Data on household expenditure tells a lot of stories

I am never to sure about the accuracy of these stats, but they are the best (in terms of quality and breadth) that you are going to get in the UK. You will find it tucked away amongst a sea of other stats in this report from the Office of National Statistics.

What grabs your attention?

Why do the 30-49s spend 5 times more on ‘other’ than the 75+?

The spend of the 30-49 and 50-64 year old is not that much different (other than ‘other’)

The high percentage spend of the 65-74 year olds on recreation and culture

The almost constant percentage spend on restaurants and hotels for all of the ages up until 65+

The 50-64 year olds having the highest absolute spend per person.

All good factlets for a presentation and to justify the importance of the older market. Dick Stroud

Recession what recession – Xmas spending as usual

The guys at Vox Pops have issued a free video showing interviews with people talking about their spending intentions this Xmas. I hope the companyt doesn’t mind but I have added it to YouTube because I thought it contained some interesting messages.

First things first – it looks like these interviews were being carried our in a reasonably prosperous part of the UK so I don’t think we can draw any countrywide conclusions, however, it is interesting to see the way that the over-50s respond.

In the main it doesn’t appear as if the recession will be changing their Xmas spending behaviour one jot. You wouldn’t think the UK had any recessionary problems. I think that Vox Pop’s video research is a first rate way of conveying market insights providingso much more than a sheet of statistics. Dick Stroud

Aging Puts a Wrinkle in the U.S. Marketplace

What a dreadful title.

The Nielsen Company is offering its end of year crystal ball gazing into trends to watch for the future. This one is about the impact of ageing.

It doesn’t contain any great insights. If you only have 5 secs to spare these are the things Nielsen predict for the future:

# Growth is Found in Less-Developed World
# The Share of Households With Children Decline
# Immigration and Ethnic Familes Fuel Growth
# Older Consumers Have New Needs
# CPG Spending Declines

As I said, nothing much that has not been discussed throughout the year. Dick Stroud

The impact of age on charity volunteering

I recently read an article by Rob Berry about a research project he undertook for one of the world’s most respected charities, Medecins Sans Frontieres.

From his research he discovered that the age of the doctors had a significant impact on their rationale for wanting to become involved with the charity. I asked Rob to write a few words for inclusion in my blog explaining what he discovered. Here is what he said.

Research amongst medical practitioners, academics and policy advisers was used to understand the motivations and barriers to volunteering. Whilst there were some important common motivations in terms of altruism and humanitarianism, there were also fundamental differences depending on age. Older doctors were particularly motivated by the wish to use their skills in a less well resourced area as a way of putting something back. They were also ready for a break from routine. Nevertheless, they had concerns that needed to be overcome in MSF’s communications: the length of assignments, safety, living conditions, issues around leaving family and friends and arranging absence cover.

Younger doctors were often motivated by a sense of adventure but needed reassurance about the danger or benefits of this sort of career break. Financial considerations were more important to this group than to their older colleagues.

MSF were able to develop a communications programme for recruitment that used the common denominators whilst addressing the needs of different groups. Understanding the importance of age delivered greater efficiency in attracting the right volunteers when and where they were needed.

I wonder how many charities have a one size fits all approach when trying to attract volunteers?

In this case age is an important factor. In other cases lifestyle will be the main determinant. The only way you are going to find out is by research. That is where Rob’s research agency (Manor Marketing) comes in. Dick Stroud

What value PR initiated research?

Anybody who reads this blog knows that I am ultra-sceptical of the worth of PR research results (i.e. research that is done to generate column inches/cm).

Scottrade, the online investing company, has researched how age affects the attitudes to investing and concluded that young investors (born 1983-1991, ages 18-26) are the most likely to manage their own investments and to describe investing as “fun and interesting.”

Gen Y was also the most confident that it would recoup its losses quickly, with half of investors expecting to recover fully in less than two years.

What the report of the research did not disclose the levels of investments by age. I would guess that your average 18-26 year old is investing a tiny fraction of a 43 -64 year old, so it isn’t surprising that they might have different attitudes.

I really do wonder the worth of this straw poll type research, however, the fact that I have written about it shows that it achieved its objective and generated commentary, so I guess it was successful in that objective. Dick Stroud.

Is the wisdom of crowds for the gullible?

A lot is made about the importance of word-of-mouth as a means of informing the decisions of older consumers. The connection is often made between WOM and the user generated commentary that litters web sites from delighted or aggrieved purchasers.

An academic in Portugal (Vassilis Kostakos) has been digging around in the voting patterns on Amazon, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), and the book review site BookCrossings.

