Abstract
On the basis of Germany’s ageing population, companies are increasing their focus on the growing mature population group (roughly, 50+), which has significant purchase potential as well as modern values. However, the majority of elderly consumers believe that the economy does not cater sufficiently to their specific needs. Tomorrow’s successful products and services must have user friendliness and likeability as core properties. This target group must be addressed in appropriate ways, which calls for companies to synchronise product development and communication activities.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Chesbrough, H. (2003). Open innovation: the new imperative for creating and profiting from technology. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Deutsche Bank Research (2003). The silver test. Deutsche Bank Research, http://www.dbresearch.de/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_DE-PROD/PROD0000000000066853.pdf.
2 Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, the International Radio Exhibition Berlin.
Deutsche Seniorenliga e.V. (2010). Der Markt der Best Ager. Befragung Deutscher Werbeagenturen, www.deutsche-seniorenliga-de. Accessed June 2010.
GfK GeoMarketing GmbH (2008). GfK purchasing power study. http://www.gfk.com/group/ investor/key_figures_and_publications/investor_relations_news/news/002428/index.de. html.
Hesse, G. & Laubert, A. (2005). Hearing loss in the elderly – characteristics and location. Deutsches Ärzteblatt, 102(42), pp. 2864-2868.
Piller F. & Ihl, C. (2009). Open innovation with customers – Foundations, competences and international trends. Expert study commissioned by the European Union, the German Federal Ministry of Research and the Europäischer Sozialfond ESF. Published as part of the project “International Monitoring”. Aachen: RWTH ZLW-IMA 2009.
Piller, F., Walcher, D. (2006). Toolkits for idea competitions: A novel method to integrate users in new product development. R&D Management, 36(3), 307-318.
Research International Deutschland (2004). Deutsche Konsumenten fühlen sich beim Kauf von technischen Produkten überfordert. Survey by Research International Deutschland.
Terwiesch, C. & Xu, Y. (2008). Innovation contests, open innovation, and multiagent problem solving. Management Science, 54(9), 1529-1543.
von Hippel, E. (2005). Democratizing innovation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Leyhausen, F., Vossen, A. (2011). We could have known better – Consumer-oriented marketing in Germany’s ageing market. In: Boppel, M., Boehm, S., Kunisch, S. (eds) From Grey to Silver. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15594-9_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15594-9_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-15593-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-15594-9
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)