ABSTRACT
The study of human aging is not restricted to gerontologists, developmental psychologists, and health care researchers. Interest in the elderly is far-reaching and not purely academic. An understanding of human behavior over the life span is critical to many for-profit and nonprofit businesses whose markets (and employees) are aging. Aging of the population has an economic impact that businesses of all sizes must monitor and respond to with new strategies (Miller & Kim, 1999). During the past half century, businesses have relied on the baby-boom as a market for its products and services. Although this is the largest single demographic segment the U.S. population has produced, it is by no means the only one. All Americans are living longer and fuller lives. Further, “boomers” (and likewise Generations X and Y) have inevitably aged and become moving targets, with different needs and wants. The baby-boom generation has been a profitable segment to cater to in the past, but marketers now realize that the boomers’ parents are alive and well. This has caused marketing organizations to shift their focus from the youth-oriented culture we have been to the aging culture we have become (Hauser & Scarisbrick-Hauser, 1995).
