International Journal of Market Research

Vol. 44, No. 3, 2002

www.ijmr.com

The Older Or Ageing Consumers In The UK: Are They Really That Different?
Rizal Ahmad The University of Kent at Canterbury

1. Introduction
It is a well-known fact that the UK population is getting older. A similar phenomenon is also noted in all developed economies such as Japan and Germany. The number and proportion of older people in the UK is growing and authors speculate that they are expected to dominate the consumer markets of the future (Long 1998; Carrigan & Szmigin 2000; Szmigin & Carrigan 2000). The Office for National Statistics (1999a) projects that people aged 50 and over will account for about 33%, 35% and 40% of the population in 2001, 2011 and 2021 respectively. Based on the projected numbers of total population over the same period, which are 60, 61.7 and 63.6 million respectively (Office for National Statistics 2000a), the projected numbers of people aged 50 and over are estimated to be at about 20, 22 and 25 million respectively. The UK's ageing population has been the subject of many studies. These studies, however, have centred mainly on social policy, and healthcare service and delivery. Researchers from those areas of research continue to dominate the debate (Harper 2000). Long (1998) took an early interest. He explored and acknowledged the existence of the grey market as a discrete sector. Marketers, other researchers observed, unfortunately continue to give their attention to younger consumers, as evidenced by practices in the advertising industry (Carrigan & Szmigin 2000). Research on marketing to older people in the UK, thus far, is very limited. There have been ongoing debates about older consumers but these are limited to the older consumers in the USA (see Bartos 1980; Wolfe 1990, 1997; Moschis 1996; Oates et al. 1996; Dychtwald 1997, 1999; Leventhal 1997; Moschis et al. 1997; Nielson & Curry 1997; Russel 1997). In the UK, interest in older people as consumers is gradually emerging. The Saga Group, a company based in the south-east of England, for example, focused its business on providing a wide range of services from insurance to cruise holidays exclusively for people aged 50 and over. Researchers too are beginning to take an interest (Carrigan & Szmigin 2000; Szmigin & Carrigan 2000). It is nevertheless quite puzzling that despite the tremendous potential older consumers have, at least in market size, they do not seem to attract significant interest from both marketers and researchers. There are two potential explanations for this: first, marketers are not fully aware of the potential 'power' of older people as consumers; second, while marketers are aware of the growing number and proportion of older people as consumers, they do not consider older people as a unique segment that needs to be addressed separately or differently from the way products and services are marketed to younger consumers. This article reports the findings of research that explored the view of researchers and marketers on older consumers in the UK.

2. Research aim and Methodology

The objective of this research is to explore the views of researchers and marketers on the potential of the ageing population in the UK as consumers. In order to achieve that objective, we first reviewed literature on the ageing population, following which we examined the potential of the UK older population as consumers from the perspective of UK marketers. We interviewed seven managers from five UK companies from the hotel and leisure, health and fitness, and retail (grocery) industries. We chose these industries because older people generally patronise hotels and leisure establishments for their holiday, health and fitness centres and supermarkets for their food and other daily needs. We chose five companies, which we found to be amongst the major players in those respective industries in terms of their sales. We had planned to interview 18 managers: three managers from six firms, i.e. two firms from each of the hotel and leisure, cruise, and retail industries. However, as the study progressed, some of our targeted sample firms and interviewees were unable to continue in our research. We proceeded with the interviews because, in this type of intensive exploratory research, it was much more important to be able to obtain in-depth views of informants than just meeting the targeted number of 18 samples. Moreover, the aim of this research was not to test any particular hypothesis but to explore UK firms' views through their managers about older consumers. This intensive study, we envisaged, would generate additional knowledge that could complement extant literature. Our methodology is consistent with other studies that share a similar goal of exploring and explaining a phenomenon (Fournier & Yao 1997 eight interviewees; Fournier 1998 three interviewees; Long 1998 12 interviewees; Ahmad & Buttle 2001 11 interviewees; Ahmad & Buttle 2002 14 interviewees). We had planned to find additional firms and interviewees; however, based on our interim findings, we did not think that this would yield significantly different findings and conclusions. On that basis we decided to terminate the fieldwork and analyse the interview transcriptions more thoroughly. The five firms that participated in our research comprise a leading player from the grocery retail industry, two major players from the leisure (health club) industry, a major player from the hotel industry, and a major player in the tour and travel industry which also has a cruise business. Although these firms had not accorded specific attention to older people, they did acknowledge their potential as consumers, and were taking steps to attract and keep them. Our informants comprise directors and managers who were responsible for most aspects of marketing such as research, product development, selling, and customer service. Each interview lasted for between one and one-and-a-half hours, was tape-recorded and transcribed. Transcriptions were then subjected to content analysis. The findings (i.e. in

terms of the various categories/headings that describe ageing consumers in the UK from the perspectives of marketers) were later reviewed by an independent judge (a colleague of the author). The agreed version of our findings is discussed below. This article is organised as follows. In Section 3, we discuss the demography and various definitions of ageing. In Section 4, we discuss the traditional methods of segmenting and managing consumer markets and their implications if they were applied to ageing consumers. The aim is to demonstrate that these traditional methods have many limitations. In Section 5 we discuss the views of our informants concerning ageing consumers in the UK. We opine the characteristics of ageing consumers in the UK in Section 6. This article as, readers will discover, poses more questions than it offers answers. In Section 7 we conclude by discussing its implications for both theory and practice. Three major groups of research questions are identified and a line of enquiry to address them is proposed.

