Consumer 50+ Are The Most Lucrative Audience.

The most conventional advertiser target may be 18-49, but when it comes to financial services, a new Scarborough Research analysis reveals that life may just begin at 50. Persons who are aged 50 or older tend to have more financial assets, and use more financial services, than their younger counterparts.

More than one-third (39 percent) of the adult population is 50 plus+. An analysis of household financial activities of this consumer group reveals that they account for a large portion of the American investing public. Sixty percent of consumers who have Certificates of Deposit in their household are 50 plus+. Approximately half (49 percent) of persons with Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and Money Market accounts (51 percent) in their households are in this age group as well. Consumers 50+ are active investors and account for 42 percent of those with stocks or stock options as a household
investment.

Conversely, adults ages 18-49 account for almost two-thirds (61 percent) of the 18+ population, but only 40 percent of the persons with Certificates of Deposit in their household, 51 percent of consumers with IRAs in their household, and 49 percent of consumers with Money Market Accounts in their household.

“50 plus consumers control a disproportionately large share of the nation’s wealth, and they are a prime target for financial services of every stripe,” said Linda Fisher, Ph.D., director of AARP’s National Member Research Department. “When it comes to targeting the 50 plus consumer, however, it is essential to understand the real lives of midlife and older Americans – from which activities define their lifestyles by age, gender, income and/or race, to how often they purchase financial goods and services.”

“Financial marketers are realizing that adults 50 plus control most of the nation’s wealth,” said Alisa Joseph, Vice President, Advertiser Marketing Services, Scarborough Research. “Those not aggressively targeting this often under-tapped consumer segment are missing out on the lion’s share of the substantial net worth this powerful group offers.”

Adults 50 plus are active investors and use a variety of services to ensure effective financial planning. While they are 33 percent less likely than all consumers to pay their bills online, they are 51 percent more likely to use a full service stockbroker and 23 percent more likely to use a financial planner.

Retired people 50 plus provide even more opportunity for financial marketers. While this group accounts for only 14 percent of the total U.S. adult population, they account for more than one-quarter (27 percent) of those who have Certificate of Deposits as a household investment. Additionally, about one fifth (21 percent) of consumers who have
Money Market accounts as a household investment are retired people 50 plus.

“Their financial assets, coupled with their appetite for person-to-person contact, make mature consumers an attractive target for many categories, financial services being just one of the most obvious,” concluded Ms. Joseph.

Several media stand out as excellent vehicles to target 50+ consumers. One quarter (25 percent) of this age group are among the most avid newspaper readers.

Almost two-thirds (64 percent) read a daily newspaper. With respect to television, the story is also notable. Fifty-eight percent of television’s most avid viewers are persons 50 plus. And retired adults 50 plus+ are twice as likely as all adults to be among the most avid television viewers. Consumers 50+ are 26 percent more likely than all consumers nationally to listen to news/talk radio.

For more information at http://www.scarborough.com