Segmenting the preferences and usage patterns of the mature consumer health‐care market
International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing
ISSN: 1750-6123
Article publication date: 4 April 2008
Abstract
Purpose
While the mature consumer segment (55‐and‐older) is rapidly growing in size, so too are their preferences, motives and spending patterns. The health‐care product and services industry, an industry driven by age, is no exception to the need to identify and accurately target this aging consumer segment. The purpose of this paper is to report on the preferences and marketing implications of this mature consumer segment with respect to health‐care products and services.
Design/methodology/approach
The information reported in this paper comes from two large‐scale national studies. The first study gathered information on health‐care services, information sources, payment systems, attitudes toward health‐care providers, and shopping habits. The second study gathered information on selected health‐care products, mass media habits, and several types of health‐related concerns and lifestyles.
Findings
The results of these studies show major differences in the way in which consumers within the mature consumer segment respond to various health‐care marketing offerings and provide the basis for developing strategic recommendations for marketing health‐care products and services to the mature population.
Originality/value
This paper uses a segmentation model based on aging processes and life circumstances, known as “gerontographics.” This unique segmentation technique has demonstrated superiority over the past 20 years through research conducted at the Center for Mature Consumer Studies at Georgia State University.
Keywords
Citation
Moschis, G.P. and Friend, S.B. (2008), "Segmenting the preferences and usage patterns of the mature consumer health‐care market", International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 7-21. https://doi.org/10.1108/17506120810865398
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited