BA THESIS PROPOSAL

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THESIS ADVISOR:

Name: Evangelos Zographos

Email: ez@schellhammerbusinessschool.com

PROPOSED THESIS TITLE: “How the “new age of austerity” could impact on Generation Y’s
VABES – Values, Attitudes, Beliefs, Expectations – in the UK”.

ETHICAL CHECKLIST COMPLETED? Yes

BA Track: General ____Marketing ____Hospitality ____ Psychology____

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DATE:

BA THESIS PROPOSAL
1. Aims of the Dissertation:

This Dissertation will seek to investigate the hypothesis that a combination of social,
economic and “environmental” (Palmer et al 2009:50) pressures such as increased
government market participation and regulation, the continued spread of globalization
fostering greater economic interdependency, potential scarcity of key natural resources,
declining economic environment particularly in the West and exemplified by the current
economic crises described as “the worst economic decline since the Great Depression”
(cnn.com, 2009) as well as hypercompetiton for education, employment, trade, resources,
innovation and competitive advantage, significantly effect the consumer behavior of the
generational cohort variously referred to as “Generation Y” or “Millennials” – “the
generation born during or after 1982” (Howe and Strauss, 2000:4).
At the core of this investigation will be an examination and analysis of this generational
cohort’s “VABEs – Values, Assumptions, Beliefs and Expectations”
(Clawson, 2002:9) and how these directly relate to their behavior as consumers.
Kotler and Keller (2006:251) inform that each generational cohort “is profoundly influenced
by the times in which it grows up in”, a point that is reinforced by Meredith and Schewe
(1994; 2002; 2004) and Ryder (1965) who concluded that “defining moments” influence
values, preferences, attitudes and buying behavior in ways that influence the cohorts’ entire

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lifetime. Adding that, particularly “if occurring during the highly influenceable “coming-of-
age” years of approximately 17 – 23 years old” in which case these values become
embedded and remain relatively unchanged throughout their life.
“Generation Y” represents a significant part of the population of the UK population and has
been rightly targeted as the consumer force that will shape the future of brands.
However, as they are currently experiencing paradigm shifting “defining moments” how will
“the most advertising literate, brand conscious, best educated, well informed and connected
generation” (Howe and Strauss, 2000:6) used to a “charmed life” (Stroud, 2005) affluence,
instant gratification and the definition of “self through consumption” (Mittal, 2006) respond
to austerity.
Will their “early maturity” as a consumer lead to more focused value and quality based
discernible consumer practices?
Will their awareness and knowledge of environmental issues lead to a more sustainable
consumer consumption model?
Will these forces stimulate tangible and sustainable “discontinuous” brand innovation?
Will they adhere to “The Lifestage Analytic Matrix” developed by Meredith and Schewe
(2002) in light of the speed, mass availability of information and knowledge as well as global
interconnectedness?

2. Methods:

As the above detailed hypothesis essentially falls under the subject of social sciences
implicitly involving people, the very complexity of deducing, analyzing and confirming
essentially human, reactions, feelings, attitudes, values etc. necessitates the adoption of a
multi disciplinary approach to research in order to “establish the plausibility of the
hypothesis” (The American Psychological Association, n.d.) by providing rigorous and
substantive data.
By date order, therefore firstly an extensive Literature Review will be undertaken – already
in process - in order to establish a clear, concise and solid knowledge base by scanning the
existing consumer behavioral literature database not only to identify the development of
this specific generational cohort “VABEs – Values, Assumptions, Beliefs and Expectations”
(Clawson, 2002:9) but more specifically how the existing literature relates to their behavior
as individual consumers in terms of perceptions, learning and memory, motivations,
decisions-making, shopping, buying and evaluating habits, group and opinion former
influence as well as psychographic aspects such as family structures, income, social class and
levels of education.
The second phase will involve scanning the environment for existing published studies on
Gen Y attitudes undertaken by government bodies and or private institutions and authors
such as The Association of Graduate Recruiters and the work of Paul Redmond, Head of
the Careers & Employability Service at the University of Liverpool an acknowledged
expert on generation theory and the graduate recruitment market plus titles such as
“The World According to Y: Inside the New Adult Generation” by Huntley (2006), “Making
Sense of Generation Y: The World View of 15- to 25-year-olds’ by Savage et al, (2006) and
“Millennials Rising – The Next Great Generation” by Howe and Strauss (2000) as well as the
Euromonitor (2007) study of “Generation Y: Marketing to the Young Ones (18-26s).
The qualitative and quantitative research studies will form respectively phases three and
four as follows.
Qualitative research will center on a series of Focus Group discussions – planned total of four
groups consisting of a minimum of six and a maximum of eight respondents.

