Baby Boomers & I-Phones

Smart marketers of consumer electronics will pay attention to this report I received from RBR.com last week:

Older Americans embrace technology

TNS Compete and the Consumer Electronics Association announced a new joint study, "Greying Gadgets: How Older Americans Shop for and Use Consumer Electronics." Consumers aged 50+ number nearly 100 million and control billions in disposable income, making them an important market segment for technology manufacturers, retailers and service providers.

The study reveals that the age segments of 50-somethings, 60-somethings and 70+ use many technologies at or near comparable rates as younger age segments. Consumers in their 50s are as likely to own, or plan on buying, an HDTV as those under 50. 80% of 60-somethings used a cell phone in the past week, nearly equal the usage rates of 18-34 year olds. Additionally, 71% of 60-somethings and 52% of 70-somethings used a search engine in the past week, compared to 77% of 18-34 year olds.

Not all technologies have comparable usage rates among age groups. Younger demographics are much more likely to play video games, use portable MP3 players and visit certain websites, and their usage rates of social networking sites nearly double the older age segments.

“In any environment, but particularly one with difficult market conditions, companies need to learn more about how to effectively reach this critical segment of older consumers,” said Elaine Warner, director, consumer technologies, TNS Compete.

The study also showed that the majority of older Americans are comfortable researching and purchasing electronics products. Across all demographics, the Internet is an integral part of the research process. Older Americans do, however, rely more heavily on in-person information sources. Sixty-three% spoke with a sales associate in-person when researching their consumer electronics purchase, compared to 47% of those aged 18-49.

Older consumers reported a higher level of frustration with the complexity of technology. 60% of consumers aged 50+ indicated that a product having too many features was a main reason for being frustrated with technology, compared to 39% of consumers aged 18-49.

“While satisfaction with CE products is high, frustrations do exist and this should be viewed as an opportunity for companies to seek ways to better address the technology needs of older Americans,” said Tim Herbert, CEA’s senior director of market research.

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