He and his team looked at hundreds of thousands of items and millions of votes across the three sites. In each case, they found that a small number of users accounted for a large number of ratings. For example, only 5% of active Amazon users cast votes on more than 10 products. A handful of users voted hundreds of items.

If you have two or three people voting 500 times," says Kostakos, the results may not be representative of the community overall. He suspects this may be why ratings often tend toward extremes. I reckon you are right!

One of the suggestions, accompanying this research, is that the number of time a person has voted/commented should be shown (assuming this is technically possible). Sounds like a good idea.

I guess we all know that whenever we see a “research result” that results from some informal online poll that the answer must be skewed because the types of people that respond to such things are not ‘normal’. Good to see some research that proves that’s true. Dick Stroud

Growing Older in America

Growing Older in America by the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a serious bit of research. It contains 108 pages packed with research about all aspects of ageing in the US. It covers health, retirement, finance… all of the subjects you would expect.

Unfortunately, most of the research is 5+ years old but it is still worth adding to your collection of reference material. Dick Stroud

Vox Pops interviews

Vox Pops does some interesting work interviewing the 50-plus.

I thought this sample of interviews, with answers to the question - “Are you financially stable for the future - does this worry you?” - gave a good idea of how lots of older Brits are thinking at the moment.

Note the number of them with a concern for their kids not themselves. Dick Stroud

McCann Erickson’s 50-plus research

Marketing magazine has the results of some research conducted by McCann Erickson and the Future Foundation about the 50-plus.

Nothing much new, but it is always nice to see further confirmation of our own research.

I found the above chart very interesting. What percentage of each age group agree with the statement: “I love shopping for clothes.”

I know I am always banging on about age neutral marketing but this chart really seems to confirm an age-neutral response of consumers. Of course if you were dig into these numbers and look at the responses of different lifestyles you would find a wide range of attitudes. Dick Stroud

Over-50s are confused about finance - so are the financial institutions

Today there is research published that comes to totally different conclusions about the financial attitudes of the over-50s.

LV= concludes that Britain's over 50s are struggling more than ever to keep up the level of savings needed to fund a comfortable retirement lifestyle.

Who or what you might ask is LV=. Every time I write anything about his company I wonder how much they paid their branding consultancy to come up with this name.

On the same day we read that: “Contrary to the perception that people are stashing cash under the mattress in the recession, research by Saga Financial Planning shows that many over 50s are forecasting strong investment opportunities over the next 18 months, with nearly a third (29%) tipping shares as good prospects.

Optimistic over 50s are also seeing growth potential in the housing market, with a fifth (20%) thinking it offers superior long term returns. One in ten says that savings offer the best opportunity to make the most of their money.

Pays your money takes your choice who you believe.

With all of this PR generating research you have to ask yourself: “what research results are in the best interest of the company.” It is amazing how the results and corporate best interest seem to coincide. Call me a cynic? You had better believe it. Dick Stroud

Asking media consumers about their consumption - weird idea

The investment bank Morgan Stanley has published a report on teenage media consumption written by a fifteen year old.

The intern was asked by the company’s media and research department to describe how he and his friends "consumed media" like games consoles, cell phones, television and the Internet...

Morgan's head of media analysts said his report was "one of the clearest and most thought provoking insights" the company had seen. So they decided to publish it, and to much interest among its clients, which include media investors and executives.

This article in Forbes gives a balanced account of the paper. You can also download the full research paper.

To be honest it didn’t say anything that came as a great shock. Anybody who looks at generational media consumption data should already know this stuff. The fact that the guys at Morgan Stanley were so shocked goes some way to explaining the chaos in the financial markets?

How about Morgan Stanley media analysts trying another idea and have somebody in their 60s and 70s write a paper about their media consumption? Why do I think it will not happen? Dick Stroud

Growing Old in America: Expectations vs Reality

The Pew Research Center has just released a 152 page report detailing the research results from a telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,969 adults living in the US. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International.

It is pointless attempting to summarise such a long document, especially since I haven’t yet read it, but, from first glances it looks to contain some interesting ideas. The report covers

• Demographics of Older Adults
• Perceptions of Old Age
• The Daily Lives of Older Americans
• Family and Friends
• Intergenerational Relations within Families
• Work and Retirement
  

So when is somebody ‘old’? Amusing results.

When I have worked my way through the detail I will comment. The report is free so there is no excuse for not downloading. Dick Stroud

Insights into the recession’s effect on older consumers

There has been little detailed research done into the impact of the recession on the UK’s over-50s. I decided that it was time to do something about this and joined with Mature Marketing to undertake a survey of over 1,600 older people, using Mature Time’s national newspaper and web site.

