Generational segmentation is the backbone of demographic marketing — but how is each generation defined? Exactly who is considered a Boomer and who is Gen X? What are the birth years that separate Millennials from Gen Z?
Unfortunately, no governmental body oversees generational segmentation and defines each cohort. That leaves the question open to sociologists and demographers, who incorporate a wide range of factors to cluster people into one generation or another.
However, there is one parameter experts universally use: birth year. It is the single most important factor determining which generation a person belongs to.
That doesn’t mean experts have reached a consensus for the birth years of each generation. It seems everyone — experts and laypeople alike — brings their own opinions and perspective to bear. Some people simply lump all “young people” into either Millennials or Gen Z, or think of everyone who remembers World War II as the Silent Generation.
