China's greying consumers

While the government grapples with these funding issues, the accelerating greying of China’s population presents opportunities for companies – domestic and foreign – that can target mature Chinese consumers. Only 10 per cent of the products and services bought by senior citizens are estimated to be actually aimed at them, so there is great potential.
What is the best strategy to reach China’s mature market, and how can smart marketers and advertisers capitalise on this opportunity?
Many of the marketing people I meet say that while China is becoming more modern and outward looking, it is not becoming more western. Most Chinese consumers – and certainly older consumers – still need to be approached with the understanding that their attitudes and beliefs have been shaped over a lifetime of experiences that have little in common with those of consumers in western markets.
For example, older Chinese have lived through, or are only one generation removed from, a succession of massive societal upheavals: civil war, World War II, famine, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
They grew up during a politically and economically insecure era in which the importance of sacrifice was stressed, age was seen as imparting wisdom, and obedience and respect from the younger generation were prevalent social values. But as younger Chinese embrace a consumer society and its trappings, older Chinese are often left feeling anxious, self-protective and insecure about their relevance.
How should marketers respond to this?
n By recognising their past. Position old-fashioned values as a source of future happiness, self-indulgence as a reward for enduring past deprivation
n By making “olden golden”. Acknowledge the wisdom of older consumers, show elders making smart purchasing decisions
n By attaining “forever young”. Brands promoting health benefits should move beyond worry-based protection, such as supplementing calcium deficiency, to embrace life-enhancing liberation, such as running shoes for the elderly who crave “new roads and a new life”
n By tightening family bonding. Acknowledge the contribution of grandparents – in a single-child society that stresses the importance of the extended family, every “little treasure” has effectively six parents
n By building new communities. In an era of sweeping change and social disorientation, brands should be platforms for social bonding to help overcome the loneliness of old age.
If brands can get their message right and build a rapport with the elderly, their opportunities will be immense. About 22 per cent of Chinese will be older than 65 by 2040, a jump from just 9 per cent now. That’s a market of 320 million consumers – well worth attention.