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Designing for the Life Span Segment 2

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Slide 54 of 70

Slide 54 Content

Market segmentation within the aging population of the United States is a difficult proposition. Characteristics diverge and the population becomes heterogeneous making segmentation either too refined or too general to be accurate. Some of the most important factors are listed in the box below:

• Aging is not uniform in the onset of changes or in the continuum of change. The physiological processes associated with aging occur at different rates to different people.
• The overwhelming majority of adults are in- and will remain in- good health for almost their entire lives.
• Older people are no less capable than younger people and remain so.
• Adults over the age of 45 constitute 51.3% of all households, 49.6% of all income generation and, most importantly, 58.5% of all discretionary income.
• Older Americans are and will remain the most significant market for the design of goods for every designer and marketing professional born in the 20th century, peaking in 2030.

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Narration of Slide 54

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A reason why the "youth market" and youth culture remain a force in the development and marketing of goods (among several reasons) is that younger adults are more alike than they will be as they grow older. The older adult market is more diverse, difficult to describe and holds many differentiating characteristics. Whether it is clothing sizing or automobile preference, the older adult market segment actually fragments into niche markets. Additionally, as stated by Kenneth Dykwald in his book "Age Wave," preferences among older adults parallel "fit" to lifestyle. Older adults will absorb anything new if it is readily seen to be a fit to their needs. Capability is not really a significant marketing issue...

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