Senior Segmentation: The Boomer Silver Tsunami

With the roughly 10,000 Baby Boomers turning 65 every day from 2011 through 2029, this demographic represents a large and influential segment of society totaling roughly 70 million people who are expected to change the dynamics and definition of retirement.

Given the size, accumulated wealth and Boomer buying power, marketers shouldn’t ignore this age group. Consequently, Rain the Growth Agency developed a Senior segmentation identifying three discrete Baby Boomer cohorts using 2021 data from Claritas and recent data from various secondary research sources, including MRI-Simmons and YouGov. This segmentation data and subsequent proprietary research conducted by the agency can help marketers position their brands to discrete segments within the Boomer Silver Tsunami.

Baby Boomer Segments

1. Nostalgic Conservatives:
   • Thrifty, Fixed Income Seniors with a median age of 73 from lower income households (segment size 22.3 million)
2. Seniors Living Simply:
   • Traditional, Mid-Income Seniors with a median age of 66 from mid-to-high income households (segment size 22.6 million)
3. Progressive, Knowledgeable Nesters:
   • Savvy, Affluent Seniors with a median age of 66 from high-income households (segment size 18.2 million)

Segment Profiles and Personas

Nostalgic Conservatives (Mary)

• Demographics:
  • Retired Caucasian female living in the Midwest or South with a household income of $30,226.
• Housing:
  • Owns her home with a value of $189,521 and has lived there for roughly 14 years.
• Lifestyle, Health & Beliefs:
  • Lives a “Faith & Family” lifestyle in a small town; nostalgic about the past and feels that older people are often the most overlooked group in society.
  • Considers herself mentally/emotionally healthy but does not exercise much and describes her physical health as fair to poor. She typically does not pay attention to nutrition or to plan meals ahead.
  • Overall, Nostalgic Conservatives, like Mary, think they can do more to live life to the fullest.
• Technology & Environmental Attitudes:
  • Mary has little concern for keeping up with the latest technology and is typically a light mobile user.
  • Nostalgic Conservatives, like Mary, are “Green in theory,” but they do not participate in environmentally-friendly behavior.
• Shopping & Dining Behavior:
  • Mary likes to shop at Walmart and Dollar General; drive a Nissan and dine at Cracker Barrel (average receipt $40).
• Media:
  • Heaviest TV watcher at 45 hours per week.
  • Top channels are Fox News, Lifetime, CBS and Hallmark.

Seniors Living Simply (Dan & Nancy)

• Demographics:
  • Dan and Nancy are a college-educated retired couple living in Central Florida.
• Housing:
  • Own their home with an average value of $262,723 and have lived there for roughly 14 years.
• Lifestyle, Health & Beliefs:
  • They live a “Faith & Family” lifestyle and are happy with their standard of living. They value their partner and enjoy being social.
  • While 44% do not exercise at all, they consider their health to be very good or good.
• Technology & Environmental Attitudes:
  • Dan and Nancy are slow adapters to new technology and use mobile for just the essentials (voice and text). While they are starting to become a bit more tech-savvy, they have a low propensity to use social media other than Facebook.
  • Environmental issues are not seen as important, as they are not willing to give up convenience.
• Shopping & Dining Behavior:
  • Dan and Nancy like to shop at Publix, Dillard’s and Sam’s Club; drive a Buick and dine at Outback (average receipt $60).
  • Seniors Living Simply, like Dan and Nancy, would not be considered “foodies”, as they do not pay attention to nutrition and value quantity over quality.
• Media Usage:
  • Heavy TV viewers averaging 33 hours per week.
  • Top channels are Fox News, Fox Business, MLB, DIY Network and TCM.

Progressive, Empty Nesters (Sharon & Richard)

• Demographics:
  • Sharon and Richard are college-educated, Caucasians who are still employed, married with a high household income of $154,883.
• Housing:
  • Own their home with an average value of $456,875 and have lived there for roughly 15 years.
• Lifestyle, Health & Beliefs:
  • Sharon and Richard value their partner, nature, family and enjoy challenges that leads to accomplishments.
  • They are exercisers—especially in the outdoors—are mindful of wellness; pay attention to nutrition and describe their health as very good to excellent.
• Technology & Environmental Attitudes:
  • They are the most technologically savvy of the Boomer segments and use tech in everyday life; are likely online shoppers, heavy online researchers and over-index on tablet usage. Top websites include LinkedIn and Facebook.
• Shopping & Dining Behavior:
  • Sharon and Richard like to shop at Safeway, Neiman Marcus, and Costco; drive a Lexus and dine at Panera Bread or Bonefish Grill (average dining receipt is $100).
• Media Usage:
  • Still heavy TV viewers but skew towards medium usage of 28 hours per week.
  • Top channels include Fox business, MSNBC, PBS, Golf, CNN, HGTV and the Cooking channel.
  • Most likely to stream vs. other senior segments, good usage of radio—even podcasts—high skew for Audible.

This Senior Segmentation clearly demonstrates that Seniors are not a one-size-fits-all monolith outlining three discrete, scalable and addressable Boomer segments for marketers.

For more information on Rain the Growth Agency’s Senior Segmentation research and how your business can connect with the Boomer Silver Tsunami, visit https://55plus.rainforgrowth.com/.

Preview our Boomer Silver Tsunami research by clicking here.
Listen to one of our experts dispel myths of the senior population on this Claritas podcast.