New data from Mintel, a market intelligence firm in the U.K. reveals some insights about multi-generational families that can impact marketers.
A key finding is that multi-generational families - those where a grandparent has a bigger role in raising their grandchildren - are more likely than all parents surveyed to report that they are increasing spending on the children.
According to Mintel, some sixty percent of parents in multi-generational families are spending more money on groceries for their children this year, when compared to last year, and fifty-one percent are spending more this year on clothing accessories. Also, forty percent or more reported spending more on footwear and personal care products for children.
“As more Americans raise children in multi-generational households, they are pushing the envelope on what it means to be a family and encouraging product and service providers to reconsider not only how they market to parents and families, but to whom,” says Gretchen Grabowski, travel and leisure analyst at Mintel.
However, half of those multi-generational families surveyed said that they wish they saw more families like their own in television and print advertising.
The message is clear - “This opens the door for marketers to target multi-generational families, and perhaps specifically grandparents that may have a more pronounced role in raising (and spending money on) their grandchildren,” Gretchen Grabowski said.
However, you communicate with your customers, whether in outbound marketing campaigns or customer service or by print, voice or social media, be aware that the economic buyer may just as easily be a grandparent as a parent.