When the internet was first born, it was the domain of young people, and to a large extent it still is. Young is in its DNA.
Yet more and more seniors are using the internet, and in interesting ways, well beyond emailing pictures of their grandchildren or Googling their latest health issue, defying perception.
Altogether, the 62-plus set in the U.S. alone spends almost three quarters of a billion minutes on the internet each day, which makes them quite active users.
It also makes them all that much more reachable for marketers.
While seniors are not perceived as the ideal target for advertisers--most long ago developed their product preferences--they do notice ads, especially ads directed at them and their interests. That's according to a new study on seniors and their use of the web.
“What we found most surprising was how effective online advertising is with 62-plus consumers,” says Jackie Bartolotta, manager of market intelligence at Focalyst, a unit of research outfit Millward Brown, which did the study for AARP.
More than one third--just under 17 million people--of 62-pluses surf the internet, and that rises to over half among younger seniors, those 62-71, according to the Pew Internet and the American Life Project. Among the general population, some 75 percent access the internet.
On average those 62-plus spend about 44 minutes online a day. During this time they are doing everything from searching to banking and paying bills and booking vacations. Says Bartolotta: “Their activities are highly varied, despite perceptions that matures are not technologically savvy.”
That should not be all that surprising. Compared to seniors who are not online, these folks tend to be better educated, wealthier and bigger spenders. Also in recent years, the internet has become a lot easier for novices to get the hang of, with more and more functions designed to be intuitive.
But perhaps most interesting, at least for marketers, is that while seniors don’t notice as much advertising as younger age groups, they are actually slightly more likely to be persuaded by advertising, the study found.
Out of every 100 matures that view any online ad, 1.5 intend to make a purchase. This figure is 1.4 percent for baby boomers down through generations X, Y and Z.
“The research suggests that older consumers are paying attention when the advertisement is for a product that they are in the market for, and that yes, they are then more swayed to make a purchase,” says Bartolotta.
In categories where seniors are more engaged than other demographics, such as pharmaceuticals, they are far more likely to be shifted toward a purchase than younger consumers, says Bartolotta.
In fact, in the pharmaceutical category 2.8 percent of those shown an ad say they intend to make a purchase. That compares to just 1.6 percent of boomers and 0.7 percent of generations X, Y and Z.
Some of the other categories where seniors cite higher purchase intent after seeing advertising are insurance, entertainment and travel.
***
Meanwhile, in online ratings for the week ended May 4, according to Nielsen Online, Google claimed the top spot among parent companies, followed by Microsoft, Yahoo, Time Warner and News Corp. Online. The top five brands were Google, Yahoo, MSN/Windows Live, Microsoft and AOL Media Network for the seventh straight week.
NexTag remained the No. 1 advertiser for the third straight week with 6 million impressions, just ahead of Experian Group Limited’s 5.97 million. With 29.8 million ads served, Yahoo was again the top advertising site, well ahead of No. 2 MySpace at 5.9 million.
Sessions per person per week were even to the previous week at 16, and domains visited per person were even at 39. PC time per person was up 1 percent compared with the previous week, to 17 hours and 30 minutes.
|
Top 25 parent companies
Through May 4 |
|
#
|
Parent
|
Unique Audience (000)
|
Reach %
|
Time Spent per Person (hh:mm:ss)
|
|
1
|
Google
|
94,421
|
65.8
|
0:35:25
|
|
2
|
Microsoft
|
87,589
|
61.0
|
0:44:19
|
|
3
|
Yahoo!
|
78,017
|
54.4
|
1:04:55
|
|
4
|
Time Warner
|
69,118
|
48.2
|
1:18:19
|
|
5
|
News Corp. Online
|
44,899
|
31.3
|
0:45:49
|
|
6
|
eBay
|
36,590
|
25.5
|
0:47:38
|
|
7
|
InterActiveCorp
|
29,054
|
20.2
|
0:12:04
|
|
8
|
Wikimedia Foundation
|
26,774
|
18.7
|
0:09:04
|
|
9
|
Amazon
|
25,452
|
17.7
|
0:13:17
|
|
10
|
Apple Computer
|
24,802
|
17.3
|
0:30:17
|
|
11
|
New York Times Company
|
24,240
|
16.9
|
0:09:01
|
|
12
|
Landmark Communications
|
23,479
|
16.4
|
0:10:59
|
|
13
|
Walt Disney Internet Group
|
22,662
|
15.8
|
0:24:28
|
|
14
|
AT&T Inc.
|
18,309
|
12.8
|
0:20:29
|
|
15
|
RealNetworks, Inc.
|
15,748
|
11.0
|
0:13:44
|
|
16
|
E.W. Scripps Company
|
13,969
|
9.7
|
0:06:06
|
|
17
|
Verizon Communications
|
13,606
|
9.5
|
0:18:21
|
|
18
|
Comcast Corp.
|
13,605
|
9.5
|
0:31:27
|
|
19
|
CraigsList
|
13,094
|
9.1
|
0:38:13
|
|
20
|
Bank of America
|
13,009
|
9.1
|
0:24:55
|
|
21
|
U.S. Dept. of the Treasury (USDT)
|
12,764
|
8.9
|
0:09:48
|
|
22
|
CNET Networks
|
12,196
|
8.5
|
0:05:09
|
|
23
|
Gannett
|
11,273
|
7.9
|
0:10:45
|
|
24
|
Viacom Digital
|
11,255
|
7.8
|
0:23:24
|
|
25
|
United Online
|
10,918
|
7.6
|
0:29:44
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online
|
|
Top 25 brands
Through May 4 |
|
|
Parent
|
Unique Audience (000)
|
Reach %
|
Time spent per person (hh:mm:ss)
|
|
1 |
Google
|
87,439
|
60.9
|
0:26:32
|
|
2 |
Yahoo!
|
76,673
|
53.4
|
1:05:35
|
|
3 |
MSN/Windows Live
|
64,955
|
45.3
|
0:46:32
|
|
4 |
Microsoft
|
55,875
|
38.9
|
0:15:07
|
|
5 |
AOL Media Network
|
54,119
|
37.7
|
1:28:13
|
|
6 |
Fox Interactive Media
|
37,534
|
26.2
|
0:50:27
|
|
7 |
YouTube
|
34,341
|