3. Demographics and definitions of ageing population

The attractiveness of the older consumer market in the UK may be seen in terms of its size, as shown in row two, Table 1.

TABLE 1: A SNAPSHOT OF OLDER CONSUMER MARKET IN THE UK

Definition of ageing
In terms of chronological age: 50 and over (see note 1); 65 and over (see note 2); 55-64 (Young old), 75 and over (Old old), Mature (65-74) (see note 3). These chronological age bands are largely used by businesses and government departments. Psychological; Sociological; Sociological (see note 4). Proportion of those aged 65 and over: 1 in 6 in 1998 (see note 5). Proportion of those aged 50 and over: 1 in 3 in 2001 (19.6 million) (see note 6). Proportion of those afed 50 and over: 1 in 2.5 in 2021 (25.1 million) (see note 6) The number of those aged 45 plus will outnumber those aged between 15 and 44 by 5.9 million by 2021 (see note 7). Over-45s account for 30% of consumer spending and 80% of financial wealth (see note 8). They are 'hard to pin-point'. They are attractive in terms of purchasing power but they are elusive and hard to understand. They do not prefer to be associated with any chronological age bands. They tend to be young at heart or have a youthful mind. They have individual lifestyles. They tend to take a long time to decide as compared to young people. They are harder to win than young consumers but once won, they are less likely to defect. They do not like to be pampered by staff. They need to be empathised. They want more certainty and established routines.

Demographics

Views of marketers (see note 9)

Notes: 1. See the website of Saga group (http://www.saga.co.uk.finance/), 1 October 2001, with regard to insurance products and its monthly Saga Magazines; the website of the Association of Retired and Persons over 50 (http:/www.arp.org.uk/, 1 October 2001). 2. The Office for National Statistics (2000b, p.142). 3. Help the Aged (1999). 4. See Bond et al. (1993). 5. The Office for National Statistics (2000b, p.21). 6. The Office for National Statistics (1999a). 7. The Office for National Statistics (2000c, p.48). 8. Henley Centre quoted in Long (1998). 9. See Section 5 in the main text.
Before we examine its size, it is useful to discuss the various definitions of older consumers in order to recognise the difficulties researchers and marketers have in identifying them as a targeted market segment.

Definition of the ageing population in the UK

Current data on older people in the UK, from various sources, are not comparable. Reports do not share the same definition and classification of old age. The Office for National Statistics, for instance, regards elderly as those aged 65 and over (Office for National Statistics 2000b, p. 142). Others, such as the UK Association of Retired and Older Persons and the Saga Group, consider those aged 50 and over to be old. What is 'ageing'? Does the word 'ageing' imply a decline and deterioration or a development and progression? When a child grows, the stage is often regarded as development, but when he or she approaches retirement age and finally retires, that stage is regarded as ageing. A prevailing view defines old people as those aged 65 and over regardless of their state of health or professional activity. Ageing, in this case, is associated with age bands and carries a degenerative connotation. This classification, similar to those aged 50 and over, is too simplistic and it contributes little to the understanding of the ageing population as consumers. Dychtwald (1997) observed that physical ageing is a process that the individual can have control over. One may choose to be exactly what one is: not dyeing one's hair, no face-lifts, not following a rigid diet Dychtwald labels this ageing process as the Barbara Bush model. One may also choose to make oneself look younger, cosmetically and surgically Dychtwald labels this ageing process as the Cher model.

Finally, one may take a middle ground and adopt a more natural and comfortable approach, which is to age with health, beauty and vigour. A proportion of older people may prefer to follow a natural process of ageing while others may choose the unnatural processes such as changing their physical appearance through surgery. Bond et al. (1993) offer three theoretical perspectives of studying and understanding ageing: biological, psychological and sociological. The biological perspective of ageing sees ageing as a process, which involves changes in cells and tissues. These changes cause a deterioration of individuals' biological system, which, in turn, makes them susceptible to illness and alters their functional capacity, for example to listen, to see, to walk and to travel. Biological ageing measures the physical ability of individuals to carry out physical tasks. Biological ageing is seen as an irreversible process of age-related decline in the functional capacity that is attributed to the weakening and dying of body cells. It is a process, which most organisms also undergo throughout their lifespan. The psychological perspective of understanding ageing focuses on mental abilities and sees changes in a person's ability to think and reason. Psychological ageing measures the change in cognition and personality of individuals; for example, in processing information, understanding advertising messages and making choices. From the psychological perspective, people may be studied in terms of their various levels of intelligence and ability by which they acquire knowledge or become aware of their environment. People have different perceptions and abilities to discriminate, learn and reason. The sociological perspective of understanding ageing sees changes in individuals' social relationships within their social groups. There are other sub-perspectives of studying and understanding sociological ageing such as those based on structuralism, symbolic interactionism, ethnomethodology and critical theory. Under the structuralism approach, for example, social behaviour, attitudes and values are assumed to be the result of the organisation and structure of the society in which people live. It is, however, beyond the scope of this paper to discuss them in detail. Sociological ageing, we interpret, basically measures individuals' ability to play various roles throughout their life such as heads of family, grandfathers or leaders of consumer groups. While biological ageing is natural, permanent and continuous and, to a certain extent, tends to be associated with chronological age, psychological and sociological ageing are harder to extrapolate. One particular type of ageing could have an effect on another; for instance, sociological ageing on biological ageing and sociological ageing on psychological ageing. An individual's inability to maintain status in his or her family hierarchy could lead him or her into isolation, make him or her feel depressed and experience poor health which in turn would hasten the deterioration in cells and tissues and reduce functional capacity. Isolation and depression could also limit an individual's ability to think and that would hasten his or her psychological ageing process. Ageing, when seen under these three perspectives, and measured on different bases, has a wider meaning and implications than when seen merely in terms of chronological age.

