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Elderly Segmentation Paper

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into different groups according to their demographics, cultural values, or beliefs. In general, most segmenting characteristics are behavioral and cognitive (Schiffman & Wisenblit, 2014). Behavioral factors are data based such as age, gender, and purchasing habits (Schiffman & Wisenblit, 2014). Cognitive factors are opinionated characteristics such as attitudes and values (Schiffman & Wisenblit, 2014). Segmenting a market can be a difficult process because some of the characteristic used are abstract and lay in the minds of the consumers. One such demographic is the elderly. Market researchers have learned repeatedly that older consumers are not a homogeneous group (Schiffman & Wisenblit, 2014). Part of the issue that the term elderly is a catch all for adults that are 65 or older (Schiffman & Wisenblit, 2014). With people living longer, the elderly segment tries to covers a range of more than twenty years of age. One…show more content…
Even when it is clear that may have great use for a product due to their age, the still expected to be marketed to respectfully. Miami-based AvMed Health Plans was very successful marketing to older consumers by acknowledging that not all elderly consumers are the same (Fletcher, 2010). Instead of attempting to remind everyone 65 and older about why they need a good health plan, they targeted younger healthier seniors with a direct mail campaign that address the fact that they were in good health (Fletcher, 2010). Unfortunately, not all companies are as successful when marketing seniors. When Gerber, the baby food maker, learned that elderly Americans with dental and stomach issues where eating their products, they decided to launch a new line aimed at senior citizens (The Economist Newspaper, 2002). Senior citizens where not interested in buy a baby food made for them and the product was
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