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: Gero marketing is a very popular term in the West, commonly referring to the marketing of geriatric products to people beyond their earning age—things like hearing aids, medical diagnostic products such as blood pressure monitors, muscle exercise machines, health tonics, and old age homes.

As curiosity rises in Indian marketing circles about the senior citizens and their value as a market segment, we at Starcom Worldwide started exploring this topic in 2007. Over eight week period, we studied the seniors through a variety of qualitative research techniques, chief among which were friendship groups, ethnography, accompanied shopping, depth interviews and shopping list analysis.

We attempted to understand brand decision-making process, influence behaviour, new product trial potential, and actual buying behaviour. We explored their attitude to brands, advertising, celebrity endorsement, media usage and peer influence. We came up with many interesting findings and insights, most of which are valuable for marketing.

And, among other things we came to the conclusion that although senior citizens have some buying power, it is very limited. One of the first things we found, perhaps not surprisingly, is that ‘senior citizens’ is not a homogeneous group, just because they are all grandparents. While their influence is generally modest on ‘things the family or other individuals can use’, it is not insignificant.

However, contrary to popular expectation, often, senior’s opinion is actively sought on matters requiring high investments, such as real estate and financial investments. The seniors’ influence in the decision making and buying process is dependent on whether they ‘permanently’ live with their children or visit them occasionally, their history of active employment, in-employment and post-employment earning, ongoing financial freedom, education level, level of post-working life engagement, education of children, presence of grand-children in the household and their own marital status.

So they have special needs. Their media behaviour is different. Their ability to comprehend and assimilate commercial messages is different. Their attitude to television, advertising and celebrities is different. Their dependence on the opinion of their immediate support group (laughter club, morning walk group, drinking buddy group) is high. Their loyalty behaviour is different.

Yet marketers tend to neglect this segment primarily due to the absolute non-availability of information about seniors and their behaviour. Most audience research stops at people of age 54, and at 54, a lot of people still have an active work life. The other reason marketers focus on other audience segment is their income and spending capability and willingness to experiment.

Most brands in our market are new and therefore depend on the experimentative behaviour of consumers to generate trials. Younger people are also less spend thrift;so brands use that characteristic to induce higher usage intensity and to drive psychological obsolescence.

In contrast, the elderly have spent most of their life’s earnings in educating their children and getting them married. They didn’t plan their post retirement life wisely, didn’t have as many investment options in their prime as are available now, and therefore have less of own ‘disposable’ wealth. In addition, seniors have spent their life under a value system of spend-where-you-must-save-whenever-you-can, loyalty, patience and ‘adjustment’ that often makes them less attractive to marketers.

Our newly mushrooming shopping malls and entertainment complexes are naturally designed for the young and the able. Senior citizens dislike loud noise, crowd and unnecessary urgency. Many feel that shopping malls may actually be a health hazard to them during peak hours. This is the reason they prefer going to the local kirana stores instead.

However, while there is no doubt that India is a market of the young, the elderly as a buying, decision-making and influencing segment cannot be ignored. It’s in our culture to listen to our seniors, and no matter how individualistic our young, collectivism still lives in our families.