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In sampling terms these four groups will divide into – 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd Year and final
year and will have an equal gender split and be of appropriate ethnic diversity to reflect the
current make up of UK society.
These group discussions will take place in London firstly because in geographic terms it is the
capital of the UK and as such a major social trendsetter and secondly university students
have been chosen on the basis that they are likely to be the opinion formers of the future.
In terms of demographics the age factor is predetermined by the choice of subject i.e. GenY
who are aged between 17-24 years old – however other factors such as gender, income and
occupation will be considered – more reflective of the GenY population as a whole - by a
quantitative study consisting of an online survey against a total sample of 100 to 150
respondents.
Utilizing the simple “Multiple Choice” format a number of questions will be developed based
largely on a combination of the knowledge gained from phase one and two and more
importantly the trends that emerge from the qualitative study in phase three.
Although no formal choice has been made yet it is envisaged that esurveyspro.com will help
with the execution of the survey, which will be linked to social networking sites such as
Facebook and Instagram.
As the Internet and social networking plays a key role in the lives of GenY, it is envisaged that
using these two popular sites will yield greater levels of response.
On the basis of an anticipated 40% response rate, a total of 40 to 60 responses will be
analyzed.
The author’s objective is that combination of a qualitative – highlighting the “how and why”
and quantitative studies – providing the “what”, “where” and “when” will provide the
necessary support, credibility and analytical rigor to the above detailed hypothesis.
Furthermore, by utilizing both a qualitative and quantitative methodology the issue of any
bias and “subjectivity” (White, 2006:26) that is implicit in any qualitative study will be
counteracted by the “objectivity” (White, 2006:26) of the quantitative study and the
resulting numerical analysis.

3. Feasibility:

The author has considerable freedom and control over timings and resources firstly because
he is self-employed and working from home and secondly is able to leverage a variety of
professional contacts in the UK all of whom are involved in the provision of Marketing
Services – and who have agreed to help with data provision, sample recruitment and
interviewing in the collection of primary data for the qualitative and quantitative research
that is required.
Secondly, generational cohorts and in particular “Generation Y” has been extensively
researched by the UK government and hard data is available, in the public domain.
Thirdly, academically the topic has also been explored extensively and theories developed in
such reputable journals/sources as Journal of Consumer Behavior, Ad Map, IPA, Emerald
Insight, Sage, Market Research Society and psychological, sociological and economic
behavior journals covering both the UK and as relevant the USA.

4. How Your Work Fits Existing Published Work:

The starting point for conducting a literature review on the subject of consumer behavior as
it relates specifically to generational cohorts has to be an analysis of the findings and
conclusions of Schewe and Meredith (2004) who were the first to propose the concept of