I reckon this is most current and thorough research on the subject.

The results are fascinating. Here are a few factlets to whet your appetite.

Over 25% say the recession has had little or no effect with a third reporting that they have not changed their spending patterns.

Over 60% say the recession has resulted in them only making a few cutbacks in their expenditure.

Despite older people holding 80% of savings and investment assets in the UK, the fall in interest rates has seriously affected only 20% of respondents.

Not all of the news is so positive - 12% have cut back drastically on spending.

The banks and the Labour Government are blamed for the economic problems resulting in a significant swing to the Conservatives and minority parties.

The 50-plus are giving far more financial support to their families than they are receiving.

Charitable donations have been badly, and I mean badly, hit by the recession.

If you want to read the detail then all you need to do is download the report. What could be simpler than that? If you would like a PowerPoint version then send me an e-mail.

All I ask in return is that if you use the results that you attribute the research to 20plus30 and Mature Marketing. Dick Stroud

What’s in a name?

At the recent Older Richer Wiser conference there was a presentation from Warner Leisure Hotels.

One of the slides was about how to refer to the over-50s - answer - don’t use Baby Boomer, Pensioner, Third Ager and Silver Surfer. Dick Stroud

A conference you cannot miss

On the 18th June I am the chairman of a one-day Market Research Society Conference, in London, about: “Life in the Middle Ages.”

No this is nothing to do with history but that funny period of life between Yoof and decrepitude.

Seriously, this conference is about exploring the ‘big squeeze’ being felt by today’s middle-aged consumer.

The conference has some great speakers from The Futures Company, Royal Mail, GfK Financial, BDRC, Ofcom, Murmur Research, GP Forschungsgruppe, Steel Magnolia, Channel Five, Digital Unite, Hampshire County Council and the Oxford Institute of Ageing.

These are subjects we will be covering

• New lifestyle segmentations that challenge accepted wisdom about middle age
• The impact of recession on the middle-aged consumer’s behaviour and attitudes
• Complex market and generational pressures and influences affecting their emotions
• Where they are spending and how brands maintain equity in this valuable market
• Which channels work best to engage and communicate with this generation
• The secret lives of the middle aged man
• How changing middle-aged demographics are affecting other sectors - kids, youth and the elderly

How can you not attend? If you are involved in research, consumer insight, planning or marketing you can claim your discount by emailing james.coyle@mrs.org.uk. Hope to see you there. Dick Stroud

Recession shrinks the generation gap – I wonder

This article in Forbes follows the well trodden path of arguing that the recession is making us all better and caring people. OK, it doesn’t say so in words of one syllable but that’s the core hypothesis.

Here are a couple of quotes.

Everyone feels guilty about consuming so much with so little thought---buying things we didn't need with money we didn't have. While the recession may not give us much choice in the matter, spending less and saving more--and living within our means--actually feels like the natural course.

After more than a decade of candy-coated materialism, just about everyone is losing the taste for superficial treats. The generation gap doesn't seem so big anymore: Younger and older people alike are looking for substance in their lives. Young adults are embracing a spirit of collective activism that hasn't been seen since the boomers were their age. Older men and women are communicating regularly via technologies that barely existed five years ago. We have more in common than ever before.

My advice to marketers is to be suspicious of these simplistic ideas. I am sure it driven more by wishful thinking than research. Dick Stroud

The 2009 Ageing Report

If you speak Euro-bureaucrat or have an inordinate amount of spare time you might want to have a look at this report.

Seriously, this report does contain a lot of useful data.

The purpose of the document, as far as I can decipher, is to provide the EU with a standard set of data on the assumptions about the ageing of its citizens. Dick Stroud

Market researchers should stop” feeding the metric monsters”

The market research VP for Procter & Gamble told an Advertising Research Foundation forum that: "We're so focused on initiative qualification scores, on the check box that comes with the survey and feeding the metrics monster within our companies."

I know exactly what she means. If it can’t be quantified then the knowledge is devalued.

This issue is not limited to the 50-plus, but is very applicable to this group. If you get the chance it is worth reading the article. First, you might need to register on the site. Dick Stroud

The daft names are back

Back in May I wrote the phenomena of the GAUADN (Get attention by using a daft name). The name in question was FREDS - Frantic About the 'Credit Crunch', Stockmarket Volatility and Fears of Recession.

Liverpool and Victoria are still peddling this story. This time, surprise surprise, the FREDS are on the increase and they are even more worried about the economy. Might be something to do with the economic meltdown that is going on. No, that is too simple an explanation.