Demographics
The number of older people and its proportion to the total number of the population in the UK is rising steadily. The Office for National Statistics (2000b, p. 24) recognises that the proportion of those aged 65 and over has, in less than a century, increased from one in 20 (in 1901) to one in six (in 1998). There are fewer young people and the proportion of those under the age of 16 over the same period fell from one-third to one-fifth. The proportion aged 50 and over, as we have mentioned in the introductory section, is rising steadily and is currently as large as the total population of Australia, at about 19 million. It has also been estimated that between 1998 and 2021 the number of those aged 45 and over will rise from 22.9 million to 29.4 million (Office for National Statistics 2000a) and the median age of the whole population is expected to rise from 36.9 years to 41.8 years. The number of people over the age of 45 will also outnumber those aged between 15 and 44 years by 2.4 million within a decade and by 5.9 million by 2021 (Office for National Statistics 2000c, p. 48). 'Britain towards 2010', a recent government report, sheds some light on older people (see Department of Trade and Industry 1999). This report claims that middle age is no longer the beginning of old age, but the beginning of a thirty-year period of personal enjoyment and self-indulgence and that today's over-50s clad themselves in jeans, trainers and baseball caps and no longer view themselves as old. The key message this report conveys is that older people in the UK are not inferior consumers. They may be getting older but they have the potential to generate demand for new products and services that fit their new lifestyles. Older people have substantial income and expenditure. The Office for National Statistics (1999b, p. 47) reports that household consumption and expenditure in 1998 was 525.5 billion or equivalent to an average of 8758 per person. Although the statistics are not age-specific and they did not identify the variation in expenditure between different age groups, the value of consumer expenditure for people aged 50 and over, on the assumption that this group account for one-third of the population and that they spend proportionately, would be in the region of 175.2 billion a year. In a survey of weekly household expenditure by age of head of household in the UK, those with heads of households aged between 50 and 65 years spent 42.4 more than the average of all households or 394.60 per week (Office for National Statistics 1999a). This figure is translatable into 175.8 per person in the household or 18% more than the average of the whole UK population. A major proportion of these (394.60 per week) household expenditures was found to be on leisure goods and services (18.6%), motoring (18%) and food (16.2%). Ironically, advertising for such products tends to be targeted at young people. Existing marketing practices continue to adopt a stereotypical view of older consumers. Television programmes and newspapers in the UK, according to the report 'Britain towards 2010', are oriented towards younger people while most advertising is, at present, targeted at the under-35s. An estimate by the Henley Center, quoted in Long (1998), suggests that 80% of all financial wealth in the UK is held by the over-45s, which incidentally accounts for 30% of consumer spending. In spite of the potential the changing face of the UK population has brought, marketers have been somewhat slow in responding. This lack of attention is not surprising as, even in the USA, where people aged 50 and over comprise one-third of the adult market (68.2 million), interest in older people, as consumers, is still relatively new (Wolfe 1997). The growing number and proportion of the ageing population is not a phenomenon restricted to the USA or the UK but is also present in other countries, particularly in mainland Europe and Japan. That said, how attractive are the UK's ageing consumers to marketers and what do they think about older consumers? As the term age or 'ageing' does not have specific connotations and cannot be associated with predefined characteristics, it is neither practical nor necessary to identify ageing people as a homogeneous market segment of people over the age of 50 or 65. Help the Aged (1999) shares the view of social analysts who classify older people into three groups: (1) 'Young old' (5564) who tend to be active and powerful; (2) 'Old old' (aged 75 and over) who tend to be less socially and economically active; (3)'Mature' (6574) who are somewhere in between and in transition. The Charity Age Concern classifies the ageing population as those aged 60 and over. Others, such as the UK Association of Retired and Persons over 50 and the Saga Group, consider those aged 50 and over as old. There are also several business entities which use the term 'over 50' as a marketing message such as O50 Travel and O50 Travel Insurance.

In this paper the terms 'ageing consumers/population' and 'older consumers/population' are used interchangeably. Although those aged 50 and over are considered as members of this broad group of ageing consumers, we believe that they should not be regarded as a homogeneous segment. Table 2 lists selected works and the relevant points which those respective articles raised. We discuss further details of these points in Section 4.

