The seven ‘ages’ of GenX women
Generation X women experience age in seven different ways according to a new study by Nottingham Business School (NBS), part of Nottingham Trent University.
By Helen Breese | Published on 26 May 2023
Categories: Press office; Research; Nottingham Business School;
Defined as those born between 1965 and 1980, the research explored how GenX women perceive their age and whether they experience ageing in a chronological sense.
This was analysed in relation to the implications for marketers, with GenX positioned as an important generational cohort due its close alignment with consumer culture and increased disposable spending power.
Over a period of three weeks and using online diaries, 19 women with varying life circumstances (aged between 41 and 55) reflected and reported on day-to-day incidents of personal age-related significance.
Analysis of more than 250 diary entries revealed seven intersecting, overlapping, and coinciding ‘frames’ of ageing that the researchers named Affective, Protest, Acceptance, Camouflage, Life-Stage, Inequities, and Inconsequence.
These age frames range from considering age as just an attitude, to outright rejection of age as a culturally imposed label. Some diarists did accept their chronological age but others used beauty products and clothing to camouflage theirs.
Looking after young children and/or aging parents strongly affected personal age perception as did the menopause, present or as a looming event. This generation also felt the weight of inequalities, unfairness, and bias that implied they were comparatively less valued - either than men of all ages and/or women younger than they.
Some of the women expressed a desire to 'defy' their age by taking part in activities that made them feel younger
Lastly, some diarists professed to regularly forgetting their chronological age, regarding this as irrelevant or unrelated to their personal identity.
Sharon-Marie Gillooley, principal lecturer in Marketing at NBS and research lead, said: “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to pin down the age of a GenX woman. This generation feels that it does not need to conform to age and gender related roles/rules like their parents, and therefore they are all experiencing and dealing with ageing in different ways – some are ‘happily old’, others are ‘young at heart’; for some lives are full of possibility, whilst others feel family responsibilities weighing heavily on their shoulders.
“This research suggests that marketing to GenX women presents a particular challenge for companies, as traditional demographic age-informed targeting is unlikely to work - particularly as the research also suggests these age frames “may apply to all of these women all of the time; all of these women some of the time; some of these women all of the time; or some of these women some of the time.”
As a sizeable demographic group, with increasing disposable income, GenX women are an increasingly attractive market. While this is a cohort that marketers should consider, the evidence suggests a chronological model of age categorization is not appropriate for their understanding of Gen X females. Rather, they are distributed and dispersed across many groups – a moving, rather than fixed and predictable target.
The study suggests generalising, or stereotyping, GenX women using an age-related appeal poses a major risk for brands that are in danger of distancing, not reaching, their target market.
The paper Gillooley, S.-M., Resnick, S.M., Woodall, T. and Allison, S. (2023), "The self-perceived age of GenX women: prioritising female subjective age identity in marketing", hasbeen published in the European Journal of Marketing, https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-04-2022-0267.
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Notes for Editors
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About Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Business School (NBS) at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a leader in experiential learning and personalisation of business, management and economics education and research, combining academic excellence with positive impact on people, business and society. NBS has an unrivalled level of engagement with business, public and voluntary organisations. With more than 8,500 students, NBS is also one of UK’s largest business schools.
NBS is Quadruple+ Accredited by EQUIS, AACSB, EFMD BA for International Business, which are globally recognised hallmarks of excellence and quality for business education. NBS is also accredited by Small Business Charter, providing support and development for SMEs. The school is also a PRME Champion and held up as an exemplar and beacon by the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME).
About Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) received the Queens Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2021 for cultural heritage science research. It is the second time that NTU has been bestowed the honour of receiving a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its research, the first being in 2015 for leading-edge research on the safety and security of global citizens.
The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. 86% of NTU’s research impact was assessed to be either world-leading or internationally excellent.
NTU was ranked second best university in the UK in the Uni Compare Top 100 rankings (2021/2022). It was awarded Outstanding Support for Students 2020 (Times Higher Education Awards), University of the Year 2019 (Guardian University Awards, UK Social Mobility Awards), Modern University of the Year 2018 (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide) and University of the Year 2017 (Times Higher Education Awards).
NTU is the 5th largest UK institution by student numbers, with nearly 39,000 students and more than 4,400 staff located across five campuses. It has an international student population of 7,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.
Since 2000, NTU has invested £570 million in tools, technology, buildings and facilities.
NTU is in the UK’s top 10 for number of applications and ranked first for accepted offers (2021 UCAS UG acceptance data) It is also among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was the first UK university to sign the Social Mobility Pledge.
75% of NTU students go on to graduate-level employment or graduate-entry education / training within fifteen months of graduating (Guardian University Guide 2021).
NTU is ranked 2nd most sustainable university in the world in the 2022 UI Green Metric University World Rankings (out of more than 900 participating universities).