Why are senior citizen’s opinionignored in consumer surveys?

By Suthaharan Perampalam

Today’s seniors are living longer, connected, informed and leading a more active lifestyle than they did in the past. One fourth of the Sri Lankan population will be over 60 years of age by 2041. At present, it’s about 12.4% of the population – that is around 2.5 million people. Nevertheless, there is a lack of effort diverted towards understanding our elders, especially in an era where the demographic transition-taking place would result in the old and young representing an equal share. 

Elders aren’t identified as a valuable group of consumers. For decades even the research industry had mostly targeted the coveted 18-49 age group. There is a lack of understanding regarding the needs of elders, making it a largely new group of consumers. Elders have their own opinion and preferences when it comes to the consumption of goods and services and, thus, have a significant stake in human consumption. It’s important to not underestimate the purchasing power of the elderly population, what with their access to increasingly strong pension schemes, provident funds and growing remittances.

A large chunk of the physically active elders within the urban and rural household do their own grocery shopping as a choice and not because they are free and unoccupied. Elders are making decisions daily on consumption for the entire household.

According to Burgess et al (2006), the elderly are not one homogeneous population. In addition to having greatly varying abilities and disabilities, their cultural, ethnic, class, and gender differences mean that ‘one-size-fits-all’ solutions will not work. In other words, a wide range of products and services will be necessary in order to meet functional needs and enhance the quality of life for all elders. 

However, are market research firms and corporates taking the necessary initiatives to understand elders’ consumption and behavioral patterns? The answer is an obvious No, since the upper age limit for consumer surveys being 55 years and 60 on rare instances. Marginalising a growing population of elders in an ageing society is not a good sign of preparing well to cope with the changes ahead.

Reasons for Ignorance 

Ignorance on elders is when market research firms/corporates work on autopilot, thinking that anyone beyond 55 or 60 is economically inactive with a lack of influence on purchasing decisions. Businesses want to impress the active working class for profit gains, while failing to realise the lifestyle transition and the purchasing power of elders.

It is commonly believed that there is high level of difficulty in conducting interviews with elders for reasons such as:

• Elders wouldn’t understand the questions asked by a complex market research questionnaire. 
• Slow response that could increase interview time, thereby demotivating the Field Research Officers (FRO’s), as a lower number of completed interviews means low earnings
• A 40-minute questionnaire is considered lengthy and strenuous for an elder, so the research firm seeks the alternate easy route and selects the convenient group to be interviewed.

However, senior citizens are the easiest target group to be approached as they are less occupied and more than happy to share their experiences/preferences.

Elders have a big market potential     

Many companies have a sizable market potential within elderly groups, so it is worth understanding the differing needs of senior citizens. A McKinsey report titled ‘The global consumers to watch’ projects that 19% of all global urban consumption will be from elderly consumers between 2015 and 2030. In addition to that, by 2030, there will be a wider variation in purchasing power among the elderly than what we see today. With expanding elderly populations, where one in every eight people is an elder now, market potential for products and services among the elderly is going to grow even further. 

Way forward 

Consumer research organisations should consider expanding the upper age limit to seventy for the surveys they conduct. We can no longer afford to ignore the opinion of 2.5 million people that is around 12.4% of the population. In order, to prove and validate the importance of this valuable segment a separate syndicated survey among this segment would help. 

Considering the maturity of the research industry in Sri Lanka, Information available on elders is very limited. Census data or Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) doesn’t provide adequate information on elders besides basic demographics. Market research companies need to educate corporates and the general public with more insights about elders. 

Some of the few unanswered questions on elders; 

• Do elders have power in purchasing decisions? 
• What is their income and expenditure?
• What is the per capita spend by elders within an urban rural context and with different age brackets 
• Do they have their own source or do they get it from others? 
• How many of them do grocery shopping for their households?
• What are types of products and services are highly applicable to elders?
• What is the level of spending power of elders? Are they brand loyal?
• What type of communication works for them?

Research is the way forward to fill the currently prevailing information gaps about elders. Publically available information on elders would benefit the corporates to come up with new ideas and expanding product portfolios in order to suit the needs of elders.

Suthaharan Perampalam– Market Research Professional and Senior Researcher attached to a think tank organisation and active across the emerging Asia Pacific. [email protected]