TABLE 2: SELECTIVE WORKS AND RELEVANT POINTS RAISED BY THEM

Works
Long (1998)

Relevant points (in the order of the 'logic' of our arguments in this article)

Explores and acknowledges the existence of the grey market as a discrete sector. Carrigan & Szmigin (2000) Argue that the UK advertising industry is discriminating against older people and that companies do not give attention to older consumers as they do to younger consumers. Bone (1991) Reviewed 33 segmentation methods for the mature market. Schewe & Noble (2000) Suggest segmenting consumer markets in the USA into cohorts based on the year they were born (not identical to Evandrout and Falkingham, 2000). Evandrout & Falkingham (2000) Suggest segmenting consumer markets in the USA into cohorts based on the year they were born (not identical to Schewe and Noble, 2000) Leventhal (1997) Finds that the basic character traits of an individual do not change with age. Szmigin & Carrigan (2000) Argue that the cognitive ages of older consumers about 10-12 years older than their chronological ages. Silvers (1997) Finds that the life of people, in their 50s, is far from settled and that much more change is occurring to people in their 50s than people in their 20s. Wolfe (1990) Identifies five values which, when present in a marketing communication message, would make mature people more responsive to that message. Nielson & Curry (1997) Identify four main advertising techniques that may be used to attract older people.

4. Traditional methods of segmenting and managing consumer markets and their implications for ageing consumers.
Consumer buying behaviour models traditionally assume that sellers exercise universal control over consumers primarily by manipulating marketing mix variables such as price and promotional activities. Kotler et al.'s model of buyer behaviour (Kotler et al. 1999, p. 230) shows how certain variables may affect consumers' decisions. Various elements of marketing communications such as advertising, personal selling and public relations, for instance, can be manipulated so that marketing messages become more effective in reaching potential consumers. Traditionally, the UK consumer market has been segmented based on three main characteristics: demographic, psychographic and geographic (see McDonald 1999, pp. 150156). On the basis of demographic variables, the UK's consumer markets are divided into socioeconomic grades: A, B, C1, C2, D and E. Some of the variables used in classifying them, however, are also attributed to a household rather than to only a person (e.g. household composition, income and consumption). Several demographic criteria have also been combined to produce a multi-demographic classification such as the 'Sagacity' model developed by Research Services Ltd, which produces 12 consumer market segments. The socio-economic grades and life cycle models assume that all individuals fall into one of the six social classes (following young and newly wed) and that they go through a linear life cycle: full nest (1); full nest (2); full nest (3); empty nest (1); empty nest (2); and sole survivor (Wells & Gubar 1966). It also assumes that their aspirations and patterns of behaviour are associated with age, income and/or various progressive stages in family life cycle. In reality, some older people have no children, they are wealthy, they are self-employed, and they are successful older business people. They are those people whose aspirations did not necessarily develop in a linear and/or predictable manner. The psychographic characteristics relate to a person's attitudes, interests and opinions. These characteristics include their attitudes towards spending and saving, their interests in sports and leisure activities and/or their opinions on the roles of members of society. Consumers' attitudes have also been categorised in terms of degree of loyalty such as none, total and moderate, or in terms of consumption such as low, medium and heavy users, or in terms of risk-taking such as risk-taker or risk-avoider, and in terms of likelihood of purchasing a new product, such as innovator, early adopter, early majority, late majority or laggard. Marketers, however, tend to associate older people with degenerative labels such as 'laggard'. The geographic characteristics such as postal code, district, counties and regions normally remain permanent for some time. Place of residence is then associated with other independent variables such as the consumption of specific foodstuffs. This method, by itself, is of limited use to segment older people, as there is bound to be a high degree of heterogeneity among those who live within a particular geographic area. Other methods of segmenting consumer markets involve combining demographic and geographic characteristics to produce a geodemographics classification such as ACORN (A Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods) which divides all households into six broad categories: thriving; expanding; rising; settling; aspiring; and striving. A recent suggested segmentation approach is to group consumers into cohorts (Schewe & Noble 2000). Cohorts of consumers are groups of people who are born during the same time period and travel through life together. They experience similar external events during their late adolescent/early adult years such as the Great Depression in the USA. These events, according to Schewe and Noble, influence people to create values, attitudes and preferences that remain with them throughout their lifetime. Six cohorts have been identified: Depression cohort; Second World War cohort; postwar cohort; Boomers I or leading-edge boomers; Boomers II or trailing-edge boomers; and

