The insidiousness of the product
Packaging 6: Age-related vision and physical impairments can quickly turn seniors’ desire to shop into frustration with shopping. A study highlights the need for age-appropriate packaging.
Packaging 6 Age-related visual and physical impairment can quickly turn a senior's desire to buy into consumer frustration. A study reveals a need to catch up in terms of age-appropriate packaging Anyone living in a mixed-gender household will be familiar with the discriminatory potential of jam or pickle jars. "Here, you open this damn thing," is the familiar lament of women who have struggled in vain with one of these high-security objects before passing it on with an indignant look and a dry towel.older people struggle with drinks bottles, tins, plastic film and other unruly packaging even more frequently and fiercely than women. As these everyday dramas usually take place behind the closed doors of senior citizens' apartments or retirement homes, they hardly ever reach the public eye. And therefore not in the consciousness of those who could provide a remedy or at least a little more convenience: The product managers of food corporations and major distributors.
Red rather than blue shadesIf demographers are to be believed, this ignorance of the packaging needs of the so-called "best agers" will soon take its revenge. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the only segment of the population that will grow in future is the over-50s, and especially the over-64s. Manufacturers and designers who respond to the wishes of this above-average wealthy age group before 2040, when one in four Swiss will be of retirement age, are likely to be richly rewarded. Optimally designed products allow these people to feel taken seriously as consumers and to continue to feel independent despite minor physical limitations. Japan, which is already significantly over-aged, has recognized the signs of the times: Not only is it the most innovative country when it comes to age-appropriate products (such as wheelchair-accessible cars or walking robots); Dentsu also operates the world's first special unit for "Senior Communications" in Tokyo.
Marketing and advertising agencies in Germany would also benefit from a little more ageing know-how. In its pioneering study on "Packaging (in)convenience in the growth market of senior citizens", the Saarbrücken-based consulting institute Meyer-Hentschel comes to the conclusion that the problems do not just begin when the product is opened, but also when branded products are selected. Decreasing visual acuity and increasing sensitivity to glare turn small printed product information on reflective foils into puzzling lettering. And unfavorable color combinations (such as light blue-pink or blue-green) can quickly turn chic, recognizable logos into black holes for ageing, yellow-tinted eyes. "If you want to specifically address this increasingly important target group, or at least not write them off from the outset, it's best to stick to orange and red tones," recommends Hanne Meyer-Hentschel, head of the consulting firm of the same name.
Avoidable damage to imageIn terms of packaging, however, the fact that by the age of 65 - statistically speaking - a third of muscle strength is lost and joint mobility decreases dramatically is far more serious. So it's no wonder that 92% of the 60-plus generation reported "regular problems opening packaging" in the revealing German study. Just under half of the 500 respondents are even annoyed every day by flabby refill bags, stubborn screw caps, vacuum-packed coffee and "ice foil" that can only be cracked with scissors (see table).
The frustration of a bear trying to reach the honey of a bee's nest hidden in a knothole with its clumsy paw can hardly be greater than the age-related failure of inappropriate packaging. Accordingly, 34 percent of older consumers avoid products that they once had difficulty opening. And one in five of those who have experienced such problems tell their friends about broken fingernails, cuts on the back of their hands and other injuries inflicted by the packaging industry - which has already resulted in product liability costs for companies that have made mistakes as well as damage to their image in the USA.
On closer inspection, cartons, bottles and cans that do not work or only work with the use of force even have an inherent socio-political dimension: "Because they represent obstacles to leading an independent life for as long as possible, age-inappropriate packaging is a potential source of social costs," Meyer-Hentschel points out. She is particularly critical of the pharmaceutical industry, whose life-sustaining tubes and film-coated tablet dispensers are too much for 16% of the core target group. Unlike in Germany, the local old people's organization Pro Senectute and the Foundation for Consumer Protection are still dormant in this respect. In any case, both institutions responded to an inquiry from Werbewoche with a firm "we don't have an opinion on this yet".
For the time being, the only consolation for Swiss packaging victims is the realization that here, too, the lock is sometimes invented before the key. Or as Thomas Hine states in his industry classic "The Total Package": "The tin can was invented in 1815, but the can opener didn't exist until 50 years later."
Making life difficult for older people: twist-off and other food closures.
Red rather than blue shadesIf demographers are to be believed, this ignorance of the packaging needs of the so-called "best agers" will soon take its revenge. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the only segment of the population that will grow in future is the over-50s, and especially the over-64s. Manufacturers and designers who respond to the wishes of this above-average wealthy age group before 2040, when one in four Swiss will be of retirement age, are likely to be richly rewarded. Optimally designed products allow these people to feel taken seriously as consumers and to continue to feel independent despite minor physical limitations. Japan, which is already significantly over-aged, has recognized the signs of the times: Not only is it the most innovative country when it comes to age-appropriate products (such as wheelchair-accessible cars or walking robots); Dentsu also operates the world's first special unit for "Senior Communications" in Tokyo.
Marketing and advertising agencies in Germany would also benefit from a little more ageing know-how. In its pioneering study on "Packaging (in)convenience in the growth market of senior citizens", the Saarbrücken-based consulting institute Meyer-Hentschel comes to the conclusion that the problems do not just begin when the product is opened, but also when branded products are selected. Decreasing visual acuity and increasing sensitivity to glare turn small printed product information on reflective foils into puzzling lettering. And unfavorable color combinations (such as light blue-pink or blue-green) can quickly turn chic, recognizable logos into black holes for ageing, yellow-tinted eyes. "If you want to specifically address this increasingly important target group, or at least not write them off from the outset, it's best to stick to orange and red tones," recommends Hanne Meyer-Hentschel, head of the consulting firm of the same name.
Avoidable damage to imageIn terms of packaging, however, the fact that by the age of 65 - statistically speaking - a third of muscle strength is lost and joint mobility decreases dramatically is far more serious. So it's no wonder that 92% of the 60-plus generation reported "regular problems opening packaging" in the revealing German study. Just under half of the 500 respondents are even annoyed every day by flabby refill bags, stubborn screw caps, vacuum-packed coffee and "ice foil" that can only be cracked with scissors (see table).
The frustration of a bear trying to reach the honey of a bee's nest hidden in a knothole with its clumsy paw can hardly be greater than the age-related failure of inappropriate packaging. Accordingly, 34 percent of older consumers avoid products that they once had difficulty opening. And one in five of those who have experienced such problems tell their friends about broken fingernails, cuts on the back of their hands and other injuries inflicted by the packaging industry - which has already resulted in product liability costs for companies that have made mistakes as well as damage to their image in the USA.
On closer inspection, cartons, bottles and cans that do not work or only work with the use of force even have an inherent socio-political dimension: "Because they represent obstacles to leading an independent life for as long as possible, age-inappropriate packaging is a potential source of social costs," Meyer-Hentschel points out. She is particularly critical of the pharmaceutical industry, whose life-sustaining tubes and film-coated tablet dispensers are too much for 16% of the core target group. Unlike in Germany, the local old people's organization Pro Senectute and the Foundation for Consumer Protection are still dormant in this respect. In any case, both institutions responded to an inquiry from Werbewoche with a firm "we don't have an opinion on this yet".
For the time being, the only consolation for Swiss packaging victims is the realization that here, too, the lock is sometimes invented before the key. Or as Thomas Hine states in his industry classic "The Total Package": "The tin can was invented in 1815, but the can opener didn't exist until 50 years later."
Making life difficult for older people: twist-off and other food closures.
List of packaging toxins: What the 60+ generation avoids when shopping.
Oliver Classen
