When I first became involved in the Ageing Business – a long, long time ago – AARP had been at it for years. And here they are today, still plugging away to make corporate America aware of the economic values of oldies. AARP still defines older as being those aged 50+ – that is 132 million Americans.
Let’s not get sidetracked by definitions of old. My reason for writing this blog posting is to comment on AARPs recent report about how the 50+ use technology (2019 Tech and the 50+ Survey). What caught my attention was the press release about the organisation’s attendance at CES 2019 where it showcasing the ‘ $7.6T in Annual Economic Activity for Americans aged 50+’
There is no doubt that the tech uptake amongst older consumers has increased (that’s stating the obvious) but I have my doubts about AARP’s forecasts for the usage levels in the older age groups – especially the 70+.
The research sample that is providing all these forecasts is 1,456 Americans aged 50+ who took part in an online survey. Now maybe the clever people at the research company made allowances for the significant numbers of older people who are not online and those with very basic digital skills. Surely, they don’t believe their research sample, who is willing and capable of completing an online survey, is representative of the range of digital interests of the old age group?
So I am holding up a warning sign. The graphs are great and it contains lots and lots of numbers but you need to remember the research sample and how they were canvassed. My guess is that it over states the level of digital literacy and engagement.
Hopefully a bright spark from AARP can convince me I am wrong. Dick Stroud
Read the original post here.