There are zillions of things that could be researched about the older market so why select a subject that generates obvious answers. Crazy. Dick Stroud

Insights into Boomer purchasing

A week after signing on as the second network partner for Google TV Ads, Hallmark Channel has made another deal. This time with the research company Nielsen to license its NielsenConnections Brand Target Audience products.

Theoretically this enables Hallmark to tell advertisers who is actually buying the products advertised on it.

Why I am interested in the deal? Hallmark’s audience is made up primarily of baby boomers. What I would give to have access to that research. Dick Stroud

Online surveys bore respondents and damage data quality

This is not a 50-plus posting but about one of the main research mechanisms we us to make decisions about the older person's marketing behaviour – the online survey.

For the past 6 months I have signed-up to half a dozen different regular surveys. I wanted to get a feel of how they operate, what questions they ask and what it is like being on the receiving end, rather than my normal position, specifying the questions.

I am not surprised that the article finds declining response rates, poor data quality and respondents becoming bored with the presentation and mechanics of the studies.

The research, upon which the article was based, examined the drop-out rates from over 550 surveys and correlated these with survey length and question formats.

The study also asked a sample of 200 online panellists what bored and frustrated them in online questionnaires. It then compared static HTML questionnaires with those using Flash animation and traditional question formats with more innovative ones, in order to identify alternative question presentations that would engage better with respondents.

The research revealed that if boredom sets in, respondents increase the speed at which they answer questions, leading to fewer responses being given generally, and a loss of data quality due to a combination of increased pattern answering and a shift away from using scale extremities.

Yep, they are describing my reaction.

Two conclusions. Beware paying too much attention to these studies. Secondly, when building one research studies, realise that there is a low attention-span human answering the questions – like me. Dick Stroud

Be careful using consumer confidence measures

Marketing Week has an article about the age and regional variation in the TNS/Nationwide consumer confidence measure (Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index). This is the measure most often quoted in the UK – something similar to the Conference Board in the US.

The article focuses on the changes in this index during the past 3 quarters and what it tells us about the way that different age groups react to our present financial Armageddon.

I really don’t know what I make of these numbers. Obviously, youthful enthusiasm (some would say naivety) makes them the group with the highest confidence level, although it has dropped by the highest amount. The 45-59 year olds seem to have plateaued out. The 60-75 year olds have had a sedately decline into gloom. I feel sorry for the 75+ crowd who are perceived as worth measuring!

The regional analysis is interesting but difficult to explain, other than in gross archetypes of inhabitants of each region. I better keep my theory on this one to myself.

I decided to dig a bit further to find out about the way this index is calculated. This is the latest press release from Nationwide showing the figures for October. Interestingly, there has been a rise in confidence.

If you want to look at the data and the research methodology then Nationwide have created an excellent site with all the information you could require (well done Nationwide).

Here are my concerns with the index.

It is not clear from the research methodology how the results are collected. My bet is it via the Web. To what extent does this bias the sample?

The research sample is said to be:” nationally representative of all adults in term of age, sex and socio-economic group”. This sample of 1000 people is being used to draw conclusions over 13 UK regions and four UK age groups. I am no statistician but I wonder what degree of accuracy can be attributed to the numbers

I wish there the data was reported by gender. How much more/less confident are men than women by age?

My major concern with the index is the conclusions that are drawn between quarterly measures. I suspect that consumers become gloom immune the longer time goes on. A fall of the FT index or the announcement of job losses when the background news is neutral will have a much larger impact than when there is a background of doom laden pronouncements. If there is then the slightest ray of hope it will have a disproportional impact on consumer attitudes.

I wonder about the sensitivity of the index to the news stories at the time of measurement. Confidence is an instinctive thing. If I have just listened to 2 days of unremitting bad news I will respond differently to when the sun has been shining and the news has been ‘neutral’.

So what am I saying? Beware reading too much into these index numbers. Dick Stroud

Why this daft 55+ age group

OFCOM publishes a mountain of research. All too often it uses idiotic age ranges when reporting the how behaviour changes with ageing.

The chart is taken from a recent OFCOM report about media consumption showing how the 55+ is the only group increasing its time listening to the radio.

You might think that understanding a bit more about how this group divides into finer age ranges would be useful. No way.

The 55+ represent 34% of the UK population aged 15+, yet OFCOM reports four younger sub groups, none of which represent more than 18% of the adult population.

Come on OFCOM get real and start reporting your results so we can get an insight into what is happening with the older market rather than this obsession with reporting the fine granularity of the sub-34 year olds. Dick Stroud

Researching the older market

I recently had a most enjoyable lunch with Robert Berry Manor Marketing. Rob was the marketing controller with Bacardi Martini so he knows a lot about a subject most dear to my heart!

