Big-spending Boomers Bend Rules of Marketing

2 December 2010
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A recent article by USA Today reveals that traditional marketing often ignores the 5o+ population despite the segment's increasing size and buying power. As many leisure travel consumers are or will soon be within this age range, these shifts are salient to adventure travel companies.

"As Baby Boomers are aging and accumulating wealth, their spending is growing at a pace that's leaving younger generations far behind. Spending by the 116 million U.S. consumers age 50 and older was $2.9 trillion last year — up 45% in the past 10 years. Meanwhile, the 182 million people younger than 50 spent $3.3 trillion last year — up just 6% during the same decade, according to an analysis for USA TODAY of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by The Boomer Project.

And unlike the stereotype of older consumers being averse to new things, Boomers are among the biggest buyers of new technology and new cars.


The article addresses mistakes often made when communicating to this group of buyers, including a focus on "malady-based" products, or forgetting that "that people over 50 still have dreams."

Tips for effective Boomer centered advertising include detailed examples on how to make customers feel good about themselves, as well as hip, sexy, smart, hungry for quality products, and technologically savvy.

Read the entire USA Today article.

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