Generation X. The classification of consumers into those cohorts, however, is based almost entirely on the life experience of Americans. It is also associated with age bands, the Depression cohort being the oldest (born between 1912 and 1921) and the Generation X being the youngest (born between 1966 and 1976). Evandrout and Falkingham (2000), in attempting to differentiate older people of the future in the UK, suggest that they be divided into four cohorts: (1) middle-aged elderly comprising those born between 1916 and 1920; (2) today's younger elderly comprising those born between 1931 and 1935; (3) first baby boomers comprising those born between 1946 and 1950 and currently in their mid-50s; and (4) second baby boomers comprising those born between 1961 and 1965 and currently in their late 30s. Evandrout and Falkingham claim that each cohort of consumers has different experiences, and that those experiences would influence their needs and spending behaviour. The first baby boomers were born during the postwar austerity period. They grew up in a period of rationing and experienced selective education. They entered a buoyant labour market and they enjoyed a period when the UK economy was relatively prosperous. In the 1960s, there were new opportunities in education and work. The second baby boomers will be over 50 in about a decade's time. Although the second baby boomers were born during the period of prosperity and enjoyed comprehensive education, they entered the labour market when the economy was entering recession and rising unemployment. Some of them never had permanent full-time jobs. The spirit of radicalism and freedom, which the first baby boomers enjoyed, was missing. Evandrout and Falkingham, however, did not indicate the size of these markets and their viability as actionable market segments. They also did not explain how individuals' past experiences are influencing their current or are expected to influence their future buying behaviours. Bone (1991) reviewed 33 methods of segmenting the mature market. She found that segmenting consumers according to their chronological age was the most common method. Based on her reviews of the literature, Bone revealed five key segmentation variables most commonly used apart from chronological age, which she argued was not appropriate. The five variables are: discretionary income; health; activity level; discretionary time; and response to others. These variables capture mainly the demographic characteristics and they reveal very little about their buying behaviour. What implications do the current approaches of segmenting the consumer market have if they are used to segment UK's older consumers? Will they be useful? Current debates on the implications of an ageing population for marketing revolve around the scenario in the USA as described by Dychtwald (1997). The USA is currently experiencing a growth in its 55-plus population. There are now more Americans over the age of 65 than there are teenagers. Americans over the age of 55 own 77% of all financial assets. Discretionary income improves with age and those aged 55 and over are buying and trying. There is now a mass society of healthy, active, mature adults. In the USA, demographic change is shrinking its youth population, and the era of the USA as a youth-focused nation is coming to an end. Moschis et al. (1997) estimate that three-quarters of the people who are born today are expected to live to the age of 65 and half of them will live to the age of 80. An increase in longevity would increase the growth rate of the American 50-plus population. Older people in the USA and UK own large shares of financial assets which generate demand for asset management services. Should they invest their assets in risky investment products that potentially offer higher return on investment or should they invest them in safer investment products that offer a lower return on investment? This group of wealthy old people does not fit neatly into the standard UK six socio-economic grades. Should they be classified as belonging to the 'E' grade pensioners with income at subsistence level? Most of them may be pensioners but they do not necessarily live on a subsistence level of income. They may have substantial income but they are no longer white-collar professionals. A number of those who have retired or chose to retire early are also neither white- nor blue-collar people. The traditional approach of segmenting consumers into six social grades does not capture older people who choose to continue working, who do not rely on pensions or who are not white-collar professionals but at the same time have other substantial earnings. Other forms of dividing them in terms of demographic features, such as age bands, further ignore the variability of their attitudes, interests and opinions. Likewise, the income of older people might be similar to those belonging to other grades. Older people, however, do not necessarily spend their incomes on products or services that high-income people spend on and/or share a similar decision-making process. As a result of their wealth, older people have greater discretionary spending power and a willingness to try and buy. This suggests that there is a need to improve existing products intended for older people or to develop new ones. At present, a number of products and services are being targeted at older people in the UK. In the leisure industry, SAGA Holidays offers cruising holiday packages exclusively for those aged 50 and over and Airtours developed two products specially for what it regards as post-family: (1) 'Adult first', which is targeted at people travelling as a couple and without children; and (2) 'Golden years', which is targeted at those aged 55 years and over who like to socialise, dance and meet other people. The present approach of segmenting consumers on the basis of their psychographic characteristics is potentially useful for the purpose of segmenting older consumers. There is a likelihood that older people share similar attitudes, interests and opinions with younger people but that common features by themselves reveal very little of their actual pre, during and post-sale behaviour such as when making complaints. Marketers might have to consider other approaches such as combining their psychographic characteristics with other variables, some of which are not yet known. Leventhal (1997) observes that ageism is like sexism; it is stereotyping that portrays old people as ancient, wrinkled and covered with grey hair or who have no hair at all. Leventhal also dismissed the suggestion that, based on a New York Times article which reported a 1995 survey, 46% of older people could not adapt to change and 50% lived below the poverty line. Basic character traits, Leventhal argues, do not change with age and older people are not always irascible. Their personalities are variable, like all other age groups. An increase in the number of active older consumers also suggests that there is a need for new or modified products, for instance, leisure centres for the aged as distinct from general leisure centres. The Eden Health Club in Kent, a part of the Esporta Clubs chain, offers a new concept in health and fitness. Esporta, in this case, tailored Eden Health Club's services and image to the needs of '40-something' professionals. It recognises that '40-something' professionals have similar interests to younger people in terms of leisure activities, but they also expect a different delivery system and communication messages. Mature, people-friendly facilities and the use of appropriate role models and advertising copy are some of the changes they expect. A popular life stage model classifies consumers into three groups based on events that are associated with their age bands. Age 18 to 34 is regarded as early adulthood in which a person moves out of the parental home, has his or her first marriage, first job and first-born child. Age 35 to 49 is regarded as middle adulthood where its members are in full nest, experiencing mid-life crisis and divorce. The 50-plus is the group with the widest age band segment and it is regarded as later adulthood. Members are regarded as empty nesters, in retirement and solitary survivors. The empty nest segment, in reality, does not reflect all ageing consumers, as Roper Starch Worldwide, Inc. discovered. Based on a study of 2000 Americans, Roper Starch Worldwide, Inc., as explained in Silvers (1997), found that life for people in their 50s is far from 'settled' and there is as much or more change occurring to people in their 50s as to people in their 20s. Roper Starch Worldwide, Inc. identifies seven distinct clusters of adults: (1) 'Continuing care-givers' with a median age of 55 and consumer behaviour that seeks quality and value; (2) 'Second chancers' with a median age of 45 and consumer behaviour that seeks quality and value; (3)'New me' with a median age of 55 and consumer behaviour that is investigative, very health-conscious and sensitive to advertising; (4) 'Free birds' with a median age of 69 and consumer behaviour that shows willingness to spend, but wise about household expenditure; (5) 'First families' with the median age of 37 and consumer behaviour that is focused and strapped for time; (6) 'Nervous novices' with a median age

