The Power of the Sociocultural Environment

When US & Canadian soldiers returned from World War II, they were exhausted, shell-shocked, and happy to be alive.

Most of all, they were eager to reunite with their loved ones, people they thought they’d never see again.

Naturally, when the soldiers stepped foot on land, the reuniting began in full swing, sparking a boom in baby-making activities throughout the continent. In fact, so many babies were born between 1944 and 1955 that they were called the Baby Boomers.

In his groundbreaking work, Boom Bust & Echo, Foote showed how the largest population group in the US - these very Baby Boomers - influenced the invention of billion-dollar giants in trillion-dollar industries.

In the fifties, Baby Boomers began wolfing down one assembly-line driven burger after another. The oil and fat they ate caused zits to appear on their faces. Luckily, Noxzema was there to to help remove any unwanted pimples before their big date. In the sixties, they bought Volkswagon Bugs. In the seventies and eighties, they bought houses, started investing, and fed their kids McDonald’s Happy Meals. Today, they’re buying…new hips?

In each case, the established giants and innovative start ups that focused on the Problems Worth Solving and Jobs To Be Done specific to Baby Boomers made a FORTUNE.

In 2015, a new group overtook Baby Boomers as the largest demographic group in North America.