Friday, June 6, 2008

Age Affects Which Restaurants You Frequent

How old are you? Do you think your age group is a factor in the type of restaurants you frequent? It would seem that would be the case, but how significant is the correlation?

Technomic, a food service consultant, has released a new report, the Generational Consumer Trend, which indicates how significant age plays a role.
QSR Magazine posted an article yesterday about this report.

The report broke down the population into three age groups: Baby Boomers (age 43-), Generation X (age 32-42) and Millennials (age 16-31). But they also examined the differences within each age group as well.

It does not surprise me that Millennials were the largest users of natural/organic foods. Baby boomers are more interested in limiting trans fats. Interestingly, nearly half of all Millennials eat more meals away from home than at home. I think we need to show Millenials the joy of cooking for themselves. I somehow douby they are major purchasers of cookbooks. Only 4 in 10 Generation Xers dine out more frequently than they eat at home. A little better than Millenials but still a significant number. Baby Boomers though tend to eat out mainly for special occasions. That seems to be the opposite extreme. Maybe they need to get out more, to simply enjoy the fine food that can be found at restaurants. A nice balance between dining out and eating at home would be best.

There were also some interesting findings concerning ordering food online. Millennials are the most open to using the Internet to order food, though there is a significant difference between men and women. Women are far more likely than men to place online orders for takeout and delivery. Why would women be more likely to do that than men? Do men feel a greater need for human interaction when placing a food order? Must they talk to a real person on the phone? Or do they feel the need to order takeout when they get to a restaurant?

1 comment:

Gabriella Opaz said...

Fascinating, as I would have guessed that men would be more prone to using the Internet for take-out and deliveries than women. At least for me, although I enjoy the convenience of the Internet, I would much rather talk to someone live. I tend to think of women as wanting personal contact, even if that comes in the form of a live voice, than through a more sterile medium like a computer. Curious.