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MP93150

MAPS THE GREY MARKET AUGUST 2000

Overview

Editor: Market Assessment
ISBN: 1-86111-325-0

This report covers: Grey consumer, household expenditure, spending on food and drink, alcohol, tobacco, household goods, household services, motoring, aged over 45, food, clothes, out-of-town shopping, tax, financial products, insurance, savings, investments, personal computers, new cars, used cars, furniture, health, appearance, cigarette smoking, medicines, medical fees, medication, vitamins, supplements, health foods, fortified foods, GM, genetically modified foods, organic foods, meat-eating, toiletries, cosmetics, hairdressing, footwear, leisure goods, holidays, newspapers, magazines, music, CDs, records, tapes, restaurants, eating out, gardening, home improvements, patios, holidays, short breaks, pensionable age, Age Concern, Help the Aged, Saga

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Consumers over the age of 45 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 percent 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. Despite the importance of this group, 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. 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 percent 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. 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 percent of whom take them. Nearly six in ten over-45 year-olds spend money regularly on books, and 44 percent buy CDs or tapes on a regular basis. A total of 63 percent — 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 percent between 1998 and 2011, when the over-45s will account for 43.4 percent of the total population, compared with 38.8 percent 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.

Text © 2000 MAPS

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Last updated by Duncan Nottage 17th July 2001