Trust anyone over 50
Baromedia 2002 from Ringier Romandie takes a close look at senior citizens
Baromedia 2002 by Ringier Romandie takes a close look at senior citizensBy Anita Vaucher Those over 50 are by no means old hat. Seniors or papy-boomers (the counterpart to baby-boomers - a rather flippant translation of seniors, who are on the rise) use the same media as the young and are just as happy to spend money as they are. The study by Ringier Romandie and the market research institute Erasm puts the elderly in perspective.
"You call a man over 40 years old a veteran. Les vieillards sont soupçonneux, jaloux, avares, chagrins, causers, se plaignent toujours, ils sont incapables d'amitiés." The German translation doesn't sound any more flattering: "Old people are people who are over forty. They are suspicious, jealous, stingy, always worried, gossipy, always complaining and incapable of maintaining friendships." This definition of senior citizens in the foreword to the new Baromedia study 2002 is taken from the Dictionnaire de Richelet from 1679! Fortunately, it is no longer correct.
This year's study focuses on the over-fifties age group with the main topic "Papy Boomers". It seems that this age group is being criminally neglected by the advertising industry. The study, commissioned by Ringier Romandie and analyzed by the market research institute Erasm, observes the usage habits of the Swiss public in the areas of media and advertising for the eighth time.
The age-related target group definition mercilessly stops at the age of 49. Consumers over the age of fifty therefore do not exist, and prejudices such as these, according to which old people are skeptical of new things, in poor health and rather poorly off, persist. Yet this age group has considerable financial resources and a lot of free time, which is actively used. This year's Baromedia study states this unequivocally.
The study shows that older people are big spenders and often spend more money than they did before they turned 50. The over-fifties make up a third of the Swiss population today, and this proportion will continue to grow strongly in the coming years.
Hardly any differences in media use
It is also interesting to note that the "Papy Boomers" hardly use the media any differently than the younger generations. Newspapers are the most popular medium when it comes to obtaining information. The Internet is also a popular medium for seniors to obtain information. 84 percent of 50 to 65-year-olds surf the net for this purpose. Newspapers are read by 76% of the same age group and as many as 82% of over 66-year-olds.
And the Swiss in the third stage of life have just as much trouble with advertising on television, on the radio and in their letterboxes as the generation of their children and grandchildren. It doesn't matter whether, according to the Baromedia typology, they are family people, materialists, activists or more withdrawn people.
The study therefore also indirectly shows that the so-called "Papy Boomers" do not want to be addressed as such. They are interested in the same topics as young people and therefore largely consume the same media. This is one of the reasons why every serious attempt to launch a magazine for senior citizens has failed to date.
"You call a man over 40 years old a veteran. Les vieillards sont soupçonneux, jaloux, avares, chagrins, causers, se plaignent toujours, ils sont incapables d'amitiés." The German translation doesn't sound any more flattering: "Old people are people who are over forty. They are suspicious, jealous, stingy, always worried, gossipy, always complaining and incapable of maintaining friendships." This definition of senior citizens in the foreword to the new Baromedia study 2002 is taken from the Dictionnaire de Richelet from 1679! Fortunately, it is no longer correct.
This year's study focuses on the over-fifties age group with the main topic "Papy Boomers". It seems that this age group is being criminally neglected by the advertising industry. The study, commissioned by Ringier Romandie and analyzed by the market research institute Erasm, observes the usage habits of the Swiss public in the areas of media and advertising for the eighth time.
The age-related target group definition mercilessly stops at the age of 49. Consumers over the age of fifty therefore do not exist, and prejudices such as these, according to which old people are skeptical of new things, in poor health and rather poorly off, persist. Yet this age group has considerable financial resources and a lot of free time, which is actively used. This year's Baromedia study states this unequivocally.
The study shows that older people are big spenders and often spend more money than they did before they turned 50. The over-fifties make up a third of the Swiss population today, and this proportion will continue to grow strongly in the coming years.
Hardly any differences in media use
It is also interesting to note that the "Papy Boomers" hardly use the media any differently than the younger generations. Newspapers are the most popular medium when it comes to obtaining information. The Internet is also a popular medium for seniors to obtain information. 84 percent of 50 to 65-year-olds surf the net for this purpose. Newspapers are read by 76% of the same age group and as many as 82% of over 66-year-olds.
And the Swiss in the third stage of life have just as much trouble with advertising on television, on the radio and in their letterboxes as the generation of their children and grandchildren. It doesn't matter whether, according to the Baromedia typology, they are family people, materialists, activists or more withdrawn people.
The study therefore also indirectly shows that the so-called "Papy Boomers" do not want to be addressed as such. They are interested in the same topics as young people and therefore largely consume the same media. This is one of the reasons why every serious attempt to launch a magazine for senior citizens has failed to date.