of 32 and consumer behaviour that is 'me'-focused/sensitive to advertising; and (7) 'Clock-watchers' with a median age of 32 and consumer behaviour that is characterised as 'consumer in waiting' and 'still me'-focused. In terms of the older people, the study found that 50-plus Americans do not fall neatly into any of the seven clusters described above. Among the 50 to 59 year group only 20% or fewer fall into any one of the clusters. The research concludes that adults over the age of 50 are actually in new or renewed stages of family life and they are not 'empty nesters'. Age per se does not seem to be a good criterion for segmenting consumers. Similarly, stereotypic profiling that associates ageing consumers with poor health, and lack of interest in romance and adventure may be of little use to marketing, as older people exhibit a great deal of variability in the way they look, think and act. A survey, for example, found that four in ten people aged 55 and over were very happy (Help the Aged 1999). It is, we believe, a fallacy to suggest that older people belong only to the 'empty nest', 'late-worse-off', 'solitary survivor' or that the over-50s are homogeneous.

5. Views of marketers on UK older consumers

Based on content analysis of our interview transcriptions we offer five headings that capture the views of marketers in our sample.

Characteristics of the Older Consumers

Older consumers represent a large market, but they are extremely heterogeneous. It is not easy to gain access to them because they are, according to a manager, 'hard to pinpoint'. Older consumers, according to our interviewees, are attractive in terms of their purchasing power but they are rather elusive and hard to understand. Managers regard older consumers as part of a larger consumer market. The number of older consumers is large and they can be easily segregated in terms of demographic characteristics such as age. It is, however, much harder to segregate them in terms of their preferences and buying behaviour. Older people do not prefer to be associated with their chronological age and their consumption behaviours do not necessarily correspond with a particular chronological age band.

Aspirations
Older people, according to marketers, tend to be young at heart, or to have a youthful mind. They have individual or different lifestyles and motivation. The stage of maturity, in their view, is in the minds of people rather than in the chronological age group to which they belong.

Buying Behaviours
With regard to purchase decision-making, older consumers take longer than young people. They buy products that are both different and similar to those of younger people. The shopping basket (i.e. the total volume and range of products) of older people, however, is smaller than that of the other consumers. It may be harder to win older consumers but once won they are less likely to defect.

Expectations
Older consumers like to be respected as people and not because they are old in terms of chronological age. They do not like to be pampered by staff; what they need is staff, regardless of their age, who are able to empathise with them. According to our informant from the grocery supermarket, older consumers also want more certainty, established routines and more consistent stores in terms of layout and product range.

Attractive and Potentially Profitable

Marketers recognise that older people are quite wealthy customers. They regard them as those who are in their mid-40s and not someone who has retired. These customers have more time to spend on themselves, and they have more money to spend on themselves. They also want to be fitter, according to a manager from a health and leisure club. The UK companies whose managers we spoke to, however, do not target older people specifically. They regard older people as part of a wider consumer market, which partly explains why UK companies tend to adopt the traditional method of segmenting and targeting consumers. Consumers' needs are the cornerstone of what they do. According to Mr 'A', the director of marketing of a health club: 'We need to be using research to constantly find out what it is the older people are looking for in a health club to see if we can fashion the product to meet their needs.The problem we all have or mistake we make in marketing is we are thinking in quite a rigid term, about demographic and psychographic and we tend to compartmentalise people and it is unrealistic because people don't just get from one box to another.' While older consumers may be attractive, they cannot be identified easily. According to Mr 'B', the group marketing director of a family leisure club: 'It is very hardin trying to find an image for that market [older people/mature market], we go through the magazine and we can't

find it, we cannot find them. You either keep finding the old images, the SAGA or you find it too young and we just cannot pin them' [sic]. Other views also support the notion that older customers are hard to pin down. Mr 'C', a research manager with a large grocery retail chain, comments: 'In terms of corporate objectives, there isn't any split by customer type. Older people by and large, historically, are hard to get around.' 'Older people will shop in different ways, have different needs in terms of servicein terms of office hours and they are just a very different group from others. They may have a need and requirement and taste that would actually set them alongside somebody who is much younger.Older people need more rules and more certainty, more established routines, still less adventurous than other customers and what they mean to a store are things like consistency, it means not changing things too often.' The above comments suggest that an important aspect of customer management is for marketers to constantly understand the needs of their existing customers and meet those needs rather than attempting to 'box' them according to rigid criteria and speculate on their needs and buying behaviours.

