Inconspicuous Consumption

American Demographics, April 1, 2002

With most Boomers crossing the 50-year-old threshold by 2010, apparel manufacturers are starting to look for ways to appeal to mature shoppers. Already, companies like Talbot's and Ralph Lauren are adopting an "ageless image" - filling their ads with models from the 50-plus age cohort. And at a Plano, Texas, Lord & Taylor prototype store, developers implemented a decorating experiment to appeal to the over-50 set: chairs. Throughout the store, comfy, round-armed chairs are available for weary older spouses and friends to relax in while shoppers try on clothes. To Corlett, companies that ignore such innovations will themselves be retired by 2010. "The biggest challenge for retailers will be to have Boomers keep their high-spending habits with them," she says. "Marketers will have to kick it up."

Spending on entertainment declined between 1990 and 2000, in part because of competition in the leisure sector. Boomers flocked to movies as they left their rock concert-going years behind them. The percentage of frequent moviegoers among those over age 40 increased to 32 percent from 22 percent, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. At the same time, the box-office take rose by 58 percent to $7.6 billion, fueled by more mature moviegoers. According to the CEX, Boomers between ages 45 and 54 upped their spending for movie admissions by 17 percent to $637. No age group spent more.

But these increases were offset by the throngs of Americans who preferred in-home entertainment. As families increased their budgets for TVs, radios and audio equipment, it was the playrooms and family rooms that evolved into the entertainment center of choice. Americans between ages 55 and 64 increased their spending on consumer electronics by double-digit rates in 2000, to $581.

"People are staying closer to home, so they're investing more in entertainment systems," says Tom Edwards, an analyst with NPDTechworld, another online division at the NPD Group. "People who used to buy a 19-inch TV set are getting 27-inch TVs."

Technophiles need not despair, however, as the price of consumer electronics remains on a downward curve. Computers have gotten so cheap that they're killing the market for $200 Web browsers that attach to TVs. VCRs, launched 25 years ago for $1,200, cost less than $100 today. Like a toaster, a broken VCR is thrown away rather than repaired. "You never see pricing go up in electronics," says Edwards.

But Edwards still predicts that spending on entertainment devices will grow in the coming years. In his view, the next big thing will be a home networking device that will wirelessly connect home electronics - PCs, printers, phones, Palm Pilots, even stoves - to monitors throughout the house. From any room, you would be able to go online, turn on the lights and start the oven. "The computer will end up in the closet as a hub for home networking," says Edwards, who believes the companies best positioned to capitalize on home networks are today's electronic brand names such as Samsung, Sony and Philips. "You'll have interactive monitors in every room in the house."