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Viewing report
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The Grey Consumer Market Assessment 2000
Key Note Publications Ltd, Jan 2000
Consumers over the age of 45 are the products of the post-WW2 `baby boom', and have influenced a large number of relevant markets as they have moved through their various life stages. They are becoming increasingly important to marketers and advertisers due to their sheer weight of numbers, as well as their economic power. Advances in healthcare, the wider availability of education, and general improvements in living standards over the past few decades also mean that this group of over-45 year-olds tends to be much younger in outlook, and to have higher expectations of life, than was the case for previous generations in this age group.
One in five of all those aged over 45, and 27% of 45 to 54 year-olds, are in the AB socio-economic group. Another factor contributing to the wealth of this group is the fact that a high proportion of them have paid off their mortgages, with a consequent beneficial effect on their disposable income. For example, almost two thirds of 65 to 69 year-olds, half of those aged 60 to 64, and one in four 45 to 59 year-olds, own their homes outright.
The continuing trend for delaying parenthood is reflected in the fact that three in ten 45 to 54 year-olds still have children under 16, while the combined effects of divorce, separation and widowhood mean that the proportion of over-45 year-olds who are in couple relationships decreases from more than seven in ten of those aged 45 to 54 to less than half of the over-65s.
Despite the importance of this group, and their general youthfulness of outlook, the portrayal of older people in the media continues to reflect an old-fashioned image the advertising industry, too, has been slow to recognise the potential of targeting this group. There are differing views within the industry about how to tackle this phenomenon although there are niche agencies which have been set up specifically to target the over-50s, another view is that it is a mistake to cluster all of this age group together, since it spans at least two generations, and a youthful 55 year-old may resist being thought of in the same way as an 85 year-old. Proponents of this view refer to the fact that the baby boomer generation at the younger end of the grey spectrum are more youthful and assertive than their parents were, and are just as likely to appreciate TV commercials aimed at a youth market as those tailored specifically for an older audience.
In terms of spending power, households headed by those aged between 50 and 64 have a higher weekly average spend per person than those headed by any other age group. They also spend more than others on motoring, leisure services such as holidays, and personal goods and services such as toiletries, cosmetics and beauty treatments.
Original consumer research commissioned by Market Assessment found that friends and family top the list of spending priorities for the over-45s, followed closely by newspapers and magazines. Nearly two thirds spend money regularly on gardening, and a similar proportion eat and/or drink out on a regular basis.
A total of 46% of this group are spending money on mortgage or rent, but among owner occupiers fewer than four in ten are doing so. The importance of saving for the future among this group is underlined by the fact that those aged over 45 - and particularly 45 to 54 year-olds - are more likely than average (and, in most cases, more likely than any other age group) to own or contribute to most types of savings and investments. When making purchases, those in the over-45 group are in most cases more likely than average to use cash, and less likely to use retailer credit.
Market Assessment's research showed that nearly four in ten 45 to 54 year-olds - more than in any other age group - use alternative medicines, while vitamins and supplements are most popular among 55 to 64 year-olds, 41% of whom take them. This latter group is one of the key targets for those providing alternative therapies they are more likely than any others to have used (or considered using) almost all types of alternative practitioners. This age group is also more interested in using, and is more knowledgeable about, organic food and health foods than are younger age groups.
Nearly six in ten over-45 year-olds spend money regularly on books, and 44% buy CDs or tapes on a regular basis. A total of 63% - and three quarters of 45 to 54 year-olds - spend money regularly on eating/drinking out. Gardening is an important leisure activity for this group, with almost two thirds spending regularly on items for their garden the 55 to 64 year-olds are particularly important to this market.
Holidays in the UK and foreign holidays are almost equally popular among this group as a whole, with just over half spending money regularly on each.
The economic and political power of older consumers is likely to continue to grow over the next few decades. The over-45 population is forecast to increase by nearly 17% between 1998 and 2011, when the over-45s will account for 43.4% of the total population, compared with 38.8% in 1998.
Politicians will increasingly have to take the views of older people into account, not only because of their numerical power, but because they are more likely than younger people to use their vote. Pensions are clearly an important issue for this group, and this issue is likely to become increasingly problematical in the future, as the number of people of pensionable age increases. There is likely to be more encouragement in the future for people aged over 50 to stay in employment, rather than taking early retirement, as has been a growing trend over the past decade or so.
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