The evolution of consumer connection: Why age is just part of the story

From the viral rejoinder “OK, boomer” to polarizing debates about whether or not millennials’ avocado toast habits are hindering their ability to own homes, people have long looked to generations to try and make sense of the times we’re living in. The reason for this? Generational theory, which categorizes people by birth year and shared historical experiences.

Generational theory’s current influence can largely be attributed to the marketing industry’s prominent adoption of it in the 1960s, where an effort to capture the immense spending power of the Baby Boomer generation intersected with the advent of television and mass media. In the decades since, age has often been looked to as the predictor of behavior.

Experts discuss the evolution of generational marketing

But can age really depict the full picture of who we are? While generational theory has provided some insights into how people experience and see the world, it can’t always speak to the diversity or complexities of life experiences. And with the rise of technology, societal shifts, and globalization, the lines drawn between generations are blurring. Though an age group can provide context with shared historical moments, it doesn’t necessarily capture the nuances of a person’s values, interests, or their communities. For brands, simply relying on generational insights to reach consumers can limit their scope, missing valuable opportunities for engagement, or even veering into stereotypes and assumptions that prevent true connections with customers.

According to Beyond the Generational Divide, a research study by Amazon Ads and Strat7 Crowd.DNA,¹ 25% of surveyed consumers identify with a different generation than the one they “should” be in, based on the year they were born. The study also found that four out of five surveyed consumers say that their mindset defines them more than their age, and nearly three in four say that they have things in common with people of all ages—giving credence to the old adage that age really is just a number.²

Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist at IAB Europe, believes focusing on just age can result in a limited view of audiences and their rich personal life experiences. During a June 2025 interview with The Drum, during Amazon Ads UK ad tech agency event, “The New Advertising Era,” Knapp discussed the blind spots of generational marketing.

Focusing on unity, not differences

For brands that want to avoid boxing in their customers with demographic labels like age, focusing on what unites their audiences, as opposed to their differences, is key. The Amazon Ads study found that audiences are 1.4x more unified by values, 2.2x more unified by their communities, and 2.1x more unified by behaviors than generation alone.³

For cultural consultant Yaw Owusu, also interviewed by The Drum at the June Amazon Ads event, being just defined by his generational cohort as a millennial would feel “restricting.”

“It's very limiting because I do have shared interests with people both older and younger and in things like certain sports or music or cultural events,” Owusu says. “Generational or age-focused marketing strategy is limited. And to me, it feels slightly disrespectful to believe that I cannot respond to the same cues as other generations.”

Values create connections

Values, in particular, can resonate deeply with audiences across generations; consider that three in five surveyed consumers reported that they like brands that speak to their values and interests.⁴ Owusu emphasized that understanding a brand’s own values—but also those of their consumers—is “critical” for creating deeper connections.

“I think it's super important for brands to be very clear with their brand values,” Owusu says, noting that causes like social justice both span and transcend generations. “There’s something about values and goals and dreams that just cut through generations. There are commonalities in terms of values and things people stand for.”

Reaching customers on all fronts

When thinking about how to effectively reach consumers, brands can optimize their opportunities for connection by combining values, communities, and behaviors with traditional demographic insights like age. Just consider how advertisers using Amazon DSP had conversion rates up to 2.2x higher with campaigns that used both age-based and interest-based audiences together, as opposed to campaigns that only used age-based audiences.⁵

Owusu believes this approach is an effective way for brands to reach more customers by making connections that really speak to audiences where they’re at, whether that’s their age or their interests.

“We're all getting the same message, but in different ways,” Owusu says. “Once you've kind of got a target audience and consumers that have similar interests, you can really be nuanced in the way you approach them.”

By looking beyond just age and finding other identifiers to connect with audiences, brands have many new bids for relevance. Because as Owusu points out, “no brand wants to die with a generation.”

Sources

^1–4 Amazon Ads custom research with Strat7 Crowd.DNA. Beyond the Generational Divide: The new rules for consumer connection. Fielded December 2024 to January 2025. Data reflects AU, BR, CA, DE, ES, FR, IT, JP, MX, U.K., and U.S. aggregated. Base: All respondents (26,400), Gen Z (6,680), Millennials (6,680), Gen X (6,668), Baby Boomers (6,372).

⁵ Amazon internal data. January 2024–December 2024. Analysis based on 710 Amazon DSP campaigns that used either age-based audiences only or both age-based and interest-based audiences. Among advertisers in US, CA, UK, IN, FR, JP, AU, BR, AE, TR, DE, ES, IT that sell their products on Amazon.com.