Generation 50plus

Project Report from the year 2008 in the subject Communications - Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing, grade: B (= very good), The Royal Institute of Technology (JMK - Department of Journalism, Media and Communication), course: Method Project Course, language: English, abstract: The research question I am interested in is concerned to the generation 50plus: How is the generation 50plus perceived in German social magazines and to what extend are their needs served by the published ads in those magazines, i.e. how is the generation 50plus addressed by the (advertising) industry? I have chosen this topic, since it is of a current importance in the discussion of media target groups beyond the border of the standardized definition of the alleged relevant target group for advertisers in the age of 14 49 years. Especially the 50- to 64-year age group is more brand than price orientated. That means they have no problem to pay more for higher quality, to expand more for fashion, cosmetics and luxury articles, to wine and dine and to go out to theatres, cinemas or concerts quite often. It is estimated that the generation 50plus (also called "Best Ager") has a spending power about the half of the purchasing power potential in Germany circa 90 billion Euros and an above-averaged propensity to consume. Therefore their spending power is four times higher than that of average households. Furthermore nowadays the target group of the generation 50plus spans already 30 billion citizens in Germany. The share of the Best Ager of all Germans will increase from currently 37 percent to 50 percent by 2050. These data clarify why "the aged" became to a central economic factor in Germany (but for example also in USA and UK, where their relevance and potential has been recognized some years earlier) and claims for a rethinking in marketing strategies. To investigate the research question I am going to combine a qualitative and quantitative method discourse analysis and content analysis. I will use the discourse analysis to study how the generation 50plus is described in previous articles (i.e. from older issues) in German social magazines (Focus, Der Spiegel etc.) and with what meanings, needs and values is it connoted. If necessary, I will translate the analysed articles in English, but one should be conscious of the possibility, that a deeper meaning can get lost with the translation. The content analysis is used to study whether the needs and values of the generation 50plus are served by ads from those magazines I have analysed already before with the discourse analysis, i.e. ads in above mentioned social magazines. For this I will use one current issue per magazine and analyse all represented ads.