August 2017
Ankita Sharma & Sana Maidullah
The majority of psychological researches explain phenomenon and behaviors at the group level, and even when case studies are done, most of them are used for generalization. However, the group level changes could occur due to the change of things over time. This phenomenon in Sociology is studied as an age-period-cohort effect. Wherein, it is believed that the things which change over time, could be through two main mechanisms, 1. through changes within individuals and, 2. through the succession of generation or cohorts.
Although the use of the term generation is quite common in psychological studies, the exploration of the cohort effect is missing. Few of the areas where some of the studies are reported are health (Balakrishnan et al., 2015), fertility and mortality rate (Antonisamy et al., 2009) workplace conflict (Chou, 2012), and gerontology (Sarkar, Kang, & Naumova, 2013). The possible significant effect of cohort could be discerned from the studies on intelligence debate, consumer behavior, consumer socialization, religion and religious practices.
In a website, author (Nair, 2016) says 'the West has a neat tradition of sorting the generations into nomenclatures like Gen X, Millennial, and now Gen Z for those born after 1996 (there are different opinions on which year each generation begins and ends)', whereas, in India, these terminologies are not really applicable.
The WJSCHROER report explains western nomenclature of generation as:
· Boomers I or The Baby Boomers: Born: 1946-1954
· Boomers II or Generation Jones: Born: 1955-1965
· Generation X: Born: 1966-1976 (Sometimes referred to as the “lost” generation)
· Generation Y, or Millenniums: Born: 1977-1994, Gen Y kids are known as incredibly sophisticated, technology-wise, immune to most traditional marketing and sales pitches.
· Generation Z: Born: 1995-, Gen Z kids will grow up with a highly sophisticated media and computer environment and will be more Internet savvy and expert than their Gen Y forerunners.
However, such clear nomenclature is not popular for the Indian population. Some of the suggestion and indications are available in psychological literature and media reports. In a book by (Ruprail & Sciences, 2002) they presented the bibliographical study on elderly by labeling them as 'Silver generation.' Kapoor (2012) in The Times of India article also quoted 'The Ad Guru,' Prahlad Kakkar, and reported that "In Indian ad-world generations are defined as X, Y, Z, and silver. Silvers people are now in their 50-60s, were born just after the Independence. Gen Y is in their 30s and 40s, they belong to the post-boom era and are those who are reconciling and reconsolidating their jump forward. Gen X is the generation 'next', people in their 20s or so and the concept of generation Z is almost the same as the western conception. Dr. Ravinder Kaur, Director, Centre of Global South Asian Studies, does not stray far from the Western definition in attempts to define the generations as they pertain to India but says, "Rather than looking for exact parallels for Gen X and Gen Y in India in terms of period, we need to look at the qualities associated with them" (Kapoor, 2012).
We want to reconcile these two approaches (Kapoor, 2012 & Nair, 2016) by supporting background literature and introduce the best possible generation wise nomenclature for cohort studies. Following are suggested nomenclature:
· Generation Silver: Born after independence (1947), age 40 and above,
· Generation X: Born in the 1970s, age 30-40,
· Generation Y: Born in the 1980s, age 20-30, and
· Generation Z: Born after 1995, age 17+
Generation X was used to refer to people born just after the war and in the era of the unknown and uncertain future. Generation Y were those people who witnessed the digital revolution that brought forth the new liberal systems, economic reforms, and the internet. Finally next was the generation Z, who are born with many digital possibilities and fast-paced changing life. If we follow Dr. Kaur's suggestion, the contemporary Indian Gen X, Y and Z would be people who were born just after the Independence, then people born in 1980-90 when economic reforms, free market, and the internet came to India and Gen Z would be same as to rest of the world. As Jermy Finch (2015) in A Fast Co Exist report (2015) also adds, “Gen Z have been strongly shaped by their individualistic, self-reliant Gen X parents and they’re committed to avoiding the mistakes their meandering millennial predecessors made.”
We have used the above-mentioned definition in our work on consumer behavior (Sharma & Maidullah, 2017) and found significant differences in their internet use and purchase behavior. Next, we are testing our hypothesis that these generations differ in their personality characteristics as defined with term consumer 3.0, as a result of a cohort effect.
Reference
Antonisamy, B., Raghupathy, P., Christopher, S., Richard, J., Rao, P., Barker, D. J., & Fall, C. H. (2009). Cohort profile: the 1969–73 Vellore birth cohort study in South India. International journal of epidemiology, 38(3), 663-669.
Balakrishnan, K., Sambandam, S., Ramaswamy, P., Ghosh, S., Venkatesan, V., Thangavel, G., Puttaswamy, N. (2015). Establishing integrated rural–urban cohorts to assess air pollution-related health effects in pregnant women, children and adults in Southern India: an overview of objectives, design and methods in the Tamil Nadu Air Pollution and Health Effects (TAPHE) study. BMJ open, 5(6), e008090.
Chou, R. (2012). Discrimination against older workers: current knowledge, future research directions, and implications for social work. Indian Journal of Gerontology, 26(1), 25-49.
Jermey, F. (2015, May 4). What is generation z and what does it want. Retrieved from https://www.fastcoexist.com/3045317/what-is-generation-z-and-what-does-it-want z
Kapoor, K. (2012, Nov.16). The desi definition of Gen X, Y, Z. The Times of India Life. Retrieved from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Nair, D. (2016, Jun.24). With the world’s largest Gen Z population of 356 million, will the ‘next big disruptor’ be from India. Your Story. Retrieved from https://yourstory.com
Ruprail, N., & Sciences, S. I. G. f. S. (2002). Silver Generation in India: A Bibliography Study, 1889-2000: SPM Information Gateway of Social Sciences, NASSDOC, Indian Council of Social Science Research.
Sarkar, R., Kang, G., & Naumova, E. N. (2013). Rotavirus seasonality and age effects in a birth cohort study of southern India. PloS one, 8(8), e71616.
Sharma,A., & Maidullah,S.(2017). Generation - Silver, X, Y and Z Internet Users and Consumers of India. In Bhakar.S.S., Rajput, S., Gulati.C., & Kaurav.S.P.R. Strengthening Strategies, Shaping Policies and Empowering Personal Key to Organizational Competitiveness(pp.163-179).New Delhi: Bharti Publication
WJSchroer Report. Generations X,Y,Z and the Others. Retrieved from http//: WJSchroer.htm