Mature Consumers as a Segment

In an advertising context, Lavery (1999) has pointed out some of the main stereotypes about mature consumers held e.g. by younger advertisers, which often tend to create communicative barriers between advertisers and the mature consumers. Figure 3.1 shows an extract of a list compiled by Lavery in 1999 of some of the misperceptions of the mature consumer in contrast to facts – keeping the contention in mind that these age-groups are linked to specific social and historical contexts and thus may change over time.²⁵

Figure 3.1

25 Since this is related to the American market, it should be stressed that there might also be variations across different cultures because of the shared social and historical processes that may vary from one culture to another. However, at this point, there is no obvious reason to assume that these facts, or the fiction that they are opposed to for that matter, would be different in other western cultures such as England or Denmark

Mature consumers are indifferent to new technology.

In the USA the over-50s are the fastest-growing group online

Everyone over 50 thinks in much the same way. Difference in attitude between a 50- and 70-year-old can be as great as that between a 20- and 40-year-old.

The only thing you can sell the over-60s are trusses and incontinence pants

Some sectors report that up to 30 per cent switch brands annually.

Source: Lavery (1999:2)

Although possibly exaggerated, and presented with slightly sarcastic overtones, several of these misperceptions are also pointed out by other researchers, e.g.

Horneman et al. (2002), who point out the fact that the mature consumers are often, although mistakenly, characterised by uniformity and conservatism;

Sellick (2004) points out that they tend to travel more than other age groups;

and Wolfe & Snyder (2003) point to the fact they like any other age group carry their own values and beliefs, also in terms of consumption, and thus may object to stereotypical characterisations often presented to them. Much to that effect, these are fairly recognisable as commonly held stereotypes in western populations at large. It seems, though, that the increased importance of mature consumers as a powerful segment might have caused increased attention to these stereotypes, and thereby to the need to change the portrayal and understanding of mature consumers. The aim would be to attract them in specific consumer contexts and to create a more nuanced view of mature consumers that they can actually relate and respond to through consumption choices.

This may explain the many proposed strategies for segmenting mature consumers. Some of the most common segmentation strategies include age, as the most basic factor, demographics such as education and socio-economic position, and psychographics such as lifestyle and attitudes, all of which provide different possibilities for analyses of various sorts. For example, it may be argued that age at a given point in time is determining for the historical context that one is a part of and has gained experiences from, which means a specific outlook on life influencing ones behaviour (e.g. Røpke, 2004, and Tréguer, 2002). An

example is the term ‘baby-boomers’ as a descriptor of this segment. However, age in itself has already been argued to be insufficient for explaining consumer behaviour. Others might stress lifestyle, and/or other psychographics, to a greater extent, e.g. Morgan & Levy (2002), Wolfe & Snyder (2003), and Horneman et al. (2002) who include values, attitudes and interests in the segmentation process.

The best agers in this study have been identified primarily by age, nationality, family status and lifestyle in terms of their travel activity. Age and lifestyle as determinants of behaviour are complicated by the fact that experience to some extent comes with age, and thus there might be correlation between age and aspects of general life experience. The way age, and thus experience, comes to affect behaviour goes through the perception that experience contributes to the formation of preferences, including lifestyle choices. Since experience is not isolated from the context in which it is obtained, it will influence the individual and the way behaviour is motivated through specific experiences related to age and a certain historical time.

One of the main issues enforced by different researchers around the best-ager segment, despite the frequent misperception of the opposite, is prevalent heterogeneity, which is possibly its most striking characteristic at this moment. It makes segmentation very complicated, which is evident through the several segmentation strategies that have been applied in attempts to capture the essence of this particular segment – and its possible sub-segments – which is of great interest to many businesses and thus marketers. Although the characteristic of heterogeneity may be particularly striking within the mature consumer segment, perhaps due to prevailing stereotypes of the meaning of certain ages, heterogeneity is, however, not a characteristic that only applies to this segment, and thus the question remains, what are the characteristics of this particular segment? And to answer this question, several studies have been consulted to form a broad picture of the best-ager segment.

According to Wolfe & Snyder (2003), the best way to market a product to what they call the new customer majority, i.e. people aged approx. 45 and above, is through values instead of the traditional segmentation tools such as attitudes,

opinions, demographics and life stage, which are changing due to life events and circumstances (Wolfe & Snyder, 2003:163). Although there are shared experiences among members of a certain age group, the claim is that the way in which one interprets these experiences through a values lens is the determining factor, not the experiences themselves. Hence the correlation between age, life experience and lifestyle mentioned previously.

Therefore, Wolfe & Snyder (2003) operate with so-called value portraits, which are stated to be a classification of mature Americans (45+) into subgroups of a similar mind-set that is claimed to predispose each group to behave similarly (Ibid.). The results of these value portraits are that 14 dimensions for the age group 45-61 and 13 dimensions for 62 and above were used to summarise each of the held values for these two groups. These dimensions are illustrated below:

Figure 3.2

Importance Age group 45-61 Age group 62 and older Most

Least

Altruism Self-respect

Family ties Family ties

Intellectual curiosity Faith and religion Psychological well being Warm relationships

Spirituality Kindness and compassion

Balance Intellectual curiosity

Leadership Health and well-being

Civility Fun and happiness

Warm relationships Conservative attitudes

Excitement Financial security

Regret Power and recognition

Conservatism Excitement

Recognition Material possessions

National security

Based on Wolfe & Snyder’s value portraits (2003:166-169).

Evidently, these dimensions are not detailed descriptions of what a particular value entails, as this is not assumed to be the most relevant point in the context

of this project.²⁶ The main point to consider is that although these values might exist for most humans, they exist in different groupings and with different levels of importance according to individual experiences and how these have been interpreted to form particular preferences and beliefs, much like it is assumed to be the case with aspects of the travel career, as mentioned earlier. Therefore, as the same values seem to be present within both of these age groups – 45-61 and 62 and older – with a few exceptions and based on slightly different definitions, the point is that attention is on the order of these values more than the actual values. E.g. the value of excitement is present in both groups, but placed differently in terms of importance, wherefore it might, in a tourism context, take slightly different priority when a tourist experience is chosen.

Although these portraits might vary between the two age groups, there are some similarities that could be said to represent the points of impact in relation to this study entailing members of both age groups, e.g. family ties and intellectual curiosity are rated high in both groups. The value portraits themselves, as presented above, are thus meant to illustrate one method used to explore this segment and the results, i.e. a different view of the segment, based on a different set of measures, i.e. value portraits, than previously used.