6. Discussion
UK older consumers may be old in terms of chronological age, but young in terms of hearts and mind. They can be trendy and have desires for products or services intended for the young such as leisure activities, adventure holidays and regular workouts. For example, 39% of men and 44% of women in Great Britain aged between 50 and 59 visited the cinema in 1997, and those aged between 45 and 64 made on average 1.5 trips abroad (Office for National Statistics 1999a). Older consumers feel younger and according to Szmigin and Carrigan (2000) their cognitive ages are about ten to twelve years younger than their chronological ages. Their home-based leisure activities include watching television, visiting friends, listening to the radio, gardening and DIY activities. While older consumers in the UK may belong to the 'E' grade, many of them are still in active work, have high income and wealth, and hence have the spending power for consumer products and services. In autumn 1998, 6.3 million people aged 50 and over were in active employment in the UK (Office for National Statistics 1999a, p. 25). Older consumers also have distinctive expectations about the ways marketers should communicate to them. At present, the advertising industry is being accused of discriminating against older people by not presenting images that are more relevant and acceptable in today's society (Carrigan & Szmigin 2000). Marketers may use electronic media such as television and radio and print media such as newspapers and magazines but they should consider adapting their messages to the expectations of ageing consumers. Certain print media are potentially a useful channel of communication. People over the age of 45 in Great Britain, for example, read The Reader's Digest (12%), Marks & Spencer magazine (10%), the AA magazine (9%) and the Radio Times (9%) (Office for National Statistics 1999a). Our discussions in the preceding paragraphs and in Section 5 raise two potential implications concerning the expectations of the UK's ageing consumers. First, older people desire information and education. Second, they have a high level of expectation for quality and value of products and services. For the purpose of providing older consumers with appropriate information and education, Wolfe (1990) claims that mature or older markets are likely to respond to marketing communications which contain five values: autonomy; connectedness; altruism; personal growth; and revitalisation. Autonomy refers to portraying them as having control over their life. Connectedness refers to linkages and relationships with others, particularly the young. Altruism is the desire to give something back to the world. Personal growth refers to portraying them as still developing and learning human beings, and revitalisation refers to learning and working going hand in hand. The essence of Wolfe's five values is that members of the mature markets expect to be treated not as 'old people' but as customers who can exercise autonomy, maintain connectedness with others, have a sense of altruism, are concerned with personal growth and development, and are keen to revitalise themselves. According to Wolfe (1997) marketing is overly driven by gerontological perspectives which place too much stress on compensating for older consumers' declining acuities. Wolfe also criticises traditional consumer research, which assumes that all adults or older consumers process information in the same way. In reality, older minds can attribute meanings to an advertisement that are quite different from what a young copywriter has intended. This can become a source of unrealistic images of older people in marketing (Lee 1995). Adult consumers, therefore, might require a different marketing communications mix as compared to younger customers for the same product. For the purpose of meeting older consumers' high level of expectations for quality and value of products and services, marketers, Nielson and Curry (1997) suggest, need to develop creative strategies to connect with mature individuals. Mature individuals, they found, perceive advertising messages differently from other markets and what works for younger individuals just does not connect with older people. They find that mature customers at the American Express Financial Advisors Inc. are among the most diverse and idiosyncratic of all age groups. Nielson and Curry suggest the use of four main advertising techniques: (1) 'Recognising that time is not of the essence as mature individuals do not want to be rushed into doing anything anymore'; (2) 'Acknowledging that arrogance does not sell as mature individuals are more altruistically inclined and demand interaction'; (3) 'MTV quick-cut editing is out as mature individuals tend to be exasperated with short, terse and incomplete sentences; instead social and relationship-building aspects of grassroots community events have been found to be very successful'; (4) 'Remember that 'mature excitement' is different from adolescent excitement as mature personalities crave for new experiences'. This suggests that apart from suitable marketing communications messages, different mature or older consumers may need to be treated differently and this could be achieved by offering them appropriate products and/or using suitable sales people and sales techniques. In that way, marketers would also most likely address older consumers' high level of expectation for quality and value of products and services. Is there an alternative way of segmenting older consumers? The Centre for Mature Consumer Studies, as explained in Moschis et al. (1997) and Moschis (1996), has used gerontographics to produce a life-stage segmentation model of American mature consumers. This segmentation model acknowledges individual differences in the ageing process as well as differences in the type of ageing that occurs in late life (Moschis 1996, p.61). The model assumes that the observed similarities and differences in the consumer behaviour of older people is the outcome of several factors and that these factors affect the behaviour of older people differently. These factors include social, psychological, biophysical, lifetime events and other environmental factors. In addition to using psychological factors, Mochis' gerontographics approach considers factors associated with biological, social and experiential ageing. This approach taps the person's biophysical and social circumstances in life and key life events that are likely to contribute to the older person's ageing process.

