One of the most important factors that can make or break an advertising campaign is in your target audience. Knowing who your target audience is and knowing where they are will give your campaign the right headstart that it needs because it means you are ‘speaking to the right people’. Here’s a comprehensive guide to the consumer groups and profiles of Malaysia.
The Silent
This group represents the oldest people in the country. They are called ‘The Silent’ because they are probably the least vocal today. It is important to note that those who fall into this customer profile are people who are most likely to take information as they come which means that they are very used to the television, newspapers and most notably radio. Their traits are:
- Born: Between 1928 and 1945
- The total population in Malaysia: Average of 3% of the country’s population between 2010 and 2015
In 2015, it was reported that there are 48.5% male and 51.5% female of ‘Silents’ in Malaysia totaling to 941,400 people. More than half of these are Bumiputera background.
The Baby Boomers
The Baby Boomer category meanwhile is those who are around the 50s and 60s in terms of age. They are named baby boomers because they were all born during the era when the world experienced a sharp increase in population. In terms of media exposure, they do have similar traits as The Silent but the Baby Boomers are known to be more modern as a lot of them migrated from one place to another, usually to the more urban cities. This means that they are somewhat more vocal and demanding than The Silent. Their features are:
- Born: Between 1946 and 1964
- The total population in Malaysia: Average of 14% of the country’s population between 2010 and 2015
There were 4.6 million people in Malaysia who are in this category recorded in 2015 which is gender divided at 50.8% male and 49.2% female with 57.5% of them being Bumiputera and 30.2% of them are from the Chinese communities. In Malaysia, the Baby Boomers are sometimes referred to as the ‘Merdeka Babies’.
The Baby Boomers are people who have experienced a lot of changes in the consumer sector as they have been the ones who have grown up through traditional (and possibly old school) media through the introduction of new and more modern ones. However, it must be noted that Baby Boomers are not known to be too receptive of new advertising methods like the next group (Generation X).
Generation X
The term Generation X is probably one of the most used phrases in the consumer profile segment. It is after all one of the most influential groups when it comes to consumer indexes and advertising profiles for many years. What makes Generation X so significant among all other categories is that they are the ones who have gone through many waves of changes in the global economy. Their traits include:
- Born: Between 1965 and 1980
- Total Population in Malaysia: average at 18.5% between 2010 and 2015
There were 5.7 million Baby Boomers in Malaysia in the year 2015 of whom 51.5% of them are male and the rest are female. As mentioned and most likely known by most, Baby Boomers are those who were born when telephone lines were only available at home and they have to use public phones by inserting coins.
They then experienced a lot of changes while growing up with the introduction of mobile phones and then to the smartphone era. When they were young, the internet was still unheard of but as an adult, they use broadband internet access. This means that they are a very strong group when it comes to consumer targeting.
Baby Boomers are quite divided in terms of being vocal and interaction. Today’s media resonate with some of them while there is a group which is still quite prone to one-way media communication such as the television and newspaper.
The Millennial
The Millennial is sometimes referred to as Generation Y (thereby coming after X). This group of people are often known to be very independent people who are creative and a lot more innovative than the other groups before them. They search for work-life balance and can sometimes be too vocal for their own good. As such, they tend to be more interactive when it comes to consumer profiling where if there is something they are not happy about, they will find a way to voice it out.
- Born: Between 1981 and 1997
- Total Population in Malaysia: Average at about 28.5% between 2010 and 2015
In 2015, there were almost 9 million Millennials in Malaysia with 52.7% of them are male and 47.3% female. More than 57% of this entire group are bumiputras. The Millennials are known to be born at the golden development era of Malaysia when there was rapid growth in the various economic sector.
This was not only because of what happened in Malaysia but that which took place in the world at large. While some of those in this group were exposed to more traditional methods living, most of them were born in a time of the internet and modern communication.
Most of them were born in urban areas or have some access to urbanization at some point. As such, they are very exposed to social media and networking.
Generation Z
This is the most current and active group of consumer category in Malaysia. Certain theorists claim that those who are Generation Z are those who were born with a smartphone in their hands (as an analogy).
It must be noted that Generation Z are those who were born after 1997 and they are outspoken, exposed to the global work at large, have access to all types of information and can be very technology-driven. Some call them the Google generation as well. Generation Z people have a lot of access to social media with very low uptake of traditional media.
