A recent Pew Internet & American Life Project survey, http://www.pewinternet.org/, found that 63% of adults aged 50-64 and 25% of adults aged 65+ were active online.[1] This growing “Baby Boomer and Older” audience is more computer savvy than ever and they are influencing the way organizations do business online.
The U. S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/, projects there will be 77.2 million people age 55 and over in 2011; and 88 million by 2016.[2] The 50-plus market constitutes 41% of the U.S. population, controls 75% of the nation’s wealth, and accounts for more than 50% percent of all consumer spending.[3] Seniors spend more on travel, recreation, health and personal-care products than any other age group. They are major online purchasers.[4]
e-Marketer, http://www.emarketer.com/, states that, “Internet usage by baby boomers—and over-60s—is projected to continue rising well into the future. These trends create an irresistible opportunity for marketers.” The number of U. S. baby boomers who use the Internet at least once a month will grow from 60.6 million in 2008 to 63.7 million in 2011. Over-62 use will be growing from 20.5 million on the Internet in 2006 to 25.3 million by 2011.[5]
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project’s Generations Online in 2009, older generations use the internet as a tool for news, research, shopping and banking. In particular, older internet users are significantly more likely than younger generations to look online for health information.[6]
On the AARP website, http://www.aarp.org/, “Founded in 1958, AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50 and over improve the quality of their lives. AARP has grown to 40 million members and has offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As the nation’s largest membership organization for people 50+, AARP is leading a revolution in the way people view and live life after 50.” [7]
The AARP’s Online Network Media Kit states that, “today’s 50+ audience is more vibrant, active and healthy than any preceding generation. They are powerful in number, surprisingly tech savvy, and are redefining our expectations on age, vitality, and life….We reach an active, affluent, and vibrant audience. Our members are avid travelers, are educated about their health, and use the Internet to research both small and large purchases….AARP visitors are active and diverse: 44% male, 56% female, 69.8% married, mean household income: $71,544, 45.4% employed full time or part time, 86.3% own a residence. [They are] online savvy: 90% have been online for 3+ years, and 53% have been online for 10+ years, 91% go online every day, 96% shop online. They know their way around the AARP Online Network: over 2.5 million unique visitors, over 40 million page views a month, average minutes spent on site per visitor: 25 minutes.”[8]
AARP ranks 3,820 on Alexa, http://www.alexa.com/. Top keywords driving traffic to aarp.org from search engines are: aarp, aarp games, social security, aarp health insurance, reverse mortgage, aarp travel, aarp insurance, aarp.com, and aarp discounts. Relative to the general population, aarp.org is more popular with 45+ and less popular with 18-44.[9]
AARP.org has a clear purpose in providing a variety of information to its viewers: health, money, leisure, make a difference, family, online community, membership. Its audience is older people – men and women. The site does appeal to its audience. There is good content that would appear to satisfy the needs, wants, and desires of the target market. It makes a sincere effort to establish trust and credibility. It does not make a strong effort to appeal to the self-concept or identity of the audience. The quality of the information is detailed and appears to be unbiased.
There is good unity of design for the home page and over the entire site. The choice of a white background for the older audience is a good one. There is good contrast, and the images are easy to see and the text is easy to read. The focal point is clear with a picture in the center of the page and frames are used to organize information. Appropriate pictures and symbols are used throughout the site. The site is somewhat cluttered with a lot of information. There is a little animation with the main photographs on the home page rotating, but it is effective. The opening screen has lots of items to click on, making it a little too busy. The type face on the fonts makes for easy reading.
In all this is a very good comprehensive site for the target market of older people who want information and may even be inclined to participate in the organization’s activities.
According to its website, http://www.thirdage.com/, “ThirdAge Inc. is a leading online lifestage media, marketing and consumer insight company exclusively focused on serving baby boomers. Through strategic partnerships and integrated advertising campaigns, we help companies build lasting relationships with our audience.”[10]
In their online Media Kit, ThirdAge states that, “Generally in their early 40s to late 60s, these ThirdAgers are nowhere near ready to retire -- or even wind down. Rather, they are redefining what it means to get older, and doing so on their own terms. ThirdAge provides them with trusted content, informed insights and community connecting tools to do just that.”[11]
Continuing on the ThirdAge website, “Over the last decade, ThirdAge has built a loyal and trusting community of individuals intent on living life to it’s fullest. They return to ThirdAge for content that is relevant and useful to their changing lives. More than 1,000,000 unique visitors come to ThirdAge every month and close to 1,000,000 subscribers receive our customized newsletters each week.” .”[12] According to their online Media Kit, ThirdAge visitors are: 73% between 40 and 65 years old, 70% female, 30% male, 50% married.[13]
ThirdAge ranks 22,760 on Alexa. Top keywords driving traffic to thirdage.com from search engines are: menopause, third age, sex goddess, romance sex, fantasies, the third age, sugar and spice and everything nice, and first date ideas. Relative to the general population, thirdage.com is more popular with 55+ and (surprisingly) 18-24, and less popular with 25-54.[14]
ThirdAge.com has a clear purpose in providing a variety of information to its viewers: health and wellness, family and friends, relationships and sex, money and work, beauty and style, travel and pastimes. Its audience is middle age people – primarily women. The site does appeal to its audience. There is reasonable content that would appear to probably satisfy the needs, wants, and desires of the target market. I have questions about trust and credibility. It makes a very strong effort to appeal to the self-concept or identity of the audience. The quality of the information is somewhat superficial and purports to be unbiased.
There is good unity of design for the home page and over the entire site. The choice of a light blue-green background for the audience is a good one. There is good contrast, with images that are easy to see and text that is easy to read. The focal point is clear with a large picture at the top of the page and frames are used to organize information. Appropriate pictures and symbols are used throughout the site. The site is clear and clean. No animation is evident. The opening screen has a big picture (currently of Hillary Clinton and Sonia Sotomayor – Breaking News, Breaking Bones) and a few other items to click on. The type face on the fonts makes for easy reading.
In all this is probably a good site for the target market of middle age people – primarily women - who want personal life style information in an easy manner.
See Evaluating Web Page Design by Dr. Gloria M. Boone at http://infoarc.50megs.com/nm/evaluatingweb.html.
[1] Pew Internet and American Life Project (2008, August) Internet Access Among Older Adults. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.pewinternet.org./
[2] United States Census Bureau. Population Projections. Retrieved June 18, 2009, from http://www.census.gov./
[3] AARP. Online Network Media Kit. Retrieved June 19,2009, from http://www.aarp.org./
[4] Third Age. Media Kit. Retrieved June 19, 2009, from http://www.thirdage.com/
[5] eMarketer. (2007, December). Baby Boomers and Silver Surfers: Two generations online. retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://www.emarketer.com./
[6] Pew Internet and American Life Project. (2009, January) Generations Online in 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2009, from http://www.pewinternet.org./
[7] AARP. About AARP. Retrieved June 19, 2009, from http://www.aarp.org./
[8] AARP. Online Network Media Kit.
[9] Alexa. Traffic Details. Retrieved June 19, 2009 from http://www.alexa.com./
[10] ThirdAge. About Us. Retrieved June 19, 2009, from http://www.thirdage.com./
[11] ThirdAge. Media Kit.
[12] ThirdAge. About Us.
[13] ThirdAge. Media Kit.
[14] Alexa Traffic Details.
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