This model (see Figure 1) consists of four segments of older persons who are at four different but not necessarily sequential stages in later life: healthy indulgers; healthy hermits; ailing outgoers; and frail recluses. The healthy indulgers refer to those whose main focus is on enjoying life rather than 'making it in life'. The second and third groups are at an intermediate stage and they comprise the healthy hermits group and the ailing outgoers group. The healthy hermits are healthy and relatively more socially withdrawn but they are secluded. They are concerned with day-to-day tasks and are likely to deny their 'old age' status. The ailing outgoers are still active and are likely to maintain a high level of self-esteem despite their adverse life condition. They internalise many of their frailties and are preoccupied with their physical and financial independence and well-being. The fourth group comprises the frail recluses or the group with chronic ailments who are pretty much in isolation and are likely to think of themselves as 'old persons'. This segmentation approach does not associate consumers with their chronological age or social status but with their desires and determination, or lack of them, to lead their lives. Clearly, their desires and ability to fulfil them depends, to a certain extent, on their financial and physical resources. It is, however, not clear as to how marketers could operationalise this model; for example, how would they allocate their customers to the various segments? Is there a checklist which enables marketers to assess the profile of older customers? Mochis (1996, chs 4 and 5) went further to demonstrate that different gerontographics segments exhibit different consumer behaviours towards products and services respectively; for example, in terms of preferences for food products and reasons for choosing specific brands of foods. If the model recognised the extreme heterogeneity of older people, would the context of the firm, which encompasses factors such as its products and services, the structure of the economy and social organisation within which it operates, have significant effects on the relationships between the characteristics of gerontographics segments and their buying behaviour? We suspect there is a strong possibility that this is so.

7. Conclusions
The realities of the consumer market in the UK are that: the number and the proportion of older population/ageing consumers are growing; older consumers have substantial buying power for certain products and services; and they have high levels of expectation. Older consumers also do not associate their consumption behaviours with their chronological ages. Instead, they behave like many young people. Their buying behaviours and expectations cannot be generalised easily, which has made it very challenging for marketers to pinpoint and target them based merely on their chronological age or physical appearance. With very few exceptions, UK companies tend to treat old and younger consumers with little or no differentiation. The traditional market segmentation approach has been shown to have a limited use when it is applied to older consumers, particularly the approaches which lump them together in terms of chronological age or put them into the last stage of a life cycle.

Implications for Practice

What are the strategies of UK firms in marketing their products and services to old/ageing consumers? What do their ageing consumers expect from them? Thus far, we know that their strategies largely emerged from rather than were intended for a particular problem, i.e. in responding to older consumers. How do older consumers decide to purchase and/or become attached to a particular brand, actor or firm? Only further research will tell. Although an alternative model for segmenting ageing consumers is now available (see Figure 1), several questions remain unanswered, particularly in the context of the UK's market. Could this be applied in the UK? What are the similarities and differences of the characteristics of the four subgroups? Have any UK firms used it or developed a similar method? How did they use it or how would they use it? Clearly, UK firms of the future need to have a better understanding of the expectations and buying behaviours of older consumers. This would enable them to classify older consumers into more 'meaningful' segments (that is, actionable and profitable), and to devise marketing strategies which will help them to retain older customers profitably.

Implications for Theory

The prevailing segments of consumer markets were developed based on the observable variables of the population, which were dominated by younger people and traditional life cycles. Older people, however, are expected to dominate the consumer markets of the future and their previous life cycles were not identical to those experienced by their forefathers. There is therefore a need to understand them better, especially their buying behaviours. We identify three major groups of research questions for further investigation. (1) From the suppliers' side, what do older consumers mean to UK firms? Do ageing consumers matter to them? How do UK firms market their products and services to the UK's ageing consumers? Do firms differentiate their marketing approaches to older consumers from their approaches to younger consumers? In our exploratory study, we find that older consumers are recognised as a potentially attractive and significant market. The firms which participated in our research, however, did not implement any forms of specific marketing activity that were devoted specifically to older consumers. They applied the same principle of attempting to understand their needs and satisfy them from time to time. They are considered as a part of a larger consumer market. (2) From the demand side, how do ageing consumers in the UK make their buying decisions? What are the factors that influence them to buy a particular product or service? Can word of mouth play an influential role? What are the factors that influence them to stay with or continue to patronise their suppliers of goods and services? How can firms retain or keep them? In order to answer these questions, we have to investigate older consumers from various industries. (3) Does the gerontographics life stage model, developed by the Centre for Mature Consumer Studies, reflect the stages of the life of ageing consumers in the UK? How could firms gather data about those four groups of ageing consumers, especially when they are known to move from one group to another in a non-linear pattern and without any association with their chronological age? We now know the potential views and actions of UK firms towards older consumers. Our next research project would be a survey of UK companies with the objective of obtaining a pattern of opinions and actions towards older consumers. Alongside that survey, we plan to investigate the buying behaviours of older consumers in specific industries. We would interview managers and work with them to develop characteristic profiles of older consumers. We might, in the future, address the third tentative research question. But as it is, we do not know very much about ageing consumers in the UK, and this paper attempts to demonstrate the importance of that knowledge gap to marketing. Finally, are ageing consumers in the UK really so different that they need to be treated differently? The literatures suggest yes but, in practice, managers who we interviewed do not think so.

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NOTES & EXHIBITS

Rizal Ahmad Rizal Ahmad is a Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Kent at Canterbury, England where he teaches International Marketing and Business-to-Business Marketing. Prior to becoming an academic he worked in the banking industry. His research interests lie in customer retention management and marketing to older consumers. He has published his works in a number of journals such as Journal of Strategic Marketing, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, and Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing. R.Ahmad@ukc.ac.uk

FIGURE 1: LIFESTAGE SEGMENTS OF THE MATURE MARKET

Source: Reproduced from Moschis (1996, p.60)

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