The real reason why marketers ignore older consumers

The real reason why marketers ignore older consumers

by Jeff Weiss

When we launched Age of Majority about eight years ago, we believed that the marketing world would (finally) see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. How could you possibly ignore the numbers?

Adults 55 and over represent approximately 30% of the population and control over 40% of all consumer spending (and over 50% if you look at adults 50+) yet businesses only spend an estimated 10% of their marketing dollars trying to reach and engage them. And the marketing resources that target older adults are often filled with images and language reflecting outdated myths and stereotypes that do not engage or inspire these consumers to take action.

Despite the obvious financial opportunity (at least to us), we set out to determine why marketers were largely ignoring older consumers. Our research identified three main reasons:

First, marketers generally underestimate the spending power of older adults and grossly overestimate the power of younger adults — primarily Gen Z.  Our research with marketers highlights the significant discrepancy between their estimates and reality as shown below:

Whereas Boomers as a group outspend Gen Z 10 to one, marketers estimate that these younger consumers actually outspend their older counterparts and account for a quarter of all consumer spending. And based on these estimates, more resources are spent targeting these younger adults, likely in an attempt to get them as “customers for life” while ignoring older shoppers who have the money to spend now. Clearly the math does not add up.

The second reason is that the vast majority of marketers are relatively young with only an estimated 6-7% of workers in the industry over the age of 50.  And when you talk to marketers over the age of 40, they tell you that they are often seen as dinosaurs in the industry compared to their younger counterparts.

The reality is that most younger marketers have minimal/no interest in marketing to their “grandparents” as is often heard.  They don’t consider older adults to be hip or cool and they definitely aren’t tech savvy, if you ask a 25-year-old. Given that most young marketers only want to do hip and cool things that are led by digital efforts, it’s no wonder that they aren’t interested in marketing to their parents’ or grandparents’ generations.  Numbers be damned!

The third reason we discovered is related to the myths and stereotypes linked to ageism in our society. Ageism may be the most accepted prejudice in our society.  Apparently, it’s okay to make fun of old people as you’re unlikely to get much pushback even from those being made fun of.

The reasons outlined above, along with ageist stereotypes that prevail in society (we have identified what we call “The Dirty Dozen Myths of Aging Consumers”), create a perfect storm in which marketing to older adults doesn’t (or at least appears not to) make sense. I often use the term FOMO — Fear of Marketing Older — to encapsulate the general response I get from prospective clients, who are hesitant or unwilling to consider the older market. There was once a popular saying that “no one ever got fired for hiring IBM.” Today, you could add that “no one ever got fired for marketing to Gen Z and Millennials.”

Yet, I still wonder if there is something else going on that is holding marketers back from embracing the opportunity with older adults. There is a growing number of people focused on the longevity economy, so you would think more marketers would begin to see the light. It has not happened.

It has hit me that those of us in the longevity space or who are promoting the benefits of marketing older are (I hate to say it) “old” in the eyes of young marketers who are often the decision-makers about who to target. In their eyes we are older marketers and business people who have had their day and are now whining about that fact that no one is targeting people like us. It’s not that different from the idea of more tenured marketers ignoring the thoughts of relatively inexperienced, yet keen younger counterparts. These same young marketers may tend to ignore or dismiss the ramblings of marketers like me.

If this is true, where does this leave me? Rather than dwell on past challenges I have decided to focus on the opportunities ahead. The business world simply can no longer ignore the fact that society is getting older and that there is no stopping it. It would be irresponsible not to look at the needs of this “older” world which will include the likes of consumers we have never seen before. Stay tuned for more on the future outlook.

If you are interested in effectively reaching and engaging with older adults today or want to understand what an older society will look like in the future, reach out to me and I can share a more detailed overview of the opportunity and how we can potentially help you unlock this largely untapped (and measurable) marketing opportunity.