Gen X expenditures could restructure your marketing strategy
Gen X has driven trillions in global spending, which could encourage marketers to rethink the focus of their generation.
While Gen Xers were often a discount or forgotten generation, new collaborative reports may change the minds of marketers about who they are targeting.
Now, in their peak spending years, Gen Xers has been leading global consumer spending since 2021, titled “The X Factor: How Generation X is quietly turning trillions of consumer spending.”
“Our findings show that Gen X is the most influential consumer cohort of the next decade,” Wolfgang Fengler, co-founder and CEO of World Data Lab, told USA Today. Nielseniq (NIQ) and World Data Lab (WDL) worked to compile a global analysis of Gen X’s consumer behavior and spending trends based on both companies’ proprietary data, including WDL’s consumer spending forecasts.
Why are Generation X members important to businesses?
In 2025, Gen X is expected to drive global spending of $15.2 trillion, including $5 trillion in the US alone. And their spending is projected to peak at $23 trillion and $7 trillion worldwide in the US in 2035.
“With these spending in mind, treating them as their own ‘countries’, Xers forms the world’s second largest consumer market. “After the US, it’s about twice the size of China’s total spending,” Fengler said.
Marta Cyhan-Bowles, NIQ Chief Communications Officer and Head of the Global Marketing Centre, says members of Generation X Weald will have an impact when it comes to spending and decision-making.
“Genixar is the ‘CFO’ of three households, their children, their children, their elders,” Cyhan-Bowles told USA Today.
As the “sandwich generation,” many generations of Xers take care of aging parents while financially supporting their children.
“They know what they want and they get it. They want value and convenience that helps them juggle their vast responsibilities and financial priorities, and as a result, they tend to be trusting and loyal to their brand,” she added.“
According to the report, the next five years – from 2025 to 2030 – Gen X is expected to spend worldwide.
Due to this purchasing power, it is a mistake to ignore Gen Xers.
Brands and retailers who fail to prioritize Gen X Consumers “can not only be overlooking a moment or a generation, but also endanger the generational impact of the next decade and the next generation,” he said.
Why was Gen X ignored?
Born between 1965 and 1980, XX is often overlooked because of its size, Fengler said. Today, Gen X has 1.4 billion members worldwide, but smaller than the millennials born between 1981 and 1996. (1.8 billion (born 1997 to 2012) and Gen Z, according to World Data Lab. And while the baby boomer generation, born from 1946 to 1964, was a large-scale generation, there are now 1 billion boomers alive.
Gina Hemmings, 56, has built her career in marketing with Denver-based Gen Xer.
The professional message that has always been drilled into her head is that it is targeted at consumers aged 20-40. Like Hemmings and other members of Generation X, they are not 45-60 years old.
People in their 20s and 40s consider it a “sweet spot.” Because businesses can build their brand loyalty and hopefully keep consumers alive for life.
Hemmings used himself as an example. She still uses the same bank she chose when she was in her 20s.
Additionally, marketers have been taught that younger consumers can often have the highest disposable income.
But Gen X is more noteworthy, she said.
“We are a generation that is often overlooked and we don’t know the answer to why marketers and retailers aren’t targeting us,” Hemings said.
Professor of Consumer Psychology: This should be a wake-up call
The findings of the study were a call for business awakening and should be the welcome news of Gen Xers, according to Ross Steinman, a professor of consumer psychology at Weidner University, a suburb of Philadelphia who specializes in consumer behavior.
Steinman, who is also a member of the Gen X Generation, said the findings “should be exciting for Gen Xers.
“I don’t know if we were completely forgotten, ignored or overlooked,” Steinman said. It pointed out the popular nostalgia market that reboots and sells toys and products from the 80s, as well as the popularity of nostalgic toy sellers on eBay. “But I don’t think they’re that careful, but now they look at us and say, “Wow, you guys are 45-60 years old. We’ll move as much as we can and take advantage of this,” Steinman said.
Generation X Expense Habits
In North America, Gen X will be the largest group of consumers spending money by 2033.
Below is the report and other findings from Fengler and Cyhan-Bowles.
- For example, in Seattle and Boston, between 70% and 79% of Gen X’RS are considered “abundant.” This is defined as someone who spends at least $120 a day.
- Gen Xers is a brand that is loyal to a small brand. They are 51% more likely to buy small brands than millennials, and 37% more likely to buy smaller brands than buying from larger or retail brands.
- The second highest category for Gen X Consumers is “Durable goods of musical instruments and indoor recreation” (10.1%). These are items such as musical instruments and Ping Pong tables. “This is a generation that plays hard,” Fengler said. The top spending categories are Elders and Dependent Care (10.4%).
- Gen X uses Tech and AI to help you make your life easier. For example, 27% allow “smart” devices (such as fridge sensors) to automatically order new products when needed.
- According to Cyhan-Bowles, beauty is important to Xers. Gen X worldwide is expected to spend $400 billion on beauty in 2034. In the US, Gen X is one of the top representative groups for beauty care dollar sales (28.3%) and second (36.0%) for millennials.
- 53% of Gen X Tik Tok views are featured in makeup. “These consumers are proving that digital advertising should not be ignored or discounted by brands,” she said.
- Gen X US households also spend more on consumer packaging products than millennials. They spend 21% more on pet care, 15% more on floral prints, and over 12% more on home care.
Gen Xer is not that great, but willing to pay more for high quality products
Hemmings said that she and her husband don’t buy that much as she’s getting older, but when they buy something they get the best they can buy. That often means spending more money on the items to make sure it lasts longer, she said.
“I’m doing research and buy things that are important to me,” she said.
Couples don’t go out and prefer to cook at home, and they don’t travel as much as they used to. But she said they still splurge from time to time. They traveled to Kauai after an unexpected windfall.
She and her husband Simon splurge on specialized food for a 13.5-year mini-Australian shepherd named Huxley.
Hemmings said, “Don’t discount Gen X. You should target these consumers for the right brand and the right products.
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA Today. Contact her at blinfisher @usatoday.com or follow her on X, Facebook, or Instagram @Blinfisher, @Blinfisher.bsky.social.. Sign up for our free daily money newsletter. This includes Friday’s Consumer News.
