By 2040, 63p in every £1 will be spent by the mature consumer. And they currently account for around 70% of household wealth.
The travel and tourism market is worth around £100 billion in the UK, with advertisers spending around £6 billion a year to grab their share.
You don’t need to be a data analyst to conclude that understanding how to advertise to those aged 59-78 effectively, people we understand, is and will be increasingly important for leisure travel providers.
We’ve spent 6 months having a nosey around the leisure travel market to see what it thinks it knows about the mature consumer in the context of effective advertising:
We’ve reviewed 200+ ads and signed up to some 50-odd mailing lists
Enlisted the help of a couple of professors from Brunel University Business School to review what academia has published on the subject
And asked our Humbug Club (group of individuals aged 55+) what they think about advertising and what influences their plans and choices when making leisure travel purchases
A summary of our findings and a short video is available on our website.
You can also access more detailed insights, by requesting our aptly named Blue Paper.
In the meantime, here’s some food for thought...
There is limited academic-led market research into effective communications regards the mature consumer, with only 10 academic papers published within the last 15 years! Working with the professors from Brunel we have published a review of these - ask for more details.
With regards to the tourism and leisure sector, only 40 papers in 9 journals have been published since 2010 regards mature consumer behaviours and trends. We have a review of this too, again working with the Brunel team.
Our desk analysis of reports from the likes of Saga, McKinsey, World Travel and Tourism Council, The Guardian, Conde Nast etc., uncovers clear themes; use of digital, appetite for flying, impacts of global warming, potential of the cruise sector, 'bucket lists' and so on.
HOWEVER, our proprietary research with mature consumers flags multiple industry ‘beliefs’ as perhaps not in touch with mature consumer needs and wants as they need to be.
Take the theme of 'bucket lists' for example.
In Jan 2023 Forbes merrily declared that ‘most of us have a travel bucket list’.
Our Humbug Club, when asked the question, said 40% don’t.
So, thinking on...
Most research into non-essential purchases by mature consumers points towards them wanting ‘experiences’, which could be 'bucket list' territory, whether that’s a holiday or a funeral!
They have more money to spend than any other consumer group
40% don’t consider budget a key factor when booking a holiday. Boston Consultancy Group tells us that the top 20% of holiday purchasers amongst 50 to 70-year-olds account for 70% of spend
Bucket list websites and platforms exist but, oh dear, most aren’t half dull, patronising in both positioning and tone for the mature consumer (who have been round the block), blathering on about ticking off your 'bucket list' by choosing some unmemorable holiday suggestion, spurred on by a naff stock image
What if it's true and 4 out of 10 mature consumers with money and time to spare, haven't got, thought about, or been inspired to put together a 'bucket list' of places to go and things to do?
Why not grasp the bull by the horns, seize the opportunity, create a 'bucket list' strategy that engages mature consumers around their needs and wants, wrapped in a premium, personalised, luxury service, and so begin a customer relationship lasting a decade or so?
WE HAVE BOTH INSIGHT AND SOME IDEAS. PLEASE LET US HELP!
Final thought for the week.
49% of our Humbug Club said that providers of the products and services they buy, irritate them with their advertising, going on to use descriptors like ‘patronising’, ‘lacking honesty’, ‘superficial’, not targeted at them, ‘bombardment’ and too much ‘wokeness’…
Need some innovative planning advice regards engaging the mature consumer, want to know more in person about our Blue Paper, 'bucket lists', or just have a beer and chew the cud for half an hour?
Then please get in touch.
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