Retailing and Older Adults
Conclusion
Overall, older adults make up a dynamic market that will be increasingly targeted by retailers and marketers as their population keeps growing. The roles of older adults within the retail marketplace will continue to change as the ways in which older people are perceived change. Stereotypical views of older adults as incapable of change, ill, and controlled by routine are giving way to the perception that older adults seek new experiences and personal challenges. Retailers and marketers will need to develop new marketing and retailing techniques to meet the needs of this market. The older market will probably be divided in different ways, and new categories of goods and services will likely be developed to meet the needs of older adults. This market will probably be segmented in more specific ways based on lifestyle, value orientations, and demographic factors such as income and educational level. These efforts to further segment the older market will help retailers to sell, and marketers to create and promote, new products and services to meet the needs of older adults.
CYNTHIA R. JASPER
See also CONSUMER PROTECTION; CONSUMPTION AND AGE.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIVENS, J. ‘‘Retailers Slow to Target Older Consumers: Failure to Understand 50+ Customers Hampers Marketing Efforts.’’ Chain Store Age Executive 64, no. 8 (1988): 79–82.
BONVISSUTO, K. ‘‘Net Latest Snare for Senior Scams.’’ Crain’s Cleveland Business 22, no. 31 (2001): 17.
BRANDT, J. ‘‘Housing and Community Preferences: Will They Change in Retirement?’’ Family Economics Review 2, no. 2 (1989): 7–11.
BROWN, D. ‘‘Home Design for the Golden Years.’’ The Saturday Evening Post May/June (2000): 18.
HARRISON, B. ‘‘Spending Patterns of Older Persons Revealed in Expenditure Survey.’’ Monthly Labor Review 109, issue 10 (October 1986): 15–17.
HENDERSON, C. ‘‘Today’s Affluent Oldsters: Marketers See Gold in Gray.’’ The Futurist 32, issue 8 (November 1998): 19–23.
JEFFREY, N., and COLLINS, S. ‘‘The Grandparent Industry: Special Camps. How-to Videos. Whoever Thought Grandparenting Could Get So Complicated?’’ Wall Street Journal November 2, 2001, pp. W1–W14.
KATZENSTEIN, H., and SACHS, W. Direct Marketing 2d ed. New York: Macmillan, 1992.
LEE, J., and SOBERON-FERRER, H. ‘‘An Empirical Analysis of Elderly Consumers’ Complaining Behavior.’’ Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal 91 (March 1999): 341–371.
LEVANTHAL, R. ‘‘Aging Consumers and Their Effects on the Marketplace.’’ Journal of Consumer Marketing 14, no. 4–5 (1997): 276–282.
LEVY, M., and WEITZ, B. A. Retailing Management 3d ed. Boston: Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 1998.
LUMPKIN, J., and HITE, R. ‘‘Retailers’ Offerings and Elderly Consumers’ Needs: Do Retailers Understand the Elderly?’’ Journal of Business Research 16 (1988): 313–326.
MCCONNEL, C., and DELJAVAN, F. ‘‘Consumption Patterns of the Retired Household.’’ Journal of Gerontology 38, no. 4 (1983): 480–490.
MCDONALD, W. Direct Marketing—An Integrated Approach. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill, 1998.
MCMELLON, C., and SCHIFFMAN, L. ‘‘Cybersenior Research: A Practical Approach to Data Collection.’’ Journal of Interactive Marketing 15, no. 4 (2001): 47–55.
MILLER, N., and KIN, S. ‘‘The Importance of Older Consumers to Small Business Survival: Evidence from Rural Iowa.’’ Journal of Small Business Management 37, no. 4 (1999): 1–15.
MOEHRLE, T. ‘‘Expenditure Patterns of the Elderly: Workers and Nonworkers.’’ Monthly Labor Review 113 (May 1990): 34–41.
‘‘Over 50 and Misunderstood.’’ Sales and Marketing Management 140 July (1988): 19.
RUBIN, R. M., and NIESWIADOMY, M. L. ‘‘Expenditure Patterns of Retired and Nonretired Persons.’’ Monthly Labor Review 117 (April 1994): 10–21.
RUBIN, R. M., and NIESWIADOMY, M. L. Expenditures of Older Americans Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1997.
SCHIFFMAN, L., and SHERMAN, E. ‘‘Value Orientations of New-Age Elderly: The Coming of an Ageless Market.’’ Journal of Business Research 22 (1991): 187–194.
SCHOFIELD-TOMSCHIN, S., and LITTRELL, M. A. ‘‘Textile Handcraft Guild Participation: A Conduit to Successful Aging.’’ Clothing and Textile Research Journal 19, no. 2 (2001): 41–51.
SWARTZ, L. ‘‘Marketing to Maturity.’’ Franchising World 31, no. 6 (1999): 47–50.
TEPPER, K. ‘‘The Role of Labeling Processes in Elderly Consumer’s Responses to Age Segmentation Cues.’’ Journal of Consumer Research 20, no. 4 March (1994): 503–519.
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Preventing Senior Citizens Ripoffs. Madison, Wisc.: Bureau of Consumer Protection, Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, 2000.
RETIREE HEALTH INSURANCE
See RETIREMENT, EARLY RETIREMENT INCENTIVES
RETIREMENT AGE
See PENSIONS, HISTORY; RETIREMENT, EARLY RETIREMENT INCENTIVES
Additional topics
Medicine EncyclopediaAging Healthy - Part 4Retailing and Older Adults - Direct Marketing And Retailing To Older Adults, Convenient Shopping And Special Promotions, Health Care, Cosmetics, And Personal Care Products And Services - Older adults as investors, Retailers as employers of older persons