This article will focus on the different generations of male consumers and the specific “worldview” they embrace as a potential buyer of your product which could be a person, a place, an experience, or all of the above. Also explored will be the importance as a provider of service to understand the needs of men approaching your business and within that grouping, how the needs of each generation may vary.

Social psychology research reports that men are not only products of their environments, but that the environment, in turn, is shaped by the expressive needs of men in it. The study of specific generations happens in brief periods of time that are connected with pop cultures throughout the world. Many characteristics that define each generation are the music, fads, fashions, trends, inventions, and socio-cultural events that are specific to each period of time. The general period of each generation is specified by the birth years of the people within the generation. Following are the different generational groups starting from World War II to present, as defined in the Wikipedia (2006) as an overall reference:

•    The Greatest Generation is the worldwide generation of Allies that served in World War II. This group overlaps with the G.I. Generation, the generation of Americans that fought and won World War II, later to become the Establishment, and the parents of the Baby Boomers.
•    The Baby Boomers were the generation born during or just after World War II; there was a worldwide increase in birthrate for about 14 years (1945-1954). 
•    The Baby Busters were born during the time period in which the birthrate caused 
•    Generation Jones is the group of people born in between the Baby Busters and Generation X (1964-1970). Many in this group share a pop culture knowledge common to both groups. 
•    Generation X is the generation born after the Baby Boomers, excluding the Baby Busters and the Second Lost Generation. Most of this generation is children of Baby Boomers. They tended to grow up with video games and MTV, and spent most of their teen years in the 1980s (1969-1982). 
•    XY Cusp, also known as the MTV Generation or Doom Generation, was caught between the end of Generation X and start of Generation Y, mainly living out their childhood through the 80s and teen years in the mid-‘90s. This generation was influenced by the launch of MTV, and the remainder of Generation X (1975-1985).
•    Boomerang Generation, also known as the Generation Why?, was a sub-group of Generation Y, growing up in the '90s and early 2000s, whose emergent experiences straddled the Cold War/Space Age and Internet eras. In many ways more connected to the G.I. Generation than other recent generations, this group came of age in the period directly following the September 11th attacks (1982-1986). 
•    Generation Y, also known as the Echo Boom, or Millennium Generation, grew up with many world-changing events including the rise of mass communication and the Internet (1976-2001 widest possible definition commonly cited). 
•    iGeneration, the internet generation, is a sub-generation for the latter half of Generation Y (1985-1999) and the first half of Generation Z (1995-2005). 
•    Content Generation named for the trend of consumer generated 'content'. (1988 - 1993, and anyone with even a tiny amount of creative talent who wants to contribute). 
•    Generation Z, youngest of the generations thus far, is likely to live in a stricter world than their Generation X or Y counterparts, due to Generation Y's experiences with school shootings and the September 11th attacks. 

For the purpose of this discussion, this article will focus primarily on three particular generational consumer groups: The Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y (including the overlapping iGeneration). Each group will be explored in relation to the male wellness category by defining the group, defining what the specific purchasing power and patterns are for health related or spa related industries, and exploring what each group desires as an outcome to their experience. This article will end with a discussion of how best to capitalize on the inherent patterns in these three generations of men, and how to best prepare your establishment to not only meet those needs, but to expand upon each generation’s healthy exposure to grooming and wellness.

The Male Baby Boomer 
A Baby Boomer is someone who was born during the period of increased birthrates, when economic prosperity rose in many countries following World War II, where the bombed out cities and fractured economies increased the needs for goods and services in unprecedented peacetime amounts. This led to an increase in education and granted higher incomes to families, allowing them the resources to produce more children.

Today, the 78.2 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 are entering a phase of life that retailers traditionally have not regarded as highly productive for them. Unlike younger consumers, they're not blowing their paychecks on the latest shoe craze or hitting the mall for back-to-school specials for their young kids. But spend they do as this generation controls a disproportionate amount of consumer spending. Boomers, on the whole, have $2.1 trillion in annual buying power, according to MetLife Mature Market Institute. That's more than seven times Generation X and Generation Y combined. Many business owners are launching new concepts aimed at the Boomer demographic as the trend strengthens. 

