Changes in value of the Generation 50 plus and the effects on retail marketing

Diploma Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Trade and Distribution, grade: 1,6, University of Cooperative Education Ravensburg, language: English, abstract: he situation of constantly growing and increasingly fast developments in society, economy and politics during the past years probably will not change in the next decades. One of the greatest and most significant trends in the society of industrial countries is the demographic change. Many western nations are experiencing a radically demographic revolution in their history which is about to change the age structure of the countries drastically. The fact of an increasing life expectancy is enhanced by a concurrently decreasing birth rate and leads to an obsolescence of the society, and therefore to a shift of the proportion between the generations from younger to older people. Only in a few years, for the first time, Germany's population will consist of more old people than of younger ones. In 2050, more than one third of the population will be over 60 years and only 16% under 20 years old, whereas 100 years before, in 1950, just 14.6% were between 60 and 80 years and 30.4% of the inhabitants under 20 years old. In consequence of this mentioned development, the main regarded issues are: •Analyzing the therewith connected shift of the value system of the older people and •Priority of rectification of the marketing concepts in retail, based on the new circumstances. Shift of the Value System In conjunction with the rising expectancy of life, the calendar age is not an ap- propriate criterion for splitting up the generations anymore, as in the past the age between 50 and 55 separated the older from the younger persons. Nowadays it is the functional age that is deciding. Today's Generation 50plus and their values and needs are greatly varying from those of the people aged 50 in the past. The mental attitudes and wishes of the so calledBest Agersare much closer to those of a 45year-old than a 75-year-old person. It turns out that older people are more active, autonomous, wear more jeans and drink more Coke than their antecessors. A significant change has taken place in the last years and decades as the expected older generation does not consist of a homogeneous group, but has increasingly various feelings, thoughts and point of views about the way of living. Depending not only on the eventfully past of yesterday's older generation like war, hunger and diseases, their behavior and attitudes greatly differs from those of the seniors of today.