American Generation X Continues to be Forgotten

The American Generation X group is wedged in between two of the largest generations, the Baby Boomers with 76.4 million, and Millennials with 83.1 million. With only 65.8 million people in this cohort, marketers are targeting the majority and neglecting this smaller generation. The Generation X Americans account for 31% of total U.S. income, resulting in a higher spending power compared to other generations. Although this generation is currently one of the least populated, by 2028, they are projected to surpass the Baby Boomers by 0.9 million people. It is important that marketers become aware of this generation takeover soon to arise, and plan diverse strategies to target them.

Using Profiler, our audience insights platform, we conducted a report analyzing American Generation X characteristics. Audience insight tools help companies improve their strategies and allows them to effectively reach their target audience along with their actual audience.

American Generation X – Female

The ordinary American Generation X female is working in the education and libraries, management, or healthcare and medical services field. She reads In Touch Weekly and Better Home and Gardens. In her spare time, she watches TLC and Lifetime. This implies that she is interested in anything regarding cooking, healthy living, and entertaining. She also is highly interested in topics regarding family and personal insight into other’s lives. American Generation X females would rather go to a party than a musical theatre by 7.6%. She drinks Lipton and Barefoot Wine & Bubbly. When it comes to music, she prefers listening to Pink over Beyonce and Lady Gaga.

Some of her favorite brands include Groupon, Macy’s, and Olay. She drives a Toyota Camry and shops at Old Navy, Fabletics, and Lane Bryant. This makes her more of a smart-buyer and infers that she prefers comfortable athleisure style clothes. American Generation X females care about spirituality, the World Health Organization, and charitable organizations. This signifies that helping other countries and communities achieve a better lifestyle is important to her. When she’s looking for a place to travel she is inclined to go to the United Kingdom or Jamaica. She turns to HomeAway and Travelzoo for places to stay and for deals on flights before she goes.

American Generation X – Male

American Generation X males tend to work in architecture and engineering, computation and mathematics, or the management industry. He watches ESPN and Syfy and reads The New York Times and Motor Trend. He favors soccer and football over basketball which reveals his interest in sports and cars, along with staying updated on the news. The average American Generation X male drinks Jack Daniel’s and Nespresso. 5.9% of this group enjoy listening to Tim McGraw and 3.6% enjoy listening to Metallica and Dr. Dre. This expresses their wide favoritism for variety.

His most favored brands include Hewlett-Packard, Apple, CNET, and The Home Depot. This reveals that product reviews can lead his decision making. He is also a fan of how-tos and is tech savvy. He drives a Chevrolet Silverado and shops at Dickies. He prefers the National Football League over the National Basketball Association by 9.7%. His most desired travel destination is Argentina and he uses companies like TripAdvisor and Expedia to make travel arrangements.

The Generation X population mainly lives in New York, New York, Los Angeles, California, and Houston, Texas. Using audience insights platforms give marketers apprized data to drive strong strategies. For more information, download the Audience Analysis: North American Generation X Characteristics.