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segmenting consumers for marketing purposes by groups of individuals born during the
same time period and collectively sharing the same “defining moments” (Meredith and
Schewe, 2002) which they posit if occurring during the formative life stage period of “coming
of age” results in influencing this groups values, attitudes, preferences and overall consumer
behavior that remain with them over their entire life (Meredith and Schewe. 1994; Ryder,
1965).
This core assumption is largely based on the research and findings of Schuman and Scott
(1989) who utilizing a sample of 1,410 Americans concluded that although “defining
moments” such as The Second World War, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy or
the Vietnam war were recalled by most age groups, individuals who were aged between 16-
24 years of age during these events not only cited them as important but claimed these
events had a “life changing” influence upon them.
Schewe and Meredith (2004) therefore concluded from the Schuman and Scott (1989)
research that same age individuals share the same memories and that “cohort effects are
life-long effects” and as such are an effective marketing segmentation tool as each of the
seven distinct cohorts they identified – “Depression Cohort (born between 1912-1921) and
came of age during the Great Depression, Second World War Cohort (born between 1922-
1927) came of age during the Second World War, Post-War cohort (born between 1928-
1945) came of age during post WWII “Cold War” period, Leading-edge Baby Boomers (born
between 1946-1954) came of age during the socially turbulent “Sixties”, Trailing-edge Baby
Boomers (born between 1955-1965) came of age during the inflationary and economically
volatile “Seventies”, Generation X (born between 1965-1976) came of age during economic
and social instability of the “Eighties” and lastly Generation Y – referred to by Schewe and
Meredith (2004) as N Generation – (born between 1977-?) came of age during the
Information Revolution and Globalization” to which the author would add failed neo liberal
economic doctrine resulting in the current economic recession – These shared experiences
provide the necessary group communality that can be used to target these separate age
segments with marketing campaigns that tap into for example the “principle of cognitive
consistency” (Solomon et al 2006:146) that states that attitudes are not formed in a vacuum
and that an object or communication is evaluated by the consumer on the basis of attitudes
already held.
Therefore, cohort’s values can be tapped and utilized by marketers to build a relationship
and as such generate and increase brand loyalty.
Although this research is largely based on USA consumers as Scott and Zak, (1993) reminds
us the UK and the USA have shared and continue to share “defining moments” which is
laudable bearing in mind the linguistic, cultural and close historical links between the two
countries.
Relating all of the above to the effects that the current economic recession – “defining
moment” - is likely to have on the “VABEs – Values, Assumptions, Beliefs and Expectations”
(Clawson, 2002:9) of Generation Y, generational cohort’s in the UK, Abramson and Inglehart
(1992) conducted a quantitative survey between 1970 -1990 in eight major West European
countries - Germany, UK, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain and Ireland – and found
that although there has been a marked trend towards “Post-materialism” particularly
amongst Generation Y cohorts with “older Europeans consistently selecting such
“Materialist” goals as maintaining order and fighting inflation whilst younger Europeans
were more predisposed to give top priority to such “Post-materialist” goals as freedom, self-
expression and environmental concerns”.
Within this context the UK manifested the weakest relationship between ages and
“Materialism” and Abramson and Inglehart (1992) posit that this is firstly because the UK

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escaped invasion and economic deprivation during the Second World War and secondly that
younger Britons have grown up during overall affluent times and can therefore afford to be
less materialistic. Adding that these findings of weak relationship between age and
“Materialist/Post-materialist” values in the UK are supported by similar findings in the USA.
Additionally, they argue that these age-group differences could conceivably result from
differences between the position of younger and older adults in the life cycle, as well as from
differences between the formative socialization of young adults and that of their elders or a
combination of the two.
Alternatively, this life-cycle explanation for the relatively high levels of “Post-materialism”
among young adults could be that they have fewer responsibilities and less concern with
economic problems or indeed classic “rights of passage” attitudes of youthful idealism
particularly when they have not yet faced economic realities.
Whilst not directly the Schuman and Scott (1989) findings are related and explained as the
“generational explanation” (Abramson and Inglehart, 1992) in that the levels of “Post-
materialism” among young Britons result from differences between their formative
socialization and that of their elders stating that a generation is 'a group of human beings
who have undergone the same basic historical experiences during their formative years'
(Abramson and Inglehart, 1992) arguing that children and young adults who grow up during
periods of economic prosperity could place stronger emphasis on non-economic values
particularly as they expect their economic needs to be fulfilled, and as such are more likely”
to value self-actualization, opportunities to participate in decisions and other non-materialist
values” (Abramson and Inglehart, 1992) concluding that severe and protracted economic
adversity would tend to change these values, whilst continued affluence young UK “Post-
materialists” are likely to retain their values even as they age and move through the life
cycle.
The proposed research will set out to test the Abramson and Inglehart, (1992) findings in
light of the economic and environmental pressures detailed in the aims of this thesis

