Generations

[Avonthediver]

In the second quarter 2009 Undersea Journal issue their is a very interesting article about marketing to the different generations.

Baby Boomer 45-63 78 million of the US population
Generation-X 27-44 69 million of the US population
Echo Boomer 10-26 100 million of the US population

I'm not in the sales or marketing trade, but I did find this a good read for just the simple fact that each generation has found a common passion.
I have the bad luck of being called a Generation X'er. for me right now its about testing my limits and enjoying ever second of my time in the water!
I would like to here from the other generations and find out what drew them to diving and how their age has affected them in the sport?

 

[Doc]

for me right now its about testing my limits

Market research showed some years ago that the biggest draw to enter SCUBA diving was just that... living on the edge, a sense of adventure, Shark dives, all that stuff.

Up until that point, the industry pushed the "Safety" aspect, but when they kicked off with the "Dive into Adventure" Campaign, things really clicked for dives shops. People enjoyed the hint of fear. Shark movie? SCUBA spikes upward.

Now that hardware and training are going internet based, the big push will be towards course completions in paradise- island vacations. As always, in the US, local freshwater dive ops and their tech-centric reason for being will be further eroded.

What attracts us to diving, at this point, is almost secondary to where DEMA and the major players know their shrinking US Market is in reality headed: diving maybe once, once a year, as long as that couple can afford to go to the islands to dive.

Only the wealthy will be doing anything beyond diving in the local quarry.

That's who "will be attracted" to diving... by the diving industry.

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

Market research showed some years ago that the biggest draw to enter SCUBA diving was just that... living on the edge, a sense of adventure, Shark dives, all that stuff.

Up until that point, the industry pushed the "Safety" aspect, but when they kicked off with the "Dive into Adventure" Campaign, things really clicked for dives shops. People enjoyed the hint of fear. Shark movie? SCUBA spikes upward.

I'm not saying you're wrong about some people feeling this way, but I think that associating a lack of safety with adventure is somewhat of a non-sequitor. For a non-diving example, if I wanted to go sky diving (another sport which is probably statistically much safer than it seems on the surface) and there were two ops: one had old, breaking down equipment, crappy instruction, etc and one had great gear and staff: is it more adventerous to go with the unsafe operation?

In general, I think people want adventure and some sort of inherent danger, but also the sport to be statistically safe. Almost any sort of adventure operation is going to post "safety record" or "is it safe?" questions on their website, not "we have the most deaths of anyone: how can you say no to this adventure!"

----

Anyways, for the topic as a whole, I've actually heard the opposite in a business class. I forget who it was, some business PHD somewhere I think, claimed that the popularity of something has to do with current age and is actually very consistent generation to generation. So for example (and the example they gave), tennis tends to be popular with people 40-50 (I forget the actual ages) for every generation.

So the key point of generations is not what that generation likes, but rather how large that group is and the current ages of that group. For example, right now health care is considered a great field to be in to have a job because baby boomers are growing old it's not that people in the baby boomer group are for some reason sicker than other groups, but they are becoming older and there are a lot of them. So if you're going into business, the seniors are a great market.

And I suspect scuba suffers from this somewhat: this large group is hitting retirement age. From general observations, it seems every generation has their vacation divers, divers who will only dive warm water, divers willing to dive in any conditions, and divers who want to go technical.

 

[Avonthediver]

it seems in my reading that the scuba market is looking at the baby boomers and Echo boomers for sales and skiping gen X! I guess I can see this as the boomers are looking for somthing to do in their retirement and the Echo's are just now coming out into the world, while X is raising their kids. from my stand point I spend more now in scuba than i did while in my 20's.

 

[Doc]

I'm not saying you're wrong about some people feeling this way, but I think that associating a lack of safety with adventure is somewhat of a non-sequitor.

Not me, it was DEMA, back in the early 80's or so.

is it more adventerous to go with the unsafe operation?

I don't think they were talking about that. It was more the "felt perception" that you were about to be on the thin edge. This perception can be cultivated by laying off of the continued hammering on the safety issue, and concentrating istead on the adventure aspect.

I think this was the first appearance of the diver logo image that portrayed him carrying a lit magnesium flare. What says adventure more than that? It might have been anachronistic, but it worked. It has since evolved into a "torch of knowledge" look.

Anyways, for the topic as a whole, I've actually heard the opposite in a business class. I forget who it was, some business PHD somewhere I think, claimed that the popularity of something has to do with current age and is actually very consistent generation to generation.

Those who can not do, teach... :doctor: Those who cannot teach, administrate.

This is a very simplistic approach that held that the economy was growing, or static at worst. Surprise! It was blind to what has become the now rapidly changing and shrinking economy.

The potential market for new divers has shrunk dramatically. From the early 80's, the amount of discretionary dollars has shrunk comparatively to zero.

Diving is not cheap, certainly when done more than once in a year!

And I suspect scuba suffers from this somewhat: this large group is hitting retirement age. From general observations, it seems every generation has their vacation divers, divers who will only dive warm water, divers willing to dive in any conditions, and divers who want to go technical.

I believe that the industry is going to concentrate on that "vacation bound" market, the honeymoon, the young couples and adventure singles. There aren't many people who are 18~35 who can afford this frivolity, certainly not if they are in breeding mode.

The effect has been seen in the skiing market. The cross-country (nordic) style was a flash in the pan, and downhill (alpine) is suffering terribly, most obviously at the destination resorts (Colorado, Utah, Canadian Rockies). The effect is slightly less profound than that of scuba, as most ski travel is within North America (no fear of foreign travel, no dollar disparity, excessive air fares) and there are "newly acceptable" lower level local resorts (Michigan, Vermont, etc).

Disneyworld people are now showing up at 6 Flags.

The effect of the economy on the market has been profound. Divers, as a group, are getting noticeably (and statistically) older. They have a few buck left over after the kids went away and stayed away.

The industry will go with the money. The continuously dwindling availability of compressed air aside, they see the future of it as a destination activity. Whether it's Club Dread, West Palm Beach, the Great Lakes Charters, or the East Coast- that's where the survivors will sift out.

Sadly, the local LDS is (with rare exceptions) a goner, unless they have a local charter operation that will keep-up local interest. Diving in the local lake, pond or quarry aint gonna make it, no matter how many Cessna 182's you sink into the murk.

As I postulated in a previous post, the mass market Certification Agencies will follow the lead of PADI with eLeraning. It will prep people for their big adventure in paradise. This popular desire is what their market research demonstrated. They can't/won't take time off from the daily schedule to go to the LDS, classroom, icky pool, or the constricting claustrophobia producing dreaded rubber suit for an already traumatic first dive in 55 degree water... the new model is very attractive for them!

I do hope all all those GenX folks, as you mentioned, get their act together. Today is my birthday and I think I kinda like that they're building a drive-thru pharmacy on every corner.