eMarketer projects that, in the next five years, the number of U.S. baby boomers who use the Internet at least once a month will grow by more than 5 million, from 58.2 million in 2006 to 63.7 million in 2011.
"Baby boomers are diverse, notoriously difficult to pigeonhole and sometimes overlooked by marketers," says Paul Verna, an eMarketer senior analyst. "But boomers…are increasingly turning to online and mobile channels for a wide variety of needs, including e-commerce, financial services, travel, entertainment, health and wellness information, news and user-generated content."
Silver surfers, or over-60s, are also a large segment of the U.S. Internet population, expected to grow from 17.7 million users in 2006 to 25.3 million by 2011.
"Silver surfers — also known as ‘the silent generation'— are also typically passed over by online marketers because most of them reached retirement age before computers and broadband access became ubiquitous in homes and offices," Verna says.
Over-60s may not be as numerous or influential online as younger generations, but they are determined to use the Web to further a broad range of interests, hobbies and professions.
"And what no marketer should forget," says Verna, "is that these two demographic groups have money to spend—lots of it."
The Conference Board, a nonprofit business think tank, found that boomers, on average, have more discretionary income than any other segment of the population: more than $24,000 a year per household.
"To focus on younger demographics at the exclusion of boomers and over-60s, as some marketers have done, is to miss a potentially huge opportunity to tap into a large, vibrant, diverse and fast-growing segment of the U.S. Internet population," Verna says.
