Practically since their conception, the Baby Boomer generation has changed the face of culture and consumerism in the United States. This remains true as you consider the impact Boomers have on environmental issues and by extension, green purchase patterns. Baby Boomers were born between 1945 and 1964 and number roughly 78 million people. As they’ve aged, Boomers have become the largest and most affluent target audience for advertisers, with approximately $2.3 trillion in annual discretionary spending power last year. While Boomers as a segment represent about 25 percent of the total US population, they represent 50 percent of total consumer spending. WOW – 50 percent of consumer spending!

How do Baby Boomers choose to flex these powerful consumer muscles? And how, if at all, do their behaviors and buying trends translate into a green lifestyle? Consider these interesting facts:

• Baby Boomers are 13 percent more likely today to say they prefer to buy things that their friends or neighbors would approve of
• Boomer are 13 percent more likely today to say that a coupon would attract them to a store in which they don’t normally shop
• They are 25 percent more likely today to say they use the Internet to plan shopping
• Visits to the top 500 online retail sites has increased 7 percent in the past year, as a result in Boomers have replaced Millennials as the largest segment of visitors of these sites.

Beyond shopping behaviors, Boomers are increasing their participation in social networking sites up 77 percent year over year. More than 30% turn to online media sources for their daily news fix.

Let’s overlay this information with what we know about environmentally-conscious Boomers. Today slightly more than 65 percent of Baby Boomers are classified as “Greenies” … falling into one of the top two green segments … Behavioral Green or Think Green.

So 65 percent Baby Boomers are classified as “Greenies” and their online behaviors are growing at a rapid pace. For existing and future product and service promotions, messaging around the environment will be crucial. But it’s only half the battle. Contact strategies will be important to evaluate as well. I found the social networking increase (77%) quite shocking and tapping into that should be part of your contact strategies.