March 28, 2008
Study: Boomer Shoppers to Become Pragmatic with Age
By Tom Ryan
According to a survey of 1,100 Baby Boomers, 86 percent plan to be more practical and pragmatic in their purchases when they reach the age of 70, and much less concerned about trendiness and indulgences.
The study providers, FH Boom and the National Marketing Institute, believe the turn to the pragmatic is highly correlated to the fact that only 41 percent of Boomers state they have a secure, financially sound plan for retirement. After paying their basic living expenses, Boomers anticipated that they will have on average 22 percent of their income left to spend on discretionary purchases.
But the buying pragmatism may also reflect Boomers readapting more hippie-like values held in their younger days.
“The key is to think of boomers at 70 not so much as revolutionaries, but as ‘retrolutionaries,’” says Dr. Carol Orsborn, co-chair of FH Boom. “By this definition, retrolutionaries are the vast majority of Boomer-aged consumers who are aiming to get their monetary expenditures in better alignment with values formed at earlier stages in their lives. Think the 2016 version of Birkenstocks and VW in the 60s and 70s: living affordably, but with style.”
Steve French, managing partner of Natural Marketing Institute, believes companies able to deliver “pragmatic value and style” to Boomers will benefit. As examples, he cited restaurants offering smaller-portion Boomer specials centering on healthy, organic food, as well as automobile companies that pack their economy cars with ergonomic features while also taking advantage of the robust market for used luxury vehicles that will be developing.
“This evolving market, in essence, will be rooted in sensible luxury,” says Mr. French.
Other findings from the survey of Boomer predictions when they turn 70:
- 74 percent
still won’t be describing themselves as old; - 76 percent will be using technology
to stay connected with family and friends; - 93 percent will have more time to
do things like travel, dine out and pursue hobbies; - 63 percent will be making
some kind of move; - 75 percent anticipate that “their best years are ahead of
them.”
Discussion Question: Do you also expect Boomer spending tendencies to become more “more practical and pragmatic” as they reach the age of 70 and older? Why or why not? What credence do you give to the theory that Boomer spending habits might be reshaped by a return to hippie attitudes?
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At the most basic level, this is a simple cohort versus life stage question. As marketers we have all addressed similar questions along the way. In my experience the most prominent was the debate over whether cola drinkers would abandon us for coffee as they aged. (Of course, they went to bottled water and energy drinks instead!)
In this case we should expect to get some influences from both. The realities of lifestage will certainly impact our mobility and need to be pragmatic financially–at least for most of us. But we will most likely not abandon the core values of our cohort. We will demand quality and service and we will indulge ourselves at every possible turn. I like Steve French’s term “sensible luxury.”
As to whether we were unduly influenced by Haight Ashbury, well–I’m not sure about that. While the guy in the office next to mine this morning was indeed at Woodstock, I was in Union Grove at a bluegrass festival. Interestingly, frank discussions have revealed that there were more “recreational commonalities than disparities” at the two events, however. So maybe one of the changes we can expect to see is the AARP lobbying for medical marijuana?
Why do we constantly hear about boomers getting back to their hippie roots? Why is it assumed that everyone that came of age during that period subscribed to a specific set of values shaped by Woodstock?
A lot of us experimented with things we wouldn’t do now. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin were our American Idols and we railed against the Vietnam War, the “establishment” and the military-industrial complex. Why not? It was a great way to get [girls]!
The fact is that the baby-boom generation is extremely diverse in their attitudes and they are not going to return to these values. Researchers simply fail to separate what people say they will do from what they will actually do. However, one thing is clear–they will spend money on indulgences that enhance their lives and looks. They (we) don’t want to be old, they don’t want to be pictured that way and they will spend anything they can on avoiding it.
Are they practical and pragmatic? Yes. Simply because they know how hard it was to obtain what they have and to keep it. They are not going to be frivolous but they will spend.
Somewhere in my attic, I have a box of photos I took during the ’60s anti-war demonstrations. Looking at them a few years ago, I was struck at how “straight” so many of the kids looked. (In those days, “straight” meant “not a hippie.”) The “hippie” thing is overblown in terms of how large it truly was, although it impacted pretty much everything to some degree or other. I’d say that since so many of us were at least exposed to Eastern religions and counterculture–then had to spend the next 40 years making a living–some of us may revisit these things upon retirement, at least out of curiosity. But I don’t expect this will be huge. To paraphrase that famous saying about liberals, “If you’re not a hippie when you’re 20, you haven’t got a heart. If you’re still a hippie when you’re 40, you haven’t got a brain.” I don’t expect the Boomer generation will be markedly different from previous generations who reach 70. Based on the size of the demographic and therefore its buying power/influence, we’ll just continue to get lots of media attention and speculation about us until we’re all dead.
While I agree that Boomers will become more pragmatic and even cautious with their spending as they age, in the hopes of not outliving their money, that is true for every generation as they move towards “retirement” age.
As far as a move back to “hippie attitudes,” I see no trend back to “sex, drugs, and rock and roll.” The boomer generation I know is all about living a healthy lifestyle, and being better parents and grandparents than they think there own parents were/are. ‘Wholesome’ is really in and that is not what the 60s and 70s were all about, for most in the boomer generation.
The other thing is that the boomer generation has typically found a way to get what they want so if retailers and manufacturers can get them to want something, they’ll find a way to acquire it.
Some may feign the hippie lifestyle just to cover their shame. Most will be so poor that they will borrow a characteristic from the half generation before, the beatniks. An aversion to phonies and phony deals. There’s still money in PR for boomers, but it has to be in the form of honest win-win ideas. Organic food and Ergonomic features aren’t quite hip.
There was this one night I dropped some acid and was walking past a movie theatre that was playing a Disney flick called Darby O’Gill and the Little People. So of course I went in to see this freaky movie about leprechauns. At some point while watching it occurred to me that if you took the name Darby O’Gill and reversed the caps you would end up with GOD and the Little People. That really seemed profound to me at the time and I had a very dramatic visceral reaction. As I approach my retirement age, though, I don’t think I’ll be headed back that way again. So put me down for “more pragmatic.”
Oh stop!
Look at the data. As one of those more Woodstock type of Boomers myself, I’m a little tired of generational cliches. The oldest Boomer is still eight years away from 70, the youngest 26 years away. Assuming any accuracy, what this survey tells me is that not too much has changed.
Seventy four percent of respondents don’t think they’ll be “old” enough to describe themselves that way when they are 70 (this from the generation that didn’t trust people over 30 and used to relish that it made up the 52 percent of the U.S. population that fit into the “trustable” category). Ninety three percent, “…will have more time to do things like travel, dine out and pursue hobbies.”
Does this sound like a pragmatic approach to spending to you?
Well, it doesn’t to me, and, frankly I’m not surprised.
Ours is a Peter Pan generation that (as a generation) just doesn’t see the percentage in growing old. Peter Pan never planned for life on a fixed income. Boomers want to live until they die, whether that involves tie-dyeing macrome plant warmers for your home grown or holding onto your executive office 10 years after traditional retirement.
I don’t know what “more practical and pragmatic” means when it comes to purchasing but if it comes at the cost of self indulgence, I don’t see it in the cards. Hey, if you’re not really old at 70 then you don’t have to worry about the stuff old people worry about until you’re old yourself–like on your 110 birthday.
Turn up Purple Haze, my ears aren’t as good as they used to be.
Yes, pragmatic spending is part of my boomer life already, three private college tuition programs will do that. When the kids start to pay us back the 50% we loaned them, we’ll be able to afford to emerge from today’s pragmatic spending patterns, but by then we’ll be worried about outliving the money supply! We’ll downsize “possessions” so we don’t have to clean and maintain so many things. But we plan to spend on things we enjoy like a country club lifestyle, dinner out, travel and more golf lessons.
