Best ager

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Under Best Ager (also Gold Generation, Generation 50plus Silver Ager, Golden Ager, Third Ager, MasterCard consumer, Mature Consumer, Senior Citizens, "over 50s") is the marketing and related commercial areas, a target group of people with an age of about 50 years ago. For many of the terms mentioned, it is unclear whether the “best years” end with death or well before (e.g. with retirement and the loss of income that is usually associated with it).

The best ager as an ideal type

In marketing and social science research, the term “best ager” forms a link in the series “ youngster ” - “ mid ager ” - “best ager” - “ senior ”. Alternatively, a distinction is made between "children", "adolescents", "young adults", "best agers" and "seniors".

Marketing experts' point of view

With this series formation, marketing experts aim to record ideally age- and milieu-specific needs and to provide appropriate offers as well as to present the age-specific average development of the purchasing power of typical consumer groups.

The most essential and most interesting feature of the best agers for marketing researchers is their relatively high average disposable income. Best agers are therefore seen as having purchasing power, willing to consume, but also quality-conscious. Your buying behavior is examined in many studies.

Perspective of social scientists

From the point of view of social scientists, best agers constitute a risk group on the labor market. Those of them who are dependent on finding (new) employment opportunities encounter considerable problems on the labor market. According to a study by the Institute for Employment Research , older unemployed people still find it difficult to find a job despite the increasing shortage of skilled workers in Germany.

In order to improve the placement chances of older workers, the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs launched the “Perspective 50plus. Employment pacts in the regions ”.

The views of marketing experts and social scientists only seem to contradict each other: The position of best agers is actually relatively secure, as only 0.6 percent of them per month are laid off from employment subject to social insurance contributions into unemployment (this fate hits the Average of all age groups 0.9 percent of all employees subject to social insurance). But once they have become unemployed, it is more difficult than younger people to find a job again.

Demographics

This article or paragraph presents the situation in Germany . Help us to describe the situation in other countries.

Classification based on the population projection for 2010
Classification based on the population projection for 2060

Mainly due to the consistently low number of newborns since the 1970s, the German population is expected to shrink from the current 82 million to 64.7 million by 2060 - according to a study by the Federal Statistical Office published at the end of 2009 .

The possibility for companies to replace members of the baby boom cohorts born up to 1966 with younger employees who grew up in Germany is continuously decreasing. This reduces the risk of older employees of being laid off and not finding a new job, so that in the medium to long term, an increasingly larger proportion of those over 50 years of age will actually comply with the advertising model of the best agers. At the same time, increasing problems with financing retirement are increasing the pressure on the best agers and their willingness to remain gainfully employed. The financial situation of those best agers without significant capital income, on the other hand, who cannot work until the statutory retirement age, will continue to deteriorate, as will that of the average regular pensioner.

Best Agers and the Internet

The term silver surfers has established itself in connection with the use of the Internet by best agers and seniors . According to a study by the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) in July 2007, for which around 7,000 people in ten European countries were surveyed, 24 percent of the best agers are regularly online (primarily to research with the help of search engines and to inquire about E -Sending and receiving emails). In Germany, almost 90 percent of 55-year-old internet users make use of these options. 23 percent of those surveyed exchange information with other Internet users in forums, 17 percent download music and 16 percent make calls over the Internet.

51 percent of German silver surfers have broadband internet access . According to the study, silver surfers spend an average of seven hours a week online (1.8 hours less than the average European silver surfer). In mid-2018, 50 to 59-year-olds spent an average of more than two hours a day on the Internet.

criticism

The term "Best Ager" (female form: "Best Agerin") is a German pseudo- Anglicism , which is probably derived from the expression "in the best age" and is neither common nor understandable outside the German-speaking area. In English one usually speaks of "over 50s", although the difference to the group of "Seniors" (in the sense of the above-mentioned pseudo-English, but actually German series of terms) remains unclear.

Linking the rating “best age” with the time after a person's 50th birthday gives rise to the misleading idea that every person has the best time of their life during this period. Apart from the fact that some people in Europe do not live to see their 50th birthday, the answer to the question of when a person is actually in his prime depends to a large extent on the professional position achieved and the income associated with it Performance and health, his subjective feelings and his individual behavior in different phases of life . For example, for most competitive athletes, their best phase of life is over by their 40th birthday at the latest. The same applies to many professions in which top fitness or a youthful appearance are the most important basis for success in the profession.

The idea that there is a “generation 50 plus” is sharply criticized by advertising researcher Dieter K. Müller: “As little as a 15-year-old schoolboy and a 45-year-old manager have in common in their media use and consumption habits, a 55-year-old has little in common -year-old manager and an 80-year-old resident of a retirement home. "

In view of the challenges of demographic change in Germany, due to which people have to be motivated for life to stay healthy and to work as long as possible, the general assumption that over 50 years of age are by definition "best agers" is nothing but "conceptual cosmetics" .

literature

  • Sebastian van Baal: Consumers aged 50 and over as a target group in e-commerce: Comparative results of an empirical study. Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-935546-03-4 .

swell

  1. ↑ Elke Verheugen: Future Market Best Age. A contribution to the differentiation between senior marketing and best-age marketing . December 2003
  2. ↑ Looking for a job in their prime . Die Zeit , issue 1/2012
  3. ↑ Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs: Perspective 50plus. 1. Program phase ( Memento of the original dated November 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.perspektiven50plus.de
  4. ↑ Myths of work: every second company doesn't employ anyone over 50 - right? Der Spiegel , April 17, 2012.
  5. ↑ EIAA Silver Surfers Report - Executive Summary ( Memento of March 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ ARD / ZDF online study 2018.
  7. ↑ Duden: Best Ager, Best Agerin
  8. ↑ TV advertising: Kukident and consumption . Der Tagesspiegel , July 12, 2008.
  9. ↑ Fraunhofer Institute for Labor Economics and Organization (IAO): Study "Aging Appropriate Working". Results report with company examples . 2014, p. 13.

Web links

Wiktionary: Best Ager  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations