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The elderly at the millennium: Courting the older consumer

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Abstract

A major debate in social gerontology has been where ageing might be going in the future. In this article, author Thomas K. Fitzgerald looks at media challenges as responses to economic realities, as well as futurist predictions of the millennium—the preeminent metaphor for the future. Progress is noted based on current metaphors of ageing and the aged as well as on the status of the elderly in consumer-oriented societies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC, U.S.A.

    Thomas K. Fitzgerald (Professor of Anthropology)

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  1. Thomas K. Fitzgerald
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Additional information

He has conducted extensive fieldwork in New Zealand as well as in North Carolina (elderly research), Sweden, Finland and Monserrat (West Indies). Present research interest is “Identity, Ageing & Possesions,” a joint research project with Anthropology and International Business School, UNCG. He welcomes comments; e-mail: tkfitzge@uncg.edu.

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Fitzgerald, T.K. The elderly at the millennium: Courting the older consumer. Ageing Int. 25, 72–86 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-999-1007-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-999-1007-3

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