It’s a personal trade off and image no longer matters, it’s all about how we want to spend our time.
But a real return to our ’70s era hippie lifestyle could be trouble. Hmmm, would the kids ever float us bail money?
Boomers after age 70 will be more practical because, let’s face it, there is just so much “stuff” one can accumulate. What you will find about Boomers though, is that they will still be driving, traveling, playing tennis and involved in technology. They will refuse to get old. Today’s 70 is yesteryear’s 50.
Hear, hear! The “Boomers” are not, were not, and will never be a homogeneous group. Trying to create, define, and predict the group’s behavior will not result in success any more now than in the past.
Figuring out what and how to live from 70 to 110 is another new adventure. It will be created as we get there probably fitting in pretty well with Paula’s principles of spending time with others having fun and making a positive contribution somewhere. But there will be surprises along the way, I’m sure.
If the stock market and the dollar and house prices keep deteriorating while food prices skyrocket, then I guess boomers will be more “pragmatic and practical in their purchases.”
So happy to see that my aging boomer cohorts on this site are able to be up and about today. And, Ryan, you are on a roll! Seriously, a study to guess how we boomers will spend our money at age 70, (when age 70 is more than a decade down the road for many of us) is so silly. Heck, I don’t even know how I am going to spend my money next week, let alone at age 70, so it’s a good thing they didn’t survey ME.
Will my money go for a gorgeous and irresistible piece of art glass found unexpectedly in an out of the way gallery? Will I be forking out for Rolling Stones concert tickets? Or, will my bank account be called upon to fund the replacement for a dead furnace? By the way, I consider these questions to be equal possibilities next week, OR when I’m 70.
To roll out another cliche, you can’t go back. Many people who try, find that their memories are preferable to new reality. There are too many new things to do, people to see, places to go to make rehashing a youth, whether misspent or not, either attractive or necessary. PLUS many of the 60 or 70+ something people I know consider their purchases in the light of what their children will have to clear out once they (the parents) have cleared out. To apply this to the study, which struck me as more than a little bit silly, patronising and irritating, I think expenditure is more likely to be based on immediate wants or needs rather than reflecting on either past or future desires.
I always find it amusing when studies attempt to categorize and describe the tendencies of the Boomers. The generation is simply too large and spread over too many years to neatly label and predict. However, some of the observations are likely to be true: Boomers will continue to avoid “getting old” and will spend on products and experiences that keep them feeling, if not looking, young.
Also, Boomers will remain connected to current happenings via technology and continued linking with Gens X & Y. Therefore, they will always adopt those new products, services and experiences that feel “cool” and contribute to the desire to remain forever young. For example, I regularly share on-line music with my college-age sons both because it is a shared interest, but also because I genuinely like much of the new music. I expect this will continue well into my 70s and beyond!
In our house, the definition of middle-aged is ‘five years older than [my husband],’ or, for 2008, 60. How’s that for Boomer denial?
Seriously, though, the survey points seem pretty close to the mark–and to the arc that Strauss and Howe describe in their book, Generations.
That book identified four generational archetypes in American history and proposed that the cycling of those four generational types can explain a lot of what’s happened in our history in a way other factors can’t.
Whether or not Strauss and Howe’s thesis holds up long-term, this study does seem to parallel their story arc for the Boomers:
They come of age in affluence and stability and are part of a mass Great Spiritual Awakening.
In midlife those values seem to recede as they raise families and take leadership roles in business and society — yet at the same time, that period in history tends to spawn great technological change.
As they age, their Idealist values come to the fore once again, and the generation immediately after them, a more pragmatic one focused on results, manages the task of integrating the Idealists’ changes into society for more cohesion and growth.
The last Idealist generation came of age from 1880-1900 and saw the rise of the Transcendentalists, the first feminists and the muckrakers who ended the Gilded Age. Their technology revolution was electricity and the automobile, and their last idealistic struggle was inspiring and directing the next two younger generations to beat the Nazis. (FDR was a member of that generation.)
