Impact of Store Environment on Adult Generation Y Consumers’ Impulse Buying

Until recently, Baby Boomers, with over 76 million members strong, were the largest consumer market in the U.S. However, as members of this generation have gradually entered retirement age and their spending has shifted from trendy goods to more mature, need-driven products, Generation Y has emerged as an enormous force which will inevitably rival Baby Boomers’ market dominance (Cortes, 2004). Born between 1977 and 1994, members of Generation Y, also called “Millennials” or “Echo-Boomers,” represent an estimated 71-80 million consumers in the United States (Gronbach, 2000; Martin and Turley, 2004). Cortes (2004) states that Generation Y is a less homogenous market than its predecessors, and because of this, Generation Y is typically examined in terms of different age groups. According to Paul (2001), in the US in 2001, 30% of Generation Y were between the age of 7 and 11 (also known as “tweens”), 34% were between the ages of 12 and 17 (“teens”), and 36% were between the ages of 18 and 24 (“young adults” or “adult” Generation Y). Collectively, this generation has an estimated spending power of around $300 billion (Bronson, 2000). Among the age cohorts of Generation Y, the adults of Generation Y represent the wealthiest group, as many members of this group are employed in either parttime or full-time jobs. A significant number of these adult Generation Y consumers are also either part-time or full-time college students. Of those adult Generation Y consumers attending college, nearly 80% are employed. According to Gardyn (2002), the average college student has about $287 to spend on discretionary items per month, or about $3,444 per year, which equals a buying power of $200 billion each year for the group. And from year to year, Generation Y members’ expenditures on fashion items, including apparel, accessories, and footwear, is increasing (Generation Y spending on the rise, 2004). In addition to the growth of its spending power, Generation Y has been recognized as having distinctively different tastes and preferences from other