Baby Boomers Have The Time, Money And Lifestyle To Fuel Broadband Growth In a follow-up on a recent Brief on BroadBand, another report summary by Ben Macklin for eMarketer says that
Baby Boomers created the internet, Gen X’ers tried to make money on it and Gen Y’ers are growing up with it. As baby boomers’ grow older, they will again be a significant driving force of change
within the internet sector. Never has it been so hip to target the 55 and up demographic, Macklin says.
Demographic Segments in the US, 2000 (millions)
Baby Boomers
(1946-1965) 83.0 mm Generation X (1966-1982) 59.0 mm Generation Y (1983-Present) 72.0 mm
Source: eMarketer/US Census Bureau 2002 The age range that will
show the greatest growth in the US over the next 10 years is the 55 to 64 bracket, according to the Census. This age group will grow 48%; the total population will only grow 9% over the same period.
The baby boomer phenomenon is not restricted to the US -- it is apparent in many countries around the world.
Research from Pew Internet & American Life indicates that more people ages 35 to 54
have broadband than they do dial-up at home. This is particularly apparent in the 45 to 54 age range.
US At-Home Broadband and Dial-Up Users (% of respondents)
| Broadband | DialUp |
| 18-24 | 11% | 15% |
| 25-34 | 20 | 22 |
| 35-44 | 28 | 27 |
| 45-54 | 26 | 21 |
| 55+ | 14 | 15 |
Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project, June 2002
According to a recent report from Nielsen//NetRatings, older internet users were the fastest growing segment using broadband in December 2002. Nearly 3 million surfers ages 55 to 64 accessed the web
via high-speed connections, surging 78% year-over-year. More than 3.1 million internet users ages 50 to 54 logged online using faster connections last month, up 75%.
Considering all these
statistics, reports Macklin, it appears that the broadband baby boomer will be an important demographic segment for marketers, retailers and service providers in the coming years. These people will
want greater amounts of online health information, more sophisticated online tools to manage their finances, better and simpler applications so they can keep in touch with friends and family, and home
networking or home office devices and services.
Find out more here at eMarketer
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