segments and change in marketing mix strategies in order to achieve an equilibrium
in the demand and supply of goods in the market.

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EFFECTS OF DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS ON VARIOUS INDUSTRIES
VACATION IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Bardoel and Haar (2018 p.386) state that the major demographic trends that have an impact on
vacation in Australia and New Zealand are:
Change in Race composition
Due to the fight against discrimination of individuals on the basis of race by human rights
organizations, various categories of people irrespective of their nationality are now
visiting Australia and New Zealand for holiday vacations due to many attraction sites and
comfortable environment that is cool. As a result, the tourism sector in both countries is
thriving at a high good rate.
An increase demand for education
Due to an increased desire for further education by people in various countries, Australia
and New Zealand are now attracting many people who share their experience with others
who then plan for vacations in those countries hence earning the countries foreign
exchange and further more after vacation, people might even think of changing the
citizenship due to the available opportunities exploited during the period of study and
vacation.

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Disparity in income distribution
During vacations in those countries, individuals who have higher in come spend more
and vice versa hence the marketing strategy by the organizations should establish
between the citizens and non-citizens, who are consuming more during vacations so as
determine the potential market and ensure sufficient goods and services are available in
the market.
Increased number of single men and women
This has a negative impact on vacation because single men and women do not go for
vacations often as compared to married couples hence Australia and New Zealand will
have few individuals consuming their services.
New perception of the Baby boomers with money to spend.
Vigolo ( 2017pp. 3-23) states that the baby boomers feel that they have achieved almost
everything they desired in life hence having adventure is there option because money is not
3usually a problem for them since they usually have more than enough to spend. Australia
and New Zealand tourism industry enjoy the benefits due to an increased number of baby
boomers (born between 1946-1964) who purpose to enjoy their sweat.
The perception of Generation Y with a growing family house hold and huge mortgage that
need to limit their expenditure.
This generation usually view vacations as a waste of money and rather prefer to save and
cater for various family needs hence the vacation industry does not benefit from them

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Effect of demographic trend on cosmetic industry
Elderly using cosmetics
Nowadays aging women and use cosmetics to appear younger. Some of them dye their
hair black to avoid the white hair. This enhances the focus of the production firms on
such people. They use various perfumes to maintain a smooth skin.
Men using cosmetics
Barbulova, Colucci and Apone (2015 pp.82-92) state that in the past, it was perceived
that cosmetics were only meant for the women but nowadays even men use them hence
the businesses should consider cosmetics for men and women in order to satisfy the needs
for both genders.
Difference in income among various individuals
The business enterprise must produce cosmetics with various prices so as to suit the
purchasing ability of all the individuals within the society by varying the prices for
various cosmetics.
Perception of the educated
Some of the educated individuals have a negative attitude towards cosmetics. They claim
that it is not healthy for the skin and one can do without.

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Effect of demographic trend on pre-cooked food industry
Perception for present longer lifespan of senior citizen
They perceive pre-cooked food as dangerous to the body due to large amount of calories
in it and prefer one to cook his own food hence this affects the sales for such industries.
They believe that ready prepared food is the best than the preserved for later consumption
through warming due to loss some important nutrients due to dormancy of enzymes.
Perception of Baby boomers.
Most of them prefer pre-cooked food and they have refrigerators where they store
quantitative amount and consume less since most of them remain as old couples because
most of their children are usually married.
Change of family structure from large to small
These families prefer pre-cooked food since they can afford to buy and conserve for
future consumption.
Increased number of single adults
They prefer eating at the restaurants than cooking for themselves hence they less demand
the pre-cooked food.

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PART B
OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Various cultures have various beliefs regarding various aspects and businesses should
offer products in the market segment when the cultural aspect the community has been
considered (Yuan et al., 2014. pp.521-529).
Effects on the industries above
Cosmetics industry
Some cultures allow use of cosmetics while others appreciate natural beauty hence the
cosmetic industry might not be appreciated by everyone hence limited market
Some individual (Ramli 2015 pp.113-122).
Vacation industry
During vacations, Australia and New Zealand receive visitors from various countries with
new cultures which might be adopted in these two countries since some cultures such as
dressing code might be nice to adopt hence the fashion and design industry will have a
role to play (Burivalova et al., 2017 pp.423-431).
Pre-cooked food industry
Individuals have various perceptions of pre-cooked food hence the consumption rate is
affected. Hence limited market (Moreira et al., 2015 pp.29-36).

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CHANGE IN SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
Pre-cooked food industry
An individual can move an environment where everything for consumption is in the
fridge to an environment where there is no fridge hence such a person store food hence
limited purchase (Zárate et al.2016).
Vacation industry
Fillis, Lehman and Miles (2017 pp.85-96) state that individuals experience change in the
social environment during vacations. They exploit new products and the curiosity enables
them to purchase them hence businesses in the two countries get a new market for its
products.
Cosmetics industry
Events in life enhance the use of cosmetics. During weddings, cosmetic industry benefit
more than any other moments since the social environmental setting demands a superb
appearance

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References
Barbulova, A., Colucci, G. and Apone, F., 2015. New trends in cosmetics: By-products of plant
origin and their potential use as cosmetic active ingredients. Cosmetics, 2(2), pp.82-92
Bardoel, E.A. and Haar, J., 2018. 21 A Review of Work–Family Research in Australia and New
Zealand. The Cambridge Handbook of the Global Work–Family Interface, p.386.
Burivalova, Z., Lee, T.M., Hua, F., Lee, J.S., Prawiradilaga, D.M. and Wilcove, D.S., 2017.
Understanding consumer preferences and demography in order to reduce the domestic trade in
wild-caught birds. Biological Conservation, 209, pp.423-431.
Fillis, I., Lehman, K. and Miles, M.P., 2017. The museum of old and new art: Leveraging
entrepreneurial marketing to create a unique arts and vacation venture. Journal of Vacation
Marketing, 23(1), pp.85-96.
Kessler, M.D. and O’Connor, T.D., 2017. Accurate and equitable medical genomic analysis
requires an understanding of demography and its influence on sample size and ratio. Genome
biology, 18(1), p.42.
Moreira, S.A., Duarte, R.V., Fernandes, P.A., Alves, S.P., Bessa, R.J., Delgadillo, I. and Saraiva,
J.A., 2015. Hyperbaric storage preservation at room temperature using an industrial-scale
equipment: Case of two commercial ready-to-eat pre-cooked foods. Innovative Food Science &
Emerging Technologies, 32, pp.29-36.
Ramli, N.S., 2015. Immigrant entrepreneurs on the world's successful global brands in the
cosmetic industry. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 195, pp.113-122.

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Vigolo, V., 2017. Population Aging: Challenges and Opportunities for the Tourism Industry.
In Older Tourist Behavior and Marketing Tools (pp. 3-23). Springer, Cham.
Yuan, N., Sun, Y., Comes, H.P., Fu, C.X. and Qiu, Y.X., 2014. Understanding population
structure and historical demography in a conservation context: population genetics of the
endangered Kirengeshoma palmata (Hydrangeaceae). American journal of botany, 101(3),
pp.521-529.
Zárate, L., Garnica, A.M., Prieto, L., Poveda, J.C. and Cerón, M., 2016. Adsorption isotherms of
flours from pre-cooked clones of Criolla potato (Solanum tuberosum Group Phureja) South
American tuber. International Food Research Journal, 23(6).