Two demographics, one market
According to Innova Market Insights, consumers aged 26 to 55 years old believe healthy ageing is linked to optimal dietary habits, and instead of accepting ageing as an immutable process, there are steps that consumers can take to maintain and even decrease biological age and enhance quality of life. Jennifer Cooper, president of Alternative Laboratories, articulates that “thinking of ageing as a condition that can be mitigated, treated and managed opens the door to recognizing, ameliorating and preventing specific signs, symptoms and risk factors that can change the trajectory of ageing that has been benignly accepted even forced upon us since the advent of modern medicine.” Healthy ageing considerations are widespread. The pursuit of healthy ageing is not confined to one demographic group; however, there are some fundamental differences in how different generations perceive and act towards the healthy ageing process. Awareness of the importance of healthy ageing is increasing in the younger generations due to the mindset of wanting to age healthily. Daniel Dietz, CEO at Longevity Labs Inc., noted that “consumption of the most innovative and novel healthy ageing approaches appears to be cross-border, throughout the demographic spectrum, age groups, genders, and geographic locations.” He further shared that many early movers in their customer base have high disposable income, self-efficacy, and self-education. Interestingly, Dr Francis Palmer, chief medical officer at Ponce de Leon Health, added that consumers from a younger demographic are demotivated to pay for high priced services and products related to healthy ageing compared to older consumers. This suggests older consumers are more likely to pay premium for solutions that optimise healthy ageing. Consumers aged 50 years and older makes up the largest, fastest growing, and wealthiest portion of the population within most developed markets. Mackinnon believes “this cohort is focussed on maintaining both their physical and mental abilities as they age. They recognise that health spans various dimensions including nutrition, sleep, mindfulness and fitness, and their spending power is greater than younger age groups.” Dr Dilip Ghosh, director of Nutriconnect, Sydney, Australia, further added that consumers aged 40 years and older are seeking science evidence-based products which focus on cognitive, gut, and joint health and are advocated by healthcare professionals. Younger consumers, however, are in an age closely connected with greater sustainability awareness, the importance of self-care, and increased knowledge connecting physical health and mental health—all of which contribute to the popularity of healthy ageing products. Amanda Mackinnon, marketing and communications manager at Marinova, articulated that “formulators are increasingly catering to a younger, environmentally conscious consumer base looking for products with proven efficacy that simultaneously cause the least amount of harm to the planet.” Further, the COVID-19 pandemic has taught the younger generations about the uncertainty of mortality. Mark JS Miller, PhD, MBA, FACN, CNS, shared that younger consumers want “answers they may not have approached before the pandemic.” He also noted that younger consumers are heavily influenced by social media and influencers which leads them to pursue healthy ageing strategies related to beauty from within. On the other hand, the older consumers tend to search for products related to optimising their body health, and “focus on lost performance outcomes encompassing memory, cognition, vision, mobility, bone and muscle, cardiovascular and kidney, and gastrointestinal health.” Different circumstances of healthy ageing impacting the older generation create a set of priorities and motivations distinct from the younger groups. According to Cooper, each demographic groups’ priorities have different aligned expectations of what the golden years will look like for the next 50 years. She further noted that nowadays, when looking into the future years for healthy ageing, “the expectation is no longer to retire to the front porch rocking chairs. Living longer gets infinitely more attractive if we can in fact, live better. The goal now is to preserve a high quality of life, activity and ultimately wellness for as long as possible.”
Exploring healthy ageing markets, ingredients, and consumer trends — Video