Sent from an Old MacBook: Social Status, Age, and New Technologies

• In Event: Techno-Social Generations and Communication Research

Abstract

The term “early adopters” is associated with youth and young adults, whereas “late adopters” usually refer to older people and parents. Even though older people tend to have more financial means, it is young people that tend to purchase the latest technological devices. The tech industry is highly aware of this fact and focuses most of its marketing and advertising on the youth market. The technology industry pumps billions of dollars a year in creating advertisement to target the sought after teen and pre-teen groups. Their methods often rely on upping the status or coolness factor of their own products, while simultaneously differentiating and uncooling their competitors. Whereas the “cool” is associated with youth, speed, and freedom, the “uncool” is connoted with older generations, older technologies, and draconian methods of communicating. Numerous studies have shown that youth are more vulnerable and susceptible to the messages of these advertisement campaigns. They are more inclined to be early adopters out of feeling shamed and peer pressured to own the latest gadgets and gizmos. However, despite the desires and inclinations of youth to purchase the latest mobile devices, socio-economic factors play the ultimate determining role in their ability or inability to make purchases. In this paper, I analyze the marketing campaigns that target youth in order to determine how their messages are impacting different youth groups. Why do the tech industries more aggressively target low-income neighborhoods? How do purchasing decisions get made at the intersection of class, gender, and race? Are the cultures of consumption studies that researched the impact of advertisement on Generation X’ers spending habits and patterns applicable to the Millennial? Has the industry via its PR and marketing arms created a dangerous climate for young people, in which they will try to attain the latest versions of new technologies at any cost? Is this any different than the pressures Generation X’ers faced in buying the latest non-digital products, such as Air Jordans?

Author

• Wazhmah Osman, Temple University