The reason we met was that Rob is doing a lot of work in researching the older market. I asked him what were his top five things about conducting a research programme with this age group. This is what he said.......

Obviously, good research techniques should be applied to all consumer groups but there are a few things to consider when conducting qualitative research amongst an older audience. Clearly, these will be more relevant to some parts of the older audience than others. They are, nevertheless, a useful checklist:

Availability and security – daytime research may not only be possible but may be preferred. Many older people do not like to go out after dark. The venue should be somewhere that is known, accessible and where respondents can feel comfortable and secure.

Sensitivity – what has become socially acceptable for a younger generation may not be for their parents. Discussion of certain financial matters can be too sensitive for a group context but fine in a depth interview.

Clarity – this involves both physical and intellectual/emotional clarity. Concepts have to be readable and the ideas expressed have to be understandable. The latter may seem obvious but the meaning of copy and images can alter with the generations.

Vocabulary – this not only applies to any testing of copy (above) but more importantly involves the researcher using appropriate vocabulary and understanding that used by respondents. Reserve, courtesy and more formality may all be essential in putting older audiences at ease.

Empathy – all researchers need plenty of this. Where the age gap is large an older audience may not feel as comfortable sharing information with someone they regard as a child or grandchild! Trust may be as much a function of age as skill.

The over 50’s are a rewarding group who respond well when treated appropriately. Their thoughts are worth a bob or two – if you understand my meaning.

I am sure Rob would be more than happy to amplify upon any of these points. Thanks. Dick Stroud

TV Land's PR research report

According to TV Land (the US channel that targets the older consumer) 40 and 50 year olds are near the peak of their earning. They make the majority of household purchase decisions and not just for themselves.

TV Land’s report (Generation BUY: A Close Look at the Boomer Consumer" Study) says that the older age group spend more on themselves per month than Millennials and Gen Xers but they are also spending twice as much as their younger cohorts on others in their lives. Your Boomer makes decisions about purchases that spans the generations. The report (well the press release) says they (the 40 and 50 year old) are far less brand-loyal than Millennials and Gen Xers.

This all sounds really interesting and confirms what a lot of us have been saying for years.

But, two things disturb me. Firstly, TV Land would say this wouldn’t they. Secondly, for all of the press coverage I couldn’t find any trace of the ‘report’ to be able to make a judgement about the quality of the information.

Like most PR research - be careful in using the conclusions. Dick Stroud

Moody (Angry?) Britain

A recently posted an item about research conducted by McCann Erickson’s Pulse division that gave a fascinating insight into how us Brits feel about life. I also did my usual rant about wishing companies would put their research on the Web.

A couple of days back I get an e-mail from one of the report’s authors giving me a link to a site that has just been launched to support the research. It's a good site and has some interesting and disturbing content - do go and have a look.

I was fascinated to understand what the research told us about the 50-plus. Back like flash I get this response.

The quantitative survey revealed some interesting results amongst the older age groups. Those aged 55+ were most likely to describe the current mood of Britain as ‘apathetic’ and ‘angry’ (seemingly contradictory?).

Their mood wasn’t particularly more pessimistic than the rest of the nation but we did find the nation as pretty discontent as a whole (in both the quantitative research and focus groups). Key issues making the over 55s angry were immigration/race relations and the war in Iraq.

Anger regarding the cost of living was in line with the UK average (actually lower than average amongst over 65s), whilst house prices were, unsurprisingly, less of an issue than amongst younger generations.

The area where the older generation stands out, however, is the level of ire directed at Gordon Brown : 47% of over 65s said that Gordon Brown is making them angry about Britain, compared to just 31% of the total population.

Since older people have a much higher propensity to vote this is bad, bad news for Gordo.

This will only mean something to Brits, but the section of the site that looks at the regional differences about what would make Britain a better place are fascinating. I could write a commentary about each of these.

Many thanks to Dean at McCann Erickson for publishing the research and his subsequent insights about the 50-plus. Dick Stroud

Doom, doom and daft names

If you believe the media and “research shows PR” then all ages of Europeans are in financial meltdown.

In the UK, Liverpool Victoria (finance company) has done some research and found that 66% of over 50s fear they face an impoverished retirement. Conclusion they should save more – guess what, LV provides saving products.

In today’s Observer there is a report about the young in Spain, France and Italy who are: “facing a lifetime on low salaries with unrewarding jobs, forever poorer than their parents.”

Of course there is an element of truth in both conclusions but you need to dig a lot deeper into the numbers to find what is really happening. Far deeper than you will find in a Sunday newspaper article or a corporate press release.

