Generational Differences in Responses Related to Advertisements

This study empirically compared generational differences in responses between baby boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y groups as measured by key variables related to advertisement. The respondents in this study were consumers throughout Korea, with 914 survey questionnaires used for the final analyses. Eight of the original 10 hypotheses were validated and two were rejected. Both baby boomer consumers and Generation Y consumers showed more positive responses to affective advertisements than their Generation X counterparts. Generation Y consumers showed more positive attitudes towards humorous advertisements than their baby boomer and Generation X counterparts. The effect of advertising models on the evaluation of advertisements was greater among Generation Y consumers than their Generation X counterparts. Generation Y consumers showed more positive attitudes towards storytelling-type marketing than their baby boomer and Generation X counterparts. Baby boomer consumers showed more positive attitudes towards symbolic advertisements than their Generation X and Generation Y counterparts. Generation X consumers showed more positive attitudes towards functional advertisements than the baby boomer and Generation Y groups. There were significant differences in attitudes towards two types (symbolic and functional) of advertisements in both baby boomer consumers and Generation X consumers.