Men in this generation are less open to a spa experience than are the younger or “newer” generations. However, this does not mean that older men are not engaging in spa treatment. What it signifies is that men in this age bracket, based on their life experience, are more practical and thrifty in their spending customs. Older male consumers were born in an era that precluded such “self-indulgence” expenditures like facials and waxing. As the demographic bulge works its way from mid to late life, businesses will be compelled by economic logic to shift their center of gravity from the younger generation to the older generation, according to Dick Stroud, author of The 50-Plus Market. Stroud further advises business owners that over the next 15 years focusing on the 15 to 34 market sector will see virtually no increase in your market from population growth, and if customers are in the 50 to 69 category, business owners, especially those catering to relaxation and age appearance, will increase their business by over 20 percent without having to increase their market share.

It is important for the spa owners to recognize the viability of this generation, and develop a business plan for embracing the generational needs of this group and what their specific needs are. Men in this generation still desire the proven method of delivery of product promises. Therefore, they may be resistant to try new spa treatments unless, and until, the educator shares with them the beneficial process to an outcome, in a language they understand. For example, the most popular form of a spa treatment continues to be massage, and during this process is when staff members introduce the added benefits of additional treatments. 

Men cannot change their age, but they can change their appearance of age. In detailing the practical benefits of a facial, for example, the employee or owner would be well advised to share with the client why it is important for aging skin to receive external as well as internal nutrition. Younger generations are well aware of these benefits; men in the Baby Boomer Generation have not been exposed to the internet revolution and therefore are looking to the expert for guidance, education, and recommendations. This group of men may frequent your establishment less often than younger men, but the amount spent at each visit has been shown to be even if not superior to the amount spent per visit of younger generations.

Men Gen X or “Xoomers”
Generation X is a phrase used to describe the profusion of people born following the peak of the post-Second World War baby boom, especially in North America between 1963 and 1978. This generation's influence over pop culture began in the 1980s and may have peaked in the 1990s.  Generation X is estimated to include 46 million Americans, or 17 percent of the U.S. population, spending $125 billion annually. Generation-Xers are characterized as having a high affinity for technology, being computer and Internet proficient, skeptical about advertising claims, fast spending, and more impressed by personal style than designer price tags.  According to the latest GQ magazine consumer-trend study, men between the ages of 25 and 39 are a highly powerful segment of shopping consumers and are found to be brand aware savvy shoppers, and surprisingly they are heavily inclined toward spending on luxury products and services such as spa and wellness. This study also found that Xoomers are outspending Baby Boomers by 19 percent - across all product categories, and that men in this generation are nearly three times more likely than Boomers to want to be first among their peers to discover the latest trends, and almost twice as likely to try new products before others. Also, the study found that it is the Xoomers, not the Boomers, who are more apt to shape broad consumer patterns now and in the future.

The Gen X male will approach your product with an ample supply of information which he has accrued prior to arriving at your facility. This is constructed by his interest in finding quality products and treatments that render superior result. For this generational group, it is recommended that the hierarchy of services be developed to meet your local socio-demographic needs. For example, if your place of business resides in an affluent area, price your product and services accordingly and train your staff on appropriate sales techniques to inform, educate, and create results.

Generation Y or Y Not?
Gen Y is a term designating a cohort of people born immediately after Generation X and is only one of several terms used to describe roughly the same group of people. Gen Y only refers to Americans, Canadians, and other Anglophone people who were born after Generation X. If the years 1978-2000 are used, as is common in market research, then the size of Generation Y in the U.S. is approximately 76 million. While the Baby Boomer generation will continue to dominate the retail scene for another decade, the next great consumer market is continuing to mature: Generation Y. 

Younger men tend to be less skeptical about spa’s beauty regimes and enhanced treatment. This group of young men represents those who are open-minded about visiting a spa because they have been exposed to male grooming and the need for taking care of themselves by relatives, peers, and the media. They are considered to be savvy, Internet educated, smart shoppers and consumers, open to new ideas and remain educated about their options. They will be more willing to try treatments and product due to their openness to this category.