Other than banging on about the dreadful state of the world these extracts have another thing in common. The both employ a GAUADN (Get attention by using a daft name). So in the case of Liverpool Victoria it is the 'Face Retirement Earnings Doubts' (Freds). In the Observer it is “Baby Losers”.

OK, OK, OK I know it is all about getting attention. But surely the world has moved on and there are more sophisticated ways of doing it! Dick Stroud

YouGov launches a Boomer Tracker

Why? Why and thrice why?

Why launch a consumer research tracker about an age cohort (someone born between 1946-1964) that is based on the rise of and fall of the US birthrate but that has little in common with the UK’s demographic profile. See above.

Anyway, if you are interested in research about an age cohort, that has no particular relevance to the UK, you can get it from YouGov. It will cover:

Marketing and Communications
Technology and Health
Financial Services and Retail
Media and Leisure

For those with deep pockets you can buy client specific questions. YouGov always strikes me as a really on-the-ball company. I cannot understand how it the fell into the Baby Boomer trap. I suppose that since most of its clients are equally unaware of the irrelevance of the Baby Boomer cohort, the service will probably sell well. Dick Stroud

Germany’s ageing population

In the UK, and I would guess the US, we hear little about Germany’s older market. This short article gives a brief insight. Apparently, every third euro that is spent in the private sector in Germany is by the 60+. A good reason to take an interest. Dick Stroud

HSBC’s “The New Old Age – A Gender Perspective” – beautifully produced report

A couple of years back HSBC made a commitment to researching, globally, the older market. This must reflect on the importance the organisation places on this sector. This is the home page for its research.

The latest report is about gender differences.

This is what the exec summary says.

The survey finds that men and women have different expectations and behaviours, but what is most striking is that when it comes to talking about ‘old age’, overall regional and country differences are of more significance than gender differences. There are indeed gender differences, but men and women within each country tend to think and act quite similarly.

Do download this report. It is beautifully produced and does contain some interesting stuff about national differences. But I have a ‘but’.

Talk to anybody in the 50-plus marketing world, in Europe, US and Australasia and you will get the same answer. As men and women age the women become the dominant part of the family partnership. They are the ones who initiate major life decisions, they are the ones that are the real power in the decision making unit.

I am sorry HSBC but I think you asked the wrong questions. I could have told you that you wouldn’t get any meaningful gender difference when you ask questions about:
Expectations of working life
Financial Contribution by the over 60s
How healthy do the over 60s feel?

If anybody from HSBC is reading this blog, I am certain that in your research you will have a much richer data set that appears in this report. All that being said – well done HSBC for taking the subject seriously! Dick Stroud

Online fraud and the 50-plus

Imagine this situation. You are a marketer working for the UK’s Post Office and have just been given the job of launching and managing the organisation’s broadband service. That’s a bit like Wal Mart starting to sell Porsches.

You might ask yourself why on earth the UK needs yet another broadband supplier. I bet I know the answer. The Post Office did ‘some research’ and found that a lot of older people are not connected to the Internet – especially the 65+ - especially the poor – especially those with little education. I suspect these conditions were lost in the analysis.

The reasons given for not being online were probably a hotchpotch of ‘can’t see the point’, ‘can’t afford it’, ‘don’t know what I would do with it’. Amongst this list would be something to do with the fear of fraud.

Ahhhhh says the Post Office marketer, I am sure we can something about this and immediately commissions a bit more research that of course shows that older people are fearful of fraud – who isn’t?

Since the Post Office is one of those nice cuddly, trusted brands, then who better to wrap their corporate arms around the older person and provide them with their means to connect to the Internet?

To help position the Post Office as a good citizen it needs to pump out its research findings to reinforce the link between itself and the senior surfer. This brings me to its most recent utterings.

Now I don’t mind this approach – in fact it is what I would probably recommend to the Post Office – but it result in UK’s media, including the BBC, being stuffed full of misleading generalisations about older people and fraud.

It is a perfect illustration that the only way to get heard is to shout a single message– even if that grossly simplifies and distorts the truth. Dick Stroud

Damned if you damned if you don’t

South Gloucestershire Council are putting together a strategy for the 50-plus.
Now that should be a good thing? Yes and no. This is the council’s objective of the strategy.

The strategy focuses on the things that people tell us really matter as they get older – being able to be part of their community, to live in a safe neighbourhood, being able to live in their own home, having good health and transport, access to local facilities, being treated with dignity and respect, being in control and having choice over their care when they need it.

The result of all of this is a 38 page strategy document.

