Multicultural Boomer Habits

One of the most important generations in American history — baby boomers — is tired. That’s according to the first installment of an extensive research study conducted by the integrated cross-cultural marketing agency Sensis.

Baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, have been largely ignored by marketers preoccupied with millennials and Generation Z. But boomers control an estimated $2.6 trillion in spending power. Tapping that well requires a nuanced, multicultural approach.

“We have a successful track record of conducting cross-cultural research going back a decade with the Hispanic Persona Project,” President and Chief Strategy Officer José Villa said. “Boomers have never been examined from a multicultural standpoint before now. We are able to capture insights no one else has because we’re not looking at them like a monolith.”

In the first of six installments, boomers revealed that the pandemic has been exhausting. Their lives have been upended with adult children forced to move home, sometimes bringing their children. It has put a strain on families.

In the July 2020 survey, 44% of boomers said they enjoyed spending time with their kids, down 8% from 52% in November 2019. Whites, Blacks and Asians expressed similar rates of familial fatigue while 48% of Hispanics reported enjoying their kids’ company.

Boomers also reported being eager to travel farther from home, the longer they sheltered. Only 23% of boomers said they enjoyed staying close to home while vacationing in 2020, compared to nearly 34% of boomers in 2019. Since so much of their lives have been relocated to screens, boomers are now facing serious social media fatigue. Only 37% of boomers said they were excited about connecting with family and friends over social media in 2020, compared with 50% in 2019.