5. Why You Are Doing This Topic:

There are three criteria that have influenced the authors’ choice of topic:
Personal: An interest in the subject not only from a professional standpoint, having spent a
number of years in advertising, but also as a keen observer of human consumption behavior.
In short, the author finds people and what motivates and shapes their purchasing behavior
and habits a fascinating subject.
Commercial: As a brand consultant any insight that can offer the authors current and
perspective clients on what is after all an important consumer segment would be of great
value.
Intellectual Challenge: The author found the MBA modules that dealt with any human
behavioral aspects – Managing People, Consumer Behavior, Services Marketing and
Managing Change – very fulfilling and as such would relish the prospect of applying the
knowledge gained.

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6. Timing Mileposts

Milestone Description Due date Remarks

1 Stage 1: Area of interest identified
2 Stage 2: Specific topic selected
3 Stage 3: Topic refined to develop thesis
proposal
4 Stage 4: Proposal written and 23 Oct 2020
submitted
5 Stage 5: Collection of data and
information
6 Stage 6: Analysis and interpretation of
collected data/information
7 Stage 7: Writing up
8 Stage 8: Final draft prepared –
submission of Thesis
9 Final Submission Deadline 29 Jan 2021

7. References:

Abramson, P. R and Inglehart, R. (1992) ‘Generational Replacement and value Change in

Eight West European Societies’. British Journal of Political Science, 22 (2) pp. 183-228.

American Psychological Association (APA): Hypothesis. (n.d.). The American Heritage®

Science Dictionary. [Online] Available from:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hypothesis (Accessed: 20 June 2009, from
Dictionary.com website)

Clawson, J.G. (2002) Level Three Leadership: Getting Below the Surface. 2nd ed. NJ: Prentice
Hall.

cnn.com (2009) The Great Recession [Online]. Available from:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/25/news/economy/depression_comparisons/index.htm
(Accessed: 9 June 2009).

Howe, N. and Strauss, W. (2000). Millennnials Rising - The Next Great Generation. NY:
Random House.

Kotler P. and Keller K. (2006). Marketing Management. 12th ed. NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Meredith, G. and Schewe, C. D. (2004) ‘Segmenting global markets by

generational cohorts: Determining motivations by age’, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 4
(1), pp. 51- 63.

Meredith, G. and Schewe, C. D. (2002) Defining Markets, Defining Moments: America’s 7

Generational Cohorts, Their Shared Experiences, and Why Businesses Should Care. NY: John
Wiley & Sons.

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Meredith, G. and Schewe, C. D. (1994) ‘The power of cohorts’, American Demographics, 12,
December, pp. 22 – 31.

Mittal, B. (2006) ‘I, me, and mine - How products become consumers' extended selves’,
Journal of Consumer Behaviour. 5, Nov-Dec, pp. 550 – 562.

Palmer, I. et al (2009). Managing Organisational Change. 2nd ed. NY: McGraw Hill
International.

Ryder, N. B. (1965) ‘The cohort as a concept in the study of social change’, American
Sociological Review, 30, pp. 843 – 861.

Schuman, H and Scott, J. (1989) ‘Generations and collective memories’, American

Sociological Review, 54, pp. 359-381

Scott, J and zac, L. (1993) ‘Collective memories in Britain and the United States’, Public
Opinion Quarterly, 57, pp. 315-331.

Solomon et al. (2006) Consumer Behaviour. A European Perspective. 3rd ed. Harlow: Prentice
Hall Education.

Stroud, D. (2005) ‘The Charmed Generation becomes Generation Broke’, Market Leader, no.
30, Autumn [Online] Available from:
http://www.warc.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/Search/WordSearch/Results.asp (Accessed: 10 June
2009).

White, B. (2006). Thesis Skills for Business and Management Students. London: Thomson
Learning.