Grunge marketing.

MOST LENDERS READILY ASSERT THAT they offer borrowers excellent value. Yet value ultimately is defined by consumers rather than by companies. And unless a firm's services change as its customers do, its value proposition won't mean as much tomorrow as it does today.

America's Generation X, the 60 million young people born to baby boomers between 1965 and 1979, now are buying homes. In recent years more than two out of five buyers have been first-time purchasers, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Chicago.

Unfortunately, the Gen-X mindset "is totally baffling a lot of marketers," notes James Chung, president of Reach Advisors, Belmont, Massachusetts. Reach Advisors' April report, Generation X Parents: From Grunge to Grown Up, that highlights the differences between boomers and their offspring.

Chung is a Harvard MBA who worked 60-plus-hour weeks--until his son was born. His experience is typical of fellow Gen Xers, who are quite happy putting family first. Today more mothers are quitting their jobs in order to stay at home with the kids, according to the Reach Advisors study, which was based on a survey of 3,020 parents conducted in 2003. Gen-X fathers also spend more time with their children than boomer dads did, the report shows.

Growing up as "latchkey kids"--and with one-third of them from divorced families--today's young parents are eager to provide more stability for their brood. Additionally, they aren't as driven to provide a packed schedule of enriching activities, designed to make sure their child gets into an Ivy League school. "Soccer Mom is dead," Chung says. Now "there's much more of an attitude of, 'Let's let kids be kids.'"

Gen Xers also are easier on themselves, since baby boomers typically encouraged their children to "do your own thing." As a result, today's younger generation is more disparate than their parents. Instead of working hard to live in a nice suburban neighborhood and drive a BMW, they are more likely to buy a fixer-upper in an urban setting.

Fewer workaholics

Rather than putting in long hours to get a promotion, Gen Xers prefer finishing up their work so they'll have time for leisure interests or family. Growing up with technology also means they'll catch up on their work-related e-mail in the evening, after taking the afternoon off, say researchers.