Content area
Full text
Regardless of the target market, barriers to the adoption of innovations must be overcome by marketing strategies that encourage individuals to alter their consumer behavior in some way. When the target is the elderly market segment, special circumstances dictate unique strategies. Product, individual, and situational barriers to new-product adoption that are specific to the elderly are identified from a review of research on aging in several disciplines. Five barriers are discussed, and strategies are developed for overcoming these barriers to achieve the trial and adoption of innovations.
The marketing of new products is one of the most difficult challenges facing firms today. Shortening product life cycles, rapidly changing technology, and increasingly diverse markets are making generating new-product trial and adoption more difficult than ever before. The reality of this challenge is evident: American firms now spend nearly $70 billion annually on research and new-product development.(5)
Although many new products are actually "me-too" duplications, others are true product innovations in that they result in some change in consumer behavior and consumption. The fact that these product innovations must overcome significant barriers to gain success is well-illustrated by estimates of new-product failure rates that reach as high as 90 percent.(17)
Especially challenging is the failure of the elderly market to adopt innovations. When they do adopt ATMs, calculators, video recorders, and cable television, elderly consumers are among the last to do so.(1,6) Even products specifically developed for this segment have, for the most part, failed to be accepted: electronic pillboxes, and auto-dialer telephones are recent examples.(4)
Researchers have offered a number of reasons why the elderly market is slower to adopt new products. Product risks such as physical, financial, and social have been suggested. However, even when the adoption process is viewed from a symbolic decision model, the evidence suggests that the elderly are not as willing to accept innovative products.(8) Specifically, findings show that even when the adoption is limited to the acceptance of just the product idea, the elderly are still more cautious than their younger counterparts.
Marketing managers not only need to have a better understanding of how to enter product innovations successfully into the marketplace, but they must also grasp how marketing strategies differ for the elderly segment. The importance of this market...