Conclusions and Recommendations
Men are men, but with the rapid expansion of the Internet, cable, and iPods, information dissemination is rapidly changing some of stereotypical behaviors, and replacing them with a fresh sense of curiosity for men and grooming. As each of you have noticed in your life thus far, everything old is in fact, new again. Years ago men took great pride in their external looks through grooming and appropriate outerwear. These days, men are rediscovering the art of looking good through alternative sources. More and more personal care companies are quickly developing lines of products specifically for men in order to ride this wave of male aesthetics in positioning their brand accordingly. Now that companies are directing their marketing departments to develop, deliver, and dominate this growing section of the consumer base, it would naturally follow that men will embrace what is made “for him” and recognize the added enhancement of skin and wellness. 

In order to position your product to target all male groups, it is important to use appropriate strategies for the different generations. Be creative, edgy, and innovative with your younger group of men, more sedate, educative, and benefit oriented for your older men. Using humor and honesty to target younger age groups is very effective because they warm easily to this approach. Learn to vary the strategies for targeting male seniors depending on techniques and treatment you are suggesting for them. Stock your retail area with age and problem-specific products. Men prefer to buy products made specifically for men. 

Any product challenge is to create an ambience where the consumer is not afraid or confused to approach the product. Use non-traditional channels to build consumer understanding of product benefits and create techniques where the benefits fit credibly with your proposition. Several trends are driving the skin care market, some moving on independent parallel paths and others influencing each other and spawning new areas of growth. Marketing to all men is no different than marketing to women, once you understand the variables that men find attractive in a product. For the Baby Boomers, an attraction to your product may be its price point as well as its practicality. Xoomers may find attraction to the “exclusivity” of a product, especially if endorsed by people of distinction. The Gen Y/I group of young men are readily attracted to hip, novel, status endorsed products and treatments that provide instant gratification.

In closing, one does not have to reinvent the wheel when targeting specific markets. Information is readily available through various sources to set about assessing your market and strategizing your desired outcome. Create training guides for staff awareness of your male generational needs or utilize existing models. Encourage staff participation in the accrual of information and nomenclature for male services. Use your imagination to invent new (male friendly/neutral) names for existing spa treatments and procedures your spa has in existence for your female clientele. It is important to plan and maintain training sessions for male services with your staff, preferably with the representative of the male clinical line you are carrying. Make it possible to have all staff in attendance at the initial training so that everyone hears, sees, touches, smells, and feels the product and its mode of usage, and is on the same page with the information about generational needs. Be sure to follow-up with each staff member to reinforce learning principles and sales techniques.

By studying the male generational trends, spa owners are more able to recognize what specific changes, if any, need to be made to capitalize on this profit center and grow their business with a new model in mind.


References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generations retrieved Dec, 19, 2006
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page, retrieved Dec 19,2006
Perrin, Jane Men Help Fuel Growth in Personal Care http://www2.acnielsen.com/pubs/2004_q3_ci_personalcare.shtml retrieved 20 Dec. 
ACNielsen 2006, retrieved Dec 20, 2006
Stroud, Dick The 50 Plus Market: Why the Future Is Age-Neutral When It Comes to Marketing and Branding Strategies, http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=311, retrieved Dec 19, 2006 
Taschetta-Millane, Melinda, Pointcom, Trends in Spa world
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-12-2006/0004430911&EDATE http://www.pointcom.com/?page_id=10, retrieved Dec 20, 2006

Guy was raised on an Indian reservation in Northern California and learned great respect for the Earth and her healing properties. He received a PhD in Clinical Psychology with specificity in Behavioral Medicine and continues to pursue studies in the relationships between Mind, Body, Psyche, Self Perception and Affect. He joined Sixto in founding issimo international  for he believes in utilizing natural ingredients and returning to basic elements to provide the consumer with quality products, born from intense research and proven constituents, without creating a great deal of mythology around personal skin care. He endorses the same ethos and credo of Sixto, in that they believe in selling reality, not hype and myths.