People born between 1946 and 1964 are the group known as Baby Boomers. The MIT AgeLab says the 50+ population is the fastest growing segment worldwide, and life expectancies are at a historical high. An American turns 50 once every seven seconds. Within the next few years, 50% of the European Union’s population will be 65+. By 2030, in Italy, retirees will outnumber active workers. By 2050, the median age in Thailand will rise to 50, also according to the MIT data. Baby Boomers are turning 50 at the rate of 1 every 10 seconds. That’s more than 12,000 each day, and over 4 million a year for the next decade! This group is tremendous and will require a lot of attention to fill all the niches of desire within this great population.

 The MIT report estimates there are 450 million baby boomers worldwide; Coming of Age, Incorporated, says there are over 100 million boomers and senior citizens in the US alone. This group is very wealthy, well educated, and all are sophisticated potential buyers. In addition, they have more disposable income than any other buying group in America which makes them the new greater part of customers. Regardless of these powerful findings, not all of them have a lot of money; a Focalyst Study indicates only about 9% of boomers are truly affluent. However, what is significant is this group will account for 17% of all US consumer spending. Makes marketers everywhere drool. Don’t overlook the rest of this market because they spend money, too, but maybe not as much as their wealthy peers.

 Such an enormous and diverse market can’t be considered as only one market; there are countless segments in this group. Bear in mind, too, the current economic depression has reduced funds available to boomers, but it still is estimated between one and two TRILLION USD. That’s a lot of money, and they will use it to demand exactly the best products and services available. The problem is to find exactly what every segment of this group wants.

 The first thing to do is try to understand how boomers think. There are so many of them, from all sorts of backgrounds, that determining their thinking is no small job. Coming of Age, Incorporated, referenced earlier, says, “How baby boomers think is just as important as what they think.” They go on to say the older we get, the more emotional we are. Our emotions begin to control what we think, and eventually, cause us to persuade our minds to take some action. Those who succeed in serving these people must build a relationship of trust, based on honesty and openness, in order to influence the Boomer group. This requires the creation of motivational communications, better ways of presenting this communication, and improvements in quality and service in order to induce an action. Those wanting to serve Boomers most realize the median age of the market is constantly changing; the median age is mid forties and constantly moving upward every year. Ideas that appeal to younger groups will turn off the older and much larger body of Boomers. The minds of olders work in much different ways from youngers.

A new company, Heartspoken, is trying to find out how boomers think in order to serve their needs and build meaningful relationships. This company, owned and founded by freelance writer Elizabeth Cottrell, has a survey online  right now with questions that will determine the things of most interest to Baby Boomers today. The ultimate result will be to provide goods, services, and information you want. All information you may give is entirely anonymous.

 Please visit the survey and help yourself, along with the other Boomers.

Tags: affluent, baby boomers, disposable income, economic depression, educated, emotions, honesty, life expectancies, median age, sophisticated, survey, trust, wealthy