Demographics

Huge Shifts in Consumer Behavior Made Easier to Understand, Quantify and Anticipate

Demographics determine the direction of your business. Demographic trends can be overwhelming, misleading, confusing, conflicting, and difficult to predict. Not anymore.

John Burns and Chris Porter wrote this book to help make demographic trends easier to understand, quantify, and anticipate. Readers of this book will have a huge competitive advantage because they will be making decisions with facts, and they will be better able to adjust their strategies when unanticipated events shift prevailing trends. Know the facts, and learn to:

plan your business better.
Support your decisions with facts; and
clarify the demographic confusion using the groupings and frameworks used in this book.

Usable Generational Definitions

John Burns and Chris Porter redefine the generations by decade born, grouping people by age and life stage. Each generation born in the 1950s and later is 40 to 44 million in size, although the life experiences and foreign-born composition of each vary dramatically. Burns and Porter give each generation a name to reflect the shift in society that they led.

Four Big Influencers

Four Big Influencers explain why those born in different decades behave so differently, and help explain the big shifts ahead:

New technologies
Changing government Policies
Economic growth
Shifts in societal acceptability

Seven Biggest Opportunities

Burns and Porter devote a chapter to each of the seven biggest opportunities, forecast the future of each, and provide a framework to shift strategy when unexpected changes occur.

Working women
Affluent immigrants
Workaholic retirees
Delayed young adults
The Sharing economy
Southern growth
Urban life moving to the suburbs

They support the research with more than 100 easy-to-read color charts and plenty of facts.

Download the Introduction and a Free Chapter by visiting

www.BigShiftsAhead.com

Demographics shape the housing industry landscape over the long term, with four primary factors playing a huge role in each generation’s housing choices:

New technologies, from birth control to the internet
Government initiatives, from immigration policy to mortgage policy
Economic conditions, especially during the first ten years of one’s career
The changing social acceptability of many kinds of non-traditional households

Our Chief Demographer, Chris Porter, leads a team that knows how to navigate the abundance of available demographic data to help our clients make informed decisions. We frequently clarify conflicting and confusing information, helping our clients target the right demographic. Our Housing Demand Model by Life Stage and Price Point exemplifies how we bring demographics and the housing market together.

Combined with findings from our Consumer and Product Insight survey on buyer preferences and the latest design trends from DesignLens, our demographic analyses provide another valuable tool to help executives make informed decisions.

If you have any questions, please contact Chris Porter at (949) 870-1218 or by email.

Additional Information

To schedule a call with one of our advisors regarding our Demographics research and consulting services, please fill out the form below.

“I applaud John Burns and Chris Porter’s bold challenge to the conventional wisdom on demographics. Their analysis provides valuable insights for any marketer working to unlock value for their customers. For those who read carefully, there’s excellent nuggets on how to strategically position business for growth.”

– Deborah Wahl, Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s USA

“John Burns and Chris Porter make a phenomenal case for how demographics trends influence long-term societal behavior. Airbnb has learned that, when it comes to housing and travel, we’re moving from detached dwellings to sharing societies that create both better efficiency and personal connections.”

– Chip Conley, Bestselling Author and Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy of Airbnb

“Big Shifts Ahead is aptly titled. It provides a valuable service in categorizing our population more in line with how we think about ourselves. A valuable and interesting read for both business planners and anyone interested in thinking about who Americans are.”

– Doug Duncan, Chief Economist at Fannie Mae

“Nobody knows housing like John Burns, and now he offers the demographics which underlie his long term forecasts. This data has implication for every business, as he clearly demonstrates. This is one of the best books you can read on demographics and consumer spending.”

– John Mauldin, Multi- New York Times bestselling author and writer of one of the world’s largest online newsletters, Thoughts from the Frontline.

“From the impact of immigration, to women in the workforce, to the coming boom in household formation, John Burns and Chris Porter masterfully use graphs and demographic data to illustrate many of the past and future trends.”

– Bill McBride, Blogger at CalculatedRiskBlog.com, named #4 best financial blog by Time.com