Senior Market Increases Use of Internet and Mobile

Seniors are not as tech savvy as millennials yet, but older consumers' Internet and mobile use is climbing. In fact, if higher-income Americans age 65 and up are the target market, be aware that these seniors now use the Internet and broadband at rates approaching or even exceeding the usage rate of the general adult population, according to the latest Pew Research Center study as reported by MarketingProfs. For example, 90% of seniors with an annual household income of $75,000 or more go online and 82% have broadband Internet access at home, compared with rates of 86% and 70% respectively for all adults over age 18. That said, only 59% of seniors overall reported going online in 2013, although that senior rate was still six percentage points ahead of where the 65-plus crowd was in 2012. And, of the seniors who did use the Internet, 71% reported going online every day or almost every day. The Pew study had some senior news for mobile marketers, too: By last year, 77% of U.S. seniors owned a cell phone (up from 69% a year earlier), although only 18% of seniors reported owning a smartphone and 27% had a tablet or e-reader. For more on the Pew data, see the MarketingProfs article at http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/24878/how-older-americans-are-using-technology