Yesterday’s post was about the findings of the Yankelovich research into the attitudes of ‘matures’. I thought I would have a look and see what other research they had posted to the web. Answer, lots of it. This August they gave an interesting presentation, with Wal-Mart, about the importance of understanding the changes in consumer attitudes and its affect on marketing in the Retail Sector.
The presentation contains useful data about the changing make-up of households, the increase in ethnic diversity, how new ways individuals define ‘success’……..
A couple of things were relevant to 50+ marketing. In 1994, when consumers were asked ‘is it risky to buy a brand you are note familiar with’, 67% of respondents agreed. This had fallen to 50% by 2001 and in 2002 had fallen again to 46%. If this is true, why do we still hear marketers using the rationale for ignoring the 50+ because they are ‘unwilling to change brand allegiance’?
Another result of their research is the rapid increase in the view that it is ‘worth the effort to spend time researching a product before buying it’. Today, 63% of consumers agree with this statement and in the higher income groups this rises to 74%. The Internet must have a lot to do with this yet many web sites are not suitable for consumers to use for this task. This has a disproportionate effect on the 50+ who are major users of the web in this way.
The final slides of the presentation covered the subject of why understanding consumer attitudes is so important. I think it worth restating the basic principles. Attitudinal insight drives the tone, content and place of the communications so that you can connect with the consumer in an emotional way. All the more reason to understand the ‘emotional’ makeup of the different 50+ consumer groups.
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