This is where it all starts to go a tad wrong. The document contains a number of ‘vision statements’. Our Vision:

People over 50 should be able to live as independently as possible within their local communities with easy access to those things they want to do, they should feel empowered, confident and safe and have the ability to influence decisions that impact on their lives.

People over 50 should have access to a range of affordable, comfortable, flexible transport options, which meet their needs across the whole journey being undertaken.

Are these statements aimed at the remarried 50 year old, shopping for baby clothes for the new child? What about the 50 year old just returned from trekking in Patagonia?

Sorry South Gloucestershire Council. I think your vision is really aimed at the 75+ alternatively it a vision that applies to just about all ages. One explanation is that people living in South Gloucestershire have all prematurely aged? Dick Stroud

Ipsos briefing report that is definitely worth downloading

I still haven’t got my head around “Older People Day” but if the only positive thing to come out of it is the Ipsos MORI briefing pack then it has served some purpose. The information in the pack is only about the UK, but if you want an insight into the older Brit then this is good.

You might also want to have a look at Ipsos’s archive of research about older people. Dick Stroud

Great chart but what do I do with it?

On first sight I thought this is an intereseting bit of analysis and must have some marketing applications. The chart should be self explanatory.

On closer inspection, I am not sure what practical applications this knowledge has. Amazingly, the 75-plus seem to sleep over nine hours a day, so I guess you could say they are prime candidates for good beds. The 55-64 years olds spend over 2 hours a day doing “household activities” – I guess that must include cooking?

Anyway, for what it is worth there a pile more charts like this one on this site. Dick Stroud

Deloitte & Touch have just published a report called: “The State of the Media Democracy”.

Over 2,000 US consumers were contacted by the Harrison Group. Unfortunately, the analysis is done using the old fashioned segment definitions. Just to remind you: Millennials (ages 13-24) and Matures (61-75). When are we going to bury these useless age groupings once and fall!

Most of the ‘highlights’ are motherhood statements. Here are some stats for your presentations

40% all survey respondents are into user generated content (editing movies, music and photos) (25% of all Matures and 56% of all Millennials).

Printed magazines seem to be popular with all generations (72% enjoy reading magazines over finding the same information online)

And that is about it. Seems very little useful stuff from interviewing 2000 people. Dick Stroud

The UK Communications Marketing (Part 2)

Here are a couple of more graphs from the Ofcom study.

Two things stand out.

From 25-64 the penetration of Internet users is pretty much constant and then dives after 65. This we know. What is really interesting is to see the number of hours spent online. The highest figure is for the active Internet user over-65. So what we have got is a small but very active band of 65-plus Internet users.

This brings us onto the second point about the gender of older users. Look at the big jump that occurs around 60 in the percentage of men. Now this has some interesting implications for marketers. Dick Stroud

The UK Communications market

The fourth Ofcom annual report, about trends and developments in the UK’s
Communications Market has just been released.

If you want to know anything about the UK’s Internet, Radio, TV, mobile and terrestrial comms markets then this is a must have report for your library, all 187 pages of it. Much better than buying one of those expensive market research reports that will just regurgitate this analysis.

Above are a couple of the graphs that caught my eye, with respect to the 50-plus.

My big grump about Ofcom is their age group analysis. Why do they persist in using the age groups 25-44 and 45-64? It would be much more interesting to break the numbers down in smaller age groups. Dick Stroud

What is worth a tenner?

And yet another survey, this one from Engage Mutual. Note to Engage's Communications Manager – when you issue a press release make sure you update your web site – even better make available the details of the research!

2,700 people were divided into three groups: ‘grandparents’ (50+), parents (25-50) and child-free adults (aged 25 and under) and asked what they thought £10 should be able to buy. Why I wonder did they associate age with being a parent or grandparent?

Two-thirds of those with grandchildren think it is absurd to pay a tenner for a bottle of wine when there are so many cheaper alternatives to be had.
Yet this falls to 56 per cent of those who have children, and dips to just 45 per cent of those aged 25 and under.

The opposite is true with flowers, with 42 per cent of the under-25s claiming a tenner is too much for a bouquet, compared with 38 per cent of parents and 37 per cent of grandparents.

The younger generation are more willing to flash their cash on a pizza, a pair of knickers or a round of drinks than those who remember the days when they could pay much less for those things.

Yet it is older people who spend more on quality food, with just 27 per cent of grandparents claiming that £10 is too much to pay for a joint of meat, compared with 34 per cent of parents and 40 per cent of younger adults.

Other items which the over-50s begrudge spending a tenner on include T-shirts and cinema tickets but not baby outfits and local train tickets, both of which younger adults find a rip-off.

