For anyone with small children, this may sound familiar. Often it’s the grandparents who buy the must-have toy, cover the holiday home hire or insist on paying for the meal out. This latest festive season is likely a reminder of their willingness to shell out. But the over-55s have been a persistently overlooked consumer base.
This cohort accounts for roughly half of all global consumer spending but attracts only a fraction of advertising budgets, according to various marketing bodies. In the US, the over-50 age group is projected to rise further in influence to account for 61 cents in every dollar of total consumer spending by 2050, according to a study by the American group AARP.
The dismissal of this purchasing power is baffling, not least because decision makers at large companies often sit in the same age bracket. In the UK, the median age of top executives is 56 and non-executive directors is 61, according to headhunter Spencer Stuart. In the US, the trend is similar. Yet the consumers who most look and behave just like them are not a priority.