If we Boomers succeed as brilliantly, we’ll return to our values individually and inspire younger generations to tackle global problems in ways that are good for individual freedom, the planet–and the markets.
Here I am, your quintessential ex-hippie boomer. And you betcha, not everyone in my age bracket was one.
For us “real ones” some core values will return to the forefront:
– living communally. Not your sex, drugs and rock and roll commune, but group living for mutual support, collegial companionship, and FUN;
– leaving a legacy – we have yet to really leave any kind of lasting mark on this society. Our first 2 boomer presidents are so not what we’ve been about. I expect to see a lot of “giving back.”
– Enjoying life – it has always been about that…so young, old, creaky or flexible, ex-hippie boomers will always suck the marrow out of life.
How to sell to us? Don’t patronize us, don’t marginalize us, and don’t assume we’re so predictable.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. Rock on! (-;
Becoming more pragmatic for boomers seems logical. After all, there are future generations to consider. “Sensible luxury”, however, is in the eyes of the beholder. Differences abound.
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At the most basic level, this is a simple cohort versus life stage question. As marketers we have all addressed similar questions along the way. In my experience the most prominent was the debate over whether cola drinkers would abandon us for coffee as they aged. (Of course, they went to bottled water and energy drinks instead!)
In this case we should expect to get some influences from both. The realities of lifestage will certainly impact our mobility and need to be pragmatic financially–at least for most of us. But we will most likely not abandon the core values of our cohort. We will demand quality and service and we will indulge ourselves at every possible turn. I like Steve French’s term “sensible luxury.”
As to whether we were unduly influenced by Haight Ashbury, well–I’m not sure about that. While the guy in the office next to mine this morning was indeed at Woodstock, I was in Union Grove at a bluegrass festival. Interestingly, frank discussions have revealed that there were more “recreational commonalities than disparities” at the two events, however. So maybe one of the changes we can expect to see is the AARP lobbying for medical marijuana?
Why do we constantly hear about boomers getting back to their hippie roots? Why is it assumed that everyone that came of age during that period subscribed to a specific set of values shaped by Woodstock?
A lot of us experimented with things we wouldn’t do now. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin were our American Idols and we railed against the Vietnam War, the “establishment” and the military-industrial complex. Why not? It was a great way to get [girls]!
The fact is that the baby-boom generation is extremely diverse in their attitudes and they are not going to return to these values. Researchers simply fail to separate what people say they will do from what they will actually do. However, one thing is clear–they will spend money on indulgences that enhance their lives and looks. They (we) don’t want to be old, they don’t want to be pictured that way and they will spend anything they can on avoiding it.
Are they practical and pragmatic? Yes. Simply because they know how hard it was to obtain what they have and to keep it. They are not going to be frivolous but they will spend.
Somewhere in my attic, I have a box of photos I took during the ’60s anti-war demonstrations. Looking at them a few years ago, I was struck at how “straight” so many of the kids looked. (In those days, “straight” meant “not a hippie.”) The “hippie” thing is overblown in terms of how large it truly was, although it impacted pretty much everything to some degree or other. I’d say that since so many of us were at least exposed to Eastern religions and counterculture–then had to spend the next 40 years making a living–some of us may revisit these things upon retirement, at least out of curiosity. But I don’t expect this will be huge. To paraphrase that famous saying about liberals, “If you’re not a hippie when you’re 20, you haven’t got a heart. If you’re still a hippie when you’re 40, you haven’t got a brain.” I don’t expect the Boomer generation will be markedly different from previous generations who reach 70. Based on the size of the demographic and therefore its buying power/influence, we’ll just continue to get lots of media attention and speculation about us until we’re all dead.
While I agree that Boomers will become more pragmatic and even cautious with their spending as they age, in the hopes of not outliving their money, that is true for every generation as they move towards “retirement” age.
