Consumption of goods versus the consumption of services.
Many futurists and economic forecasters have predicted that 2009 will be the start of a prolonged depression similar to the one that befell Japan at the start of the ’90s. Authors like Daniel Arnold believe that the U.S. bust will be even more spectacular than the “Ten-year recession” that Japan has only recently emerged from.
At the heart of this thinking is the inexorable fact that 2009 marks the departure of the last of the baby boom generation from the nation’s workforce, and more importantly, from the ranks of the country’s shoppers and consumers. Not only are baby boomers a huge group, but they also happen to be the most affluent and most voracious (currently). As Japan experienced, older people produce and consume less. It’s a fact; and there’s little reason to believe our older people will be any different.
However, Japan’s economy was based primarily upon goods and the US economy is based, increasingly, around services. While older people may want to stop cluttering their lives with more things, it’s fairly certain that they’ll want to have more things done for them as they age, rather than less. Clearly this bodes well for the future of marketing as a service. While advertisers ignore or struggle with reaching older audiences, those who opt for creating services to enhance and market their offerings are likely to be welcomed with open arms by the largest and most affluent group of retirees this nation has ever seen.
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