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Eating Habits & the Growing Mature Market
The buying and selling of property is a common experience for many mature consumers; as their children leave home and they retire, their changing needs often trigger a move or, in some cases, the purchase of vacation or winter retreat homes. In February, ERA Real Estate announced the results of its annual mature consumer survey on attitudes towards real estate buying and selling. Gathered from more than 1500 respondents age 50 and older, these results uncover evolving attitudes on the subject, and some of the new opinions confound expectations.
For instance, it's ofen believed that most aging homeowners are considering, at some future point, either downsizing or moving into some type of active adult community. However, the survey results indicate otherwise. To wit:
- Only 8 percent of those considering a move in the next five years indicated that they might consider purchasing a home in an active adult community
- More than 61 percent consider purchasing a single-family home
- The average senior lives in a house with three or more bedrooms and two or more baths
- Only 11 percent felt their current home is too big
- Nearly 25 percent of respondents thought their home was too small
- Respondents cited better home or living conditions as the second most popular reason for buying a new residence
Mature consumers also proved to be more savvy and demanding regarding technology. In fact, those considering moving in the next five years chose the Internet as the most popular home buying research method, up from the second most common choice mentioned in study the previous year. However, while mature consumers leaned more towards the internet as an information-gathering tool, nearly 92% said they were only "somewhat likely" or "not at all likely" to choose a real estate agent on the basis of internet research. The survey showed that, for the most part, an existing relationship with a broker or real estate agent was the second most popular method for researching real estate.
"These survey results show that as more and more baby boomers turn 50, it is becoming harder to define the increasingly diverse mature consumer," said Brenda W. Casserly, president of ERA Franchise Systems, Inc. "Marketers today need to recognize the importance of understanding the many different concerns, wants and needs of these mature consumers to ensure they provide resources and services that are relevant and valuable."
The survey also revealed some notable trends regarding mature consumers' concerns about certain common economic costs. Though the mature market for real estate is historically strong and has seen continued price increases, more respondents expressed rising anxiety over prescription drug costs (62 percent), hospital-related costs (60 percent), income and other taxes (59 percent) and gas prices (56 percent).
Other findings:
- The increasing proportion of mature consumers in the U.S.
has been identified by the Economic Research Service (ERS) as one of three broad demographic trends set to shape future U.S.
food markets. These trends all influence ERS projections of growth in food expenditures and in demand for specific commodities between 2000 and 2020. While ERS models don't capture some of the subtler currents that will come into play here, they do allow us to compare the importance of the different demographic trends to specific food and commodity market segments. It may be that agri-business is set to change as much as our population demographics.
The aging of the baby boom generation, born between 1946 and 1964, will accelerate growth in the number of Americans older than 65, who will number 54 million by 2020. Although the U.S.
population under age 18 will increase by 7 million by 2020, it will decline as a share of the total population. Consequently, catering to the food preferences and eating habits of older Americans—who are, research shows, more health conscious than younger Americans—will be an important marketing strategy for food suppliers.
This trend is a mixed blessing for U.S.
agriculture and food service industries. Mature consumers typically eat less food than younger ones - having lower activity levels and energy needs - and dine out less frequently. Hence, the aging trend may reduce demand for some foods and dampen sales for restaurateurs and caterers. On the other hand, certain foods preferred by mature consumers will enjoy lively sales . To take some examples, ERS projections predict small declines in per capita consumption of fried potatoes, cheese, sugar, beef, and poultry, while an increase in mature consumers could signal an increase in per capita consumption of "other potatoes" (such as baked), eggs, fish, fruits, and vegetables.
Tomorrow's mature market, however, looks ready to spend more freely than today's. With a high rate of disposable income, more affluent mature consumers will drive demand for, among other items, exotic vegetables, luxury food items, high-quality ready-to-eat meals, more expensive cuts of meat and higher priced restaurants.
Baby boomers' coinciding interests in health and environmental sustainability mean that organic growers should enjoy great revenue-to-cost ratios in the coming decades. The proportion of organic growers to non-organic will increase, and non-organic producers will be answerable to consumers about their methods and quality control systems.
Food suppliers, retailers and other industry professionals should understand that catering to the modern consumer, particularly the mature market baby boomer, means adopting new ways of doing business. Closer links with others in the supply chain, and information technology systems that monitor and help control quality from farm to market, will be the norm. Such links are the hallmarks of new, consumer-driven agribusiness and food distribution.
Respondents named "one point of contact" during the transaction process as the service they are most looking for from a real estate agent - 57 percent of respondents would prefer to stay within 50 miles of their family during their next move, while a surprising 16 percent would consider a move of 1,000 miles or more
- Nearly one quarter of respondents have children living with them or who are receiving financial support
- Virtually all respondents (96 percent) own a personal computer
- Three out of four respondents own a DVD player and a cell phone
- Respondents ranked both in-depth property descriptions and photos or virtual tours as the most important factors when searching for real estate online
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