As far as a move back to “hippie attitudes,” I see no trend back to “sex, drugs, and rock and roll.” The boomer generation I know is all about living a healthy lifestyle, and being better parents and grandparents than they think there own parents were/are. ‘Wholesome’ is really in and that is not what the 60s and 70s were all about, for most in the boomer generation.
The other thing is that the boomer generation has typically found a way to get what they want so if retailers and manufacturers can get them to want something, they’ll find a way to acquire it.
Some may feign the hippie lifestyle just to cover their shame. Most will be so poor that they will borrow a characteristic from the half generation before, the beatniks. An aversion to phonies and phony deals. There’s still money in PR for boomers, but it has to be in the form of honest win-win ideas. Organic food and Ergonomic features aren’t quite hip.
There was this one night I dropped some acid and was walking past a movie theatre that was playing a Disney flick called Darby O’Gill and the Little People. So of course I went in to see this freaky movie about leprechauns. At some point while watching it occurred to me that if you took the name Darby O’Gill and reversed the caps you would end up with GOD and the Little People. That really seemed profound to me at the time and I had a very dramatic visceral reaction. As I approach my retirement age, though, I don’t think I’ll be headed back that way again. So put me down for “more pragmatic.”
Oh stop!
Look at the data. As one of those more Woodstock type of Boomers myself, I’m a little tired of generational cliches. The oldest Boomer is still eight years away from 70, the youngest 26 years away. Assuming any accuracy, what this survey tells me is that not too much has changed.
Seventy four percent of respondents don’t think they’ll be “old” enough to describe themselves that way when they are 70 (this from the generation that didn’t trust people over 30 and used to relish that it made up the 52 percent of the U.S. population that fit into the “trustable” category). Ninety three percent, “…will have more time to do things like travel, dine out and pursue hobbies.”
Does this sound like a pragmatic approach to spending to you?
Well, it doesn’t to me, and, frankly I’m not surprised.
Ours is a Peter Pan generation that (as a generation) just doesn’t see the percentage in growing old. Peter Pan never planned for life on a fixed income. Boomers want to live until they die, whether that involves tie-dyeing macrome plant warmers for your home grown or holding onto your executive office 10 years after traditional retirement.
I don’t know what “more practical and pragmatic” means when it comes to purchasing but if it comes at the cost of self indulgence, I don’t see it in the cards. Hey, if you’re not really old at 70 then you don’t have to worry about the stuff old people worry about until you’re old yourself–like on your 110 birthday.
Turn up Purple Haze, my ears aren’t as good as they used to be.
Yes, pragmatic spending is part of my boomer life already, three private college tuition programs will do that. When the kids start to pay us back the 50% we loaned them, we’ll be able to afford to emerge from today’s pragmatic spending patterns, but by then we’ll be worried about outliving the money supply! We’ll downsize “possessions” so we don’t have to clean and maintain so many things. But we plan to spend on things we enjoy like a country club lifestyle, dinner out, travel and more golf lessons.
It’s a personal trade off and image no longer matters, it’s all about how we want to spend our time.
But a real return to our ’70s era hippie lifestyle could be trouble. Hmmm, would the kids ever float us bail money?
Boomers after age 70 will be more practical because, let’s face it, there is just so much “stuff” one can accumulate. What you will find about Boomers though, is that they will still be driving, traveling, playing tennis and involved in technology. They will refuse to get old. Today’s 70 is yesteryear’s 50.
Hear, hear! The “Boomers” are not, were not, and will never be a homogeneous group. Trying to create, define, and predict the group’s behavior will not result in success any more now than in the past.
Figuring out what and how to live from 70 to 110 is another new adventure. It will be created as we get there probably fitting in pretty well with Paula’s principles of spending time with others having fun and making a positive contribution somewhere. But there will be surprises along the way, I’m sure.
If the stock market and the dollar and house prices keep deteriorating while food prices skyrocket, then I guess boomers will be more “pragmatic and practical in their purchases.”
