A Qualitative Inquiry into the formation of Generational Cohorts: a Case of an Emerging Market
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: This study use sociological theories of \ngenerations to identify generational cohorts for \nmarket segmentation. These theories are \npredominantly used in the West, hence little is \nknown about their relevance in emerging \nmarkets, such as Malaysia. Past studies have \nmostly borrowed cohort labels from that of the \nU.S. sources, and assumed that their \ncharacteristics can be construed in the Malaysian \ncontext. Given the exploratory nature of the \nstudy, a qualitative approach by means of \npersonal interview was conducted to identify the \nactual cohorts in Sarawak, a state in Malaysia. \nSpecifically, major societal and historical events \nthat Sarawakians could overtly recall due to their \nattachment to them during formative years were \nelicited. Accordingly forty-eight interviews were \nrecorded, transcribed and content-analysed. Five \ncohorts were identified, and they were different \nfrom that of the U.S. sources. They were \nsubsequently labelled as Neoteric-inheritors, \nProspective-pursuers, Social-strivers, Idealisticstrugglers \nand Battling-lifers based on their \ncollective experience of the events. The results show the relevance of theories of generations for \nmarket segmentation in emerging market.
Authors: Hiram Ting, Ernest Cyril de Run
Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Language: English
Subfield: Life-span and Life-course Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1540787391