If you're working on an online marketing plan for any segment
in this age range this quick snapshot can give you a jump start on where
to focus your first steps. It seems ironic to me that Books (hard copy!)
are the biggest seller online with the 50+ crowd. Makes you think...
Comprehensive data from a December 2002 report on Baby Boomers
(those aged 45-54), conducted by Mature Marketing & Research
revealed that, in addition to e-mail, most survey respondents used the
Internet to research health issues, comparison shop for big ticket
items, read online newspapers and newsletters, and check investments.
Research from Jupiter indicates that online buyers, ages 50 and
over, will account for almost one-quarter of all online retail spending
by 2007, and older users are more likely to make an Internet purchase
due to an online ad, with 30 percent claiming to have done so versus
only 19 percent of the overall online adult population.
Equal to the overall Internet population, books were the most
popular item to be purchased online at 52 percent of SeniorNet
respondents. Similarly, the Mature Marketing & Research report found
that books and travel dominate purchases.
The Mature Marketing & Research report revealed that female
boomers were more likely to make purchases online than men, while men
tended to use the Internet more for research -- particularly software
and travel items. Those findings are supported by a SeniorNet survey
that found that 61 percent of respondents researched computer software
or hardware online to purchase offline, followed by travel packages,
plane tickets, rental cars, etc. at 55 percent.
(As reported in cyberatlas, 1/23/03)
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