I am not sure what this tells us – probably very little. Dick Stroud

Impressive stuff but what does it mean?

Wow I thought, this looks interesting stuff. How have the attitudes of 50-75 year olds changed in the last 20 years?

Some nice graphics but not a scintilla of stuff that can be applied to tactical marketing. Bottom line is somethings have changed and somethings have not. Dick Stroud

Boomer Shoppers Today and Tomorrow: Following the Money

It sad that one is surprised when companies do things well.
Unilever USA recently issued a press release about research into Boomer shopping habits and how these are likely to develop in the next ten years. This looked to be interesting stuff.

I contacted the company’s press office and asked for a copy of the report. Much to my amazement I had a reply within a couple of hours from the Unilever’s PR company (Burson-Marsteller ) saying that they had already read my the blog posting and would send me a copy the report when it was available. True to their word a copy arrived.

So full marks to Unilever/Burson-Marsteller – that is how it should be done.
Most companies and their PR companies have not realized that there is a community of bloggers who can do a lot to promote their message. I would like a dollar for the number of times a company issues a press release, then never puts it onto their own web site, dosen't monitor what bloggers are saying about it and then fails to respond to e-mails.

Now to the report itself – it is excellent.

Unlike the vast majority of research that companies churn out with banal, motherhood conclusions, this report really adds something to our understanding of the 50-plus and how their shopping habits are likely to change.

I don’t agree with all of the conclusions but it is a significant contribution to the body of knowledge about Boomers/50-plus retail futures. Download it and read it! Dick Stroud

Boomer loyalty (or not)

It is so long ago that I heard anything from Focalyst (the joint venture between AARP and The Kantar Group) that I had assumed they had disappeared.

Then this press release appears ranking the level of loyalty that Boomers have for different types of products/services. Click the image for a larger version.

What would have been really useful would be to know how these levels vary with other age groups. My bet is not a lot. Dick Stroud

"Pivot Spenders" - so tell me something new

“The Nielsen Company and Age Lessons has uncovered a new market segment known as Pivot Spenders who provide financial support to elderly/retired parents or an adult child 18+ on an ongoing basis”.

How can a company like Nielsen be bothered to issue a press release to state the obvious? To state something that anybody who works in 50-plus marketing has known for years.
“In addition to buying for their live-in family, many Boomers are shopping for multiple households including their aging parents and empty nest children. Boomers are proving to be both the social and financial epicenter of the family unit.”

If Nielsen thinks this discovery is worth a press release it is a sad incitement of their simplistic understanding of the boomer market.

OK, so Nielsen has quantified this assertion: “22% of Boomers contribute to the financial upkeep of a senior parent, while 24% help out an adult child not in college”. Sorry guys but this is something we have known in the UK since 2003.

I am shocked. Dick Stroud

B2F Connections

According to WS’s study, titled "B2F Connections," boomers serve as important information sources for fellow boomers when making purchasing decisions. Nearly 57% are asked for their recommendations on products and services almost twice a week. Of those boomers who were asked to make a recommendation in the past year, the large majority (89%) advised their friends, or fellow boomers.

I just love the wording of these press releases

Our new study found that companies can forge new relationships with prospective customers by capitalizing on the power of B2F communications," said Weber Shandwick's Chief Reputation Strategist. "Companies can discover new avenues for reaching boomers by approaching boomers' networks of mutual advisors and creating marketing, advertising and other communications that portray boomers in realistic social settings to which they can relate."

I think this is a long winded way of saying that Word of Mouth marketing works for Boomers? Dick Stroud

The Swing Generation report from Euromonitor

This new report from Euromonitor is all about marketing to 65+. Why ‘swing generation'? Because of the popularity of swing music at the time of their birth – well that is what the press release says.
Strange combination of the name ‘swing’ with the imagery of somebody with a walking stick. No doubt this was the creative paradigm shift from some youthful marketer beavering away in the bowels of Euromonitor.

Euromonitor’s reports are normally pretty good so why they chose this banal statement for the press release, confounds me: “Many over 65s are determined to enjoy retirement, doing and buying all the things they feel were denied to them earlier in their lives. This presents significant opportunities for all consumer industries, but particularly for marketers of luxury goods and services”. Well I be damned!

The report is reviewed in this week’s edition of Marketing Week (subscription only). It contains some interesting analysis; like that 51% of the Asia-Pacific population is 65+ and that sales of canned/preserved food to the 65+ increased by 52,800% in 2006. I just hope it the explanation for this nonsense is that the artwork person at Marketing Week was having a bad day and that this in not a reflection of the report’s analytical accuracy! Dick Stroud