1986 Demographics and Psycographics

According to our textbook, the major "age cohorts" are the G.I. generation (born between 1901 and 1924), the silent generation (born between 1925 and 1942), the baby boom generation (born between 1943 and 1960), generation x (born between 1961 and 1981), and generation y (born between 1982 and present?). In 1986 the major demographics would be the baby boom generation and generation x. The baby boomers produced the hippies and the yuppies while generation x produced no specifically defined image that can be connected to them.

The How Stuff Works website has these questions to help determine psychographics:
-What do they like about your product?
-What do they like about your competitor's product?
-What made them decide to buy your product?
-Did they know which brand they were buying before they purchased it?
-What advertising messages had they seen prior to buying?
-How much disposable or discretionary income is available for this type of purchase?
-What are their hobbies?
-What emotional aspects impact their purchase?
-What is their social class or status?
-Who is the actual decision-maker for this type of purchase?
-What values and attitudes play a part in this type of purchase?
-Who do they look to when making purchasing decisions?

Using what we know about the different generations and these questions, we can try to determine the market that they would have been selling to in 1986. Overall they were selling to two very different markets. The baby boomers were more family oriented and at the same time they were striving to reach professional goals. They would be looking for a product that was affordable and helped make their life easier, all while putting out a professional image. Generation x had more computer technology than any previous generation had seen. They also found personal needs, wants, and goals the most important. They wanted to know "what's in it for me?" Generation x would be looking for a product that is advanced and was just for them. They might have more discretionary income to spend on themselves than the baby boomers because the boomers had families to spend that money on as well. This is just an overall look at the two generations and in no way means that every consumer of that generation adhered to these rules.