Looking Ahead

The aging marketplace has been creating business opportunities in several industries, including healthcare, housing, long-term care, and travel and leisure. The increasing in size mature consumer market has been affecting the way companies have been marketing their products and services. As increasing life expectancy is a global trend, it is imperative that marketers understand the demographic changes that are likely to unfold over the coming years, as well as the challenges and opportunities that they present for achieving sustainable development in concert with the efficient use of our planet’s resources, and concurrently maintaining or enhancing the QOL of present and future generations. Businesses in both developed and developing countries are likely to be affected by the changing demographics of our globe. They are likely to be selling an increasing portion of consumer products to aging customers. Because older consumers differ from younger consumers, as well as because of the increasing diversity in the older population associated with increasing age, global marketers would have to better understand their aging customers in order to better address their needs. This chapter has highlighted several challenges that marketers are likely to be faced with in future years, and has suggested ways of addressing them.