If you think today's senior online population has lesser appeal to marketers, you're right. If you think tomorrow's seniors won't be of consequence, either, you're wrong.
Until recently, there was very little interest in the idea of marketing to aging Baby Boomers — those post-World War II children born between 1946 and 1964 — online or off. Despite the fact that the over-50 population is growing faster than the under-50s and Boomers have $1 trillion in spending power, marketers have largely ignored them as a target market.
The new eMarketer report, Seniors Online: How Aging Boomers Will Shake Up the Market, shows why online marketers and service providers are going to have to take notice.
"The current generation of adults over 65 hasn't fully adopted Internet use, in large part because many had retired before online access became common in the workplace," says Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the report. "The next generation of seniors will be very different."
There are powerful differences in Internet usage between today's older Americans and the current senior population. eMarketer estimates that in 2005 there are 33.2 million people online in the US between the ages of 50 and 64, triple the number of 65+ online users.
For many Baby Boomers, the Internet is an essential part of life. As Boomers age, they will force change upon the companies that do business online, just as they have changed other industries at earlier stages of their lives. Financial services, health care and real estate are just a few of the categories that will undergo massive change as Boomers demand online access to information.
"While today's seniors are a cautious bunch online, the next generation of seniors is not," says Ms. Williamson. "They use the Internet at home and at work, and they will carry those usage patterns over into the next phase of their lives."
Breaking down the age groups even more, Pew found in a 2004 survey that access to the Internet drops dramatically after age 68.
If the simple reason for the difference in Internet usage between the two groups is in having access, the more complex reason lies in the differences in psyche among Boomers and the generation before them. While it's difficult to generalize an entire generation, Boomers are often thought of as more adventurous and willing to explore new territory. Using the Internet is an extension of that quest.
For more information on the changes the next generation of seniors will bring, and how to prepare for them, read the new eMarketer report, Seniors Online: How Aging Boomers Will Shake Up the Market.
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