Understanding the Needs of Older Consumers

Abstract

A prerequisite to effective marketing is knowledge about consumer needs and how to best satisfy them. This chapter informs the reader about the biophysical, psychological, and social changes that people are likely to experience with advancing age, including age-related changes in lifestyles. It explains how these changes create new needs, or intensify existing ones, prompting the aging consumer to change his or her consumption patterns. The chapter presents information based on research and aging theories from various disciples to help the reader understand reasons for differences in behaviors of people in various age groups and cohorts. To help practitioners understand the importance of these changes for business practice, examples of implications of these changes are also presented.