The new research comes as the Charity today launches Age OK,
an accreditation that that will be awarded to products and services that the
Age OK expert panels judge to be 'age-friendly'. In order to receive the accreditation,
businesses can apply to put products and services through a rigorous process
that seeks to ensure the design of the product or service factors in the needs
of older people.
The fact that people aged 60 and above now outnumber those aged
18 and under in the UK2 has many implications and opportunities for businesses,
yet the new research reveals the true extent to which older people still feel
blighted by practises that they feel alienate and fail them as consumers. Nearly
half of those surveyed, the equivalent of 9.7 million, even said that they felt
UK businesses were 'youth-obsessed' with 55% (11.4 million) citing that businesses
have little interest in older people's consumer needs. Furthermore 10.4 million
(50%) slammed marketers, stating that, on the whole, any advertising attempting
to target people aged 50+ was patronising and stereotypical.
The people surveyed were also asked to rate different business
sectors in terms of their age-friendliness. The least age-friendly sector was
judged by older people to be the telecoms sector, followed by the utilities
sector, automotive sector and financial services. Retail businesses such as
supermarkets were rated most age-friendly by older people.
Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director of Age Concern and Help
the Aged said: "It makes no sense for businesses to ignore a third3 of
the population.
"Through the charity's engage business network, we've been
working over the past couple of years to influence and inform businesses to
recognise older consumers and their needs. The launch of Age OK takes this work
to the next stage in encouraging and championing better age-friendly products
and services. Our aim is for the accreditation to grow to become respected and
widely recognised as a mark of excellence both within the business community
and among older people themselves."
Joan Bakewell, the Government's champion for older people, who
will be attending the launch of Age OK at the Design Museum in London on 29th
April, said: "This latest research from Age Concern and Help the Aged supports
what older people's own experience already bears out - that to their detriment,
businesses are neglecting them, and in some cases, discriminating against them.
"It's time that businesses took a less short-sighted view
and woke up to the opportunity older customers offer in terms of their bottom
line, particularly in these difficult economic times. However, aside from the
business opportunity, it's also imperative that they start preparing for the
very necessary changes that will have to take place, across the whole of society,
in order to properly meet the needs of our ageing population.
"The Age OK accreditation is a great starting point for
those businesses who want to be one step ahead of this inevitable trend."
Carmel Giblin, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Accessibility
at BskyB, the first winner of an Age OK product accreditation for its Sky+ inclusive
remote control for digital satellite, said: "The Age OK accreditation is
fantastic recognition of our accessible remote control, which is available to
all of our nine million customers free of charge. The remote control was designed
in partnership with Scope, Age Concern and Ricability to ensure that through
good design, we created a unique, accessible product which could really make
a difference. We believe in offering our customers the best possible choice
of entertainment and with that goes a dedication to ensure it is accessible
to everyone."
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