So happy to see that my aging boomer cohorts on this site are able to be up and about today. And, Ryan, you are on a roll! Seriously, a study to guess how we boomers will spend our money at age 70, (when age 70 is more than a decade down the road for many of us) is so silly. Heck, I don’t even know how I am going to spend my money next week, let alone at age 70, so it’s a good thing they didn’t survey ME.
Will my money go for a gorgeous and irresistible piece of art glass found unexpectedly in an out of the way gallery? Will I be forking out for Rolling Stones concert tickets? Or, will my bank account be called upon to fund the replacement for a dead furnace? By the way, I consider these questions to be equal possibilities next week, OR when I’m 70.
To roll out another cliche, you can’t go back. Many people who try, find that their memories are preferable to new reality. There are too many new things to do, people to see, places to go to make rehashing a youth, whether misspent or not, either attractive or necessary. PLUS many of the 60 or 70+ something people I know consider their purchases in the light of what their children will have to clear out once they (the parents) have cleared out. To apply this to the study, which struck me as more than a little bit silly, patronising and irritating, I think expenditure is more likely to be based on immediate wants or needs rather than reflecting on either past or future desires.
I always find it amusing when studies attempt to categorize and describe the tendencies of the Boomers. The generation is simply too large and spread over too many years to neatly label and predict. However, some of the observations are likely to be true: Boomers will continue to avoid “getting old” and will spend on products and experiences that keep them feeling, if not looking, young.
Also, Boomers will remain connected to current happenings via technology and continued linking with Gens X & Y. Therefore, they will always adopt those new products, services and experiences that feel “cool” and contribute to the desire to remain forever young. For example, I regularly share on-line music with my college-age sons both because it is a shared interest, but also because I genuinely like much of the new music. I expect this will continue well into my 70s and beyond!
In our house, the definition of middle-aged is ‘five years older than [my husband],’ or, for 2008, 60. How’s that for Boomer denial?
Seriously, though, the survey points seem pretty close to the mark–and to the arc that Strauss and Howe describe in their book, Generations.
That book identified four generational archetypes in American history and proposed that the cycling of those four generational types can explain a lot of what’s happened in our history in a way other factors can’t.
Whether or not Strauss and Howe’s thesis holds up long-term, this study does seem to parallel their story arc for the Boomers:
They come of age in affluence and stability and are part of a mass Great Spiritual Awakening.
In midlife those values seem to recede as they raise families and take leadership roles in business and society — yet at the same time, that period in history tends to spawn great technological change.
As they age, their Idealist values come to the fore once again, and the generation immediately after them, a more pragmatic one focused on results, manages the task of integrating the Idealists’ changes into society for more cohesion and growth.
The last Idealist generation came of age from 1880-1900 and saw the rise of the Transcendentalists, the first feminists and the muckrakers who ended the Gilded Age. Their technology revolution was electricity and the automobile, and their last idealistic struggle was inspiring and directing the next two younger generations to beat the Nazis. (FDR was a member of that generation.)
If we Boomers succeed as brilliantly, we’ll return to our values individually and inspire younger generations to tackle global problems in ways that are good for individual freedom, the planet–and the markets.
Here I am, your quintessential ex-hippie boomer. And you betcha, not everyone in my age bracket was one.
For us “real ones” some core values will return to the forefront:
– living communally. Not your sex, drugs and rock and roll commune, but group living for mutual support, collegial companionship, and FUN;
– leaving a legacy – we have yet to really leave any kind of lasting mark on this society. Our first 2 boomer presidents are so not what we’ve been about. I expect to see a lot of “giving back.”
– Enjoying life – it has always been about that…so young, old, creaky or flexible, ex-hippie boomers will always suck the marrow out of life.
How to sell to us? Don’t patronize us, don’t marginalize us, and don’t assume we’re so predictable.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. Rock on! (-;
Becoming more pragmatic for boomers seems logical. After all, there are future generations to consider. “Sensible luxury”, however, is in the eyes of the beholder. Differences abound.