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Demographic trends and implica (Click to select text)
Trend #1: Increase in single-parent Households. It is evident that in today’s society, one can see an increase in single-parent households. This demographic phenomenon will likely continue through the beginning of this new century. Before we can begin to strategize efforts to market our product to this growing demographic group, we must understand some history of this trend. There are several reasons that may lead to why society is seeing a steady increase in the single-parent family structure. One reason is that a smaller percentage of the population is deciding to get married. In fact, since 1970, the proportion of the American population age 25-44 who have never married has doubled. This proportion has tripled for those 30-34 (Poussaint 4). Another reason given for the current trend is an increasing social and economical independence among women (Hollander 23). A third reason for the current trend is the increase in the chance of a divorce for those that are getting married. A married woman in 1990 that was between the age of 20-34 had about a 19.6 percent chance that her marriage would end in divorce. The projection for the same age group is that within 15 years, the percentage among the same age group of women will be around 40 percent (Russell 211). So, the current popular saying of “half of marriages end in divorce” is slowly becoming true. The demographic trend toward single-parent households is clear and definite. The history and projections show that the trend will not disappear, but will become more evident. Implications: As the operator of a theme park, one must be able to capitalize on the increase of single parent families. This demographic trend will affect most every theme park. Since this trend will impact the theme park business as a whole, one must make adjustments to capitalize on this trend. One may ask, how can we do this? With the increase of the single-parent household, we will more than likely see a decrease in family income (Poussaint 17). A decrease will occur because the household will be supported by a single income instead of a duel income. One way the theme park industry can use this information is to offer different rate structures for different use situations. For example, a park could offer half-price child tickets with the purchase of an adult ticket. The park could also simply lower there child ticket prices. A combination of these two ideas could allow for the park to accommodate both the single parents that will accompany the children to the park and those that will not. Another way to market to single-parent households is to provide an area at the theme park for drop-off and pick-up of children. This will allow parents to drop their children off and return later to pick them up. This is important because single parents typically do not have the time to take their children to the park and stay with them. This idea also helps financially by allowing the single parent a way to let their child or children attend the park without having to pay for them a ticket also. These are two suggestions on how to adjust to the growing population of single-parent families. Adjusting the theme park marketing to attract this growing demographic group will insure that business will continue to strive. Hollander, D., “Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States: A Government Report,” Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 28, No. 1, New York 1996. Poussaint, A., Single Parenthood: Implications for American Society, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, University of Texas at Austin 1997. Russell, C., The Official Guide to the American Marketplace 2nd Edition. New Strategist Publications, New York 1995. Trend 2: Age Trends in the Hispanic Population. It may be clear to some that the percentage of the population of the United States made up by Hispanics is growing. What may not be quite as clear is that Hispanics are younger as a group than the rest of the population. Their median age is 26.4 years, while non-Hispanic whites average 36.9 years. According to projections, by 2015 Hispanics will have a median age only 1.7 years higher than now, while the growth among non-Hispanic whites will grow 4.9 years (Intertec). Hispanics are simply growing and staying younger as a group. The presence of the Hispanic minority therefor will be most notable among the nations youth (Russell 325). To analyze why this trend is occurring one can look at two factors. The first is the increase in immigration from Mexico into the South and Southwest. In 1992, one-fifth of the United States’ immigrants were from Mexico. This number is expected to continue to be very high over the next several years (Russell 356). This fact establishes an increase in the population of the Hispanic minority. When this is looked at with the birth rates of the Hispanic minority, one can then see why Hispanics, as a group, are young. The percent of Hispanic births to total births in the United States is now around 16 percent. This number will continue to rise with the increase of Mexican immigrants (Russell 270). So, the Hispanic population will clearly remain young as a whole. Implications: It is clear that the Percentage of the population of the United States that will be Hispanic is growing and becoming younger. To maintain an edge in the theme park business, one must adjust to this trend. It should be even more important for those parks located in the South and Southwest areas of the United States, given the data presented earlier concerning location of Hispanic population. Theme parks located in this area should consider strategies to attract this growing population. One strategy would be to offer cultural activities that could attract young Hispanics to one’s theme park. Such activities could include Cinco de Mayo celebrations, Hispanic themed dances and parties, and Hispanic awareness days. By offering these activities, one could expect to attract Hispanics to the theme park. Another idea would be to offer special rates on such days as Cinco de Mayo and to the special Hispanic themed events. This would make one’s marketing strategy stronger and hopefully attract more participants from the target group. Implementing strategies such as the two suggested above will help to attract the growing young Hispanic population to one’s theme park and increase future revenue from this population group. “Hispanic are Aging by Steps”, www.demographics.com Intertec Publishing, 1996. Russell, C., The Official Guide to the American Marketplace 2nd Edition. New Strategist Publications, New York 1995. Trend 3: United States’ Population Growth. Most people have heard at one time or another that the population of the world is growing very rapidly. In fact, the current population is about 6 billion and is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2025 (Waldrop). That is a 33 percent increase in 25 years. This trend will also hold true in the United States. The growth of the population in the United States was 10.8 percent from 1990-2000. Growth is expected to continue at this rate for the next ten-year period also (Russell 219). The biggest reason for the increase is that there has been and will be for about ten more years an increase in the number of childbearing aged woman in the U.S. population (221). Once these women move out of the childbearing years, the population growth should level out some (222). This may seem like good news, but although the growth will level out, the upcoming dramatic increase will affect the theme park industry. Implications: It is clear to see that there will be an increase and why it will occur by looking at the data given by Cheryl Russell. Now one must decide how to use the information and develop some ideas on how it can be used to help in the theme park industry. Implications: With the growth in the population, there should naturally be a growth in the pool in which one’s theme park patrons come from. This means that theme parks across the U.S. should see an increase in the level of participants. So, what does this mean? It means that theme parks will need to be able to hold the extra people created by the population increase discussed above. Theme parks can derive methods to do this in many ways. One way would be to simply increase the size of the park to allow for more people. A theme park would also need to hire a larger number of staff to handle the increase in the number of park patrons. Adding more rides and activities will help by spreading people out more and giving each participant the ability to participate in park activities without waiting in long lines. The nation's population is growing and the adjustments needed to help theme parks remain as an enjoyable place should not be far behind. Above are a few suggestions that should be considered in helping one’s theme park adjust to the population growth that is inevitable. Russell, C., The Official Guide to the American Marketplace 2nd Edition. New Strategist Publications, New York 1995. Waldrop, J., “This is Not a Doomsday Scenario”, American Demographics. March 1994.
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