Marketers often segment consumers on factors such as age, gender, income, stage of life, and geography. Another innovative approach is to group consumers into cohorts. Cohorts are groups of individuals who are born and travel life together and experience similar external events during their late adolescent/early adulthood years. These events influence people to create values, attitudes, and preferences that remain with them for their lifetime. This article reviews and assesses the current literature on American cohorts. The value and the validity of cohorts as a segmentation technique are discussed, as well as areas for future research.

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Marketing Cohorts Theory.