Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner! Which generation do you think eats out the most?

Posted by on Feb 15, 2013 in Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, Millennials, Silent Generation | 0 comments

Eating out is a favorite social ritual of the younger generations? Baby Boomers? Older Americans?

A recent study smashes a few stereotypes:

There is a stereotype that young adults tend to eschew home-cooking in favor of dining out. Sure, it costs more but there’s no clean-up and it tastes better than what you’d make at home. But a new study says that more adults in the 18-47 age group have been choosing their dining room over restaurants.

There may be generational factors at play here:  for the younger generations, Millennials (31 and younger) can’t find work; and self-protective Gen Xers (32 to 52) want healthy take-out from Whole Foods.

What about the theory that the older people get, the less frequently they eat out?

…contrary to the historical information claiming that people eat out less frequently the older they get, there has been slight bump in the eating-out rate for people in the 55-64 age group (Boomers) and a dramatic increase among those older than 64 (mainly the Silent Generation.)

No matter what, Boomers can’t stop spending, and, the Silent Generation (72+) feels as if life is passing them by and they want a taste of everything.

My favorite example of great generational marketing:  after Hurricane Sandy, a New York restaurant named Fishtail was packed and jammed with young patrons as soon as the hurricane was over. Why?  Fishtail had sent out a blast email to people who had been to the restaurant before, letting them know that they were open for business!