First, the huge demand market for the elderly.
(A), the characteristics of the elderly consumer market
As a special population group, the needs and consumption of the elderly are determined by their psychological and physiological characteristics. With the increase of age and the change of physiological conditions, the elderly have special material needs and spiritual needs different from other people. In other words, the basic demand characteristics of the elderly population determine the residential demand characteristics of the elderly population. Many changes have taken place in all aspects when people reach old age. Mainly: most of them quit the field of social and economic activities and spend their twilight years as the main life content after retirement. Most of the activities of the elderly are mainly family and community, and their leisure time is increasing. For health reasons, they pay more attention to their health, health care and longevity. The elderly and the disabled need social and family care and more time. Because they are old and weak, they need more auxiliary activities products from society to increase their self-help and activity ability, and they need more community services.
The arrival of an aging society not only brings many unfavorable factors to social development, but also breeds a huge consumer market with unlimited potential, and also brings new opportunities to manufacturers and businesses. Seize this opportunity, it is possible to open up new markets, and the pension industry will get unprecedented development. According to the theory of modern marketing, market demand is determined by three factors: first, people with certain needs and a certain population size are the prerequisites for forming a market and an industry; Secondly, in order to meet the purchasing power level of this need, purchasing power is a necessary condition for the formation of the elderly consumer market; Third, the desire to buy, people must have the desire to buy a certain commodity (service), in order to produce the actual purchase behavior market. The demand of the elderly consumer market can be expressed by the following formula: the demand of the elderly consumer market = the elderly population+purchasing desire+purchasing power.
According to the age structure of the elderly population, the elderly consumption market in China can be divided into three categories:
First, the market for the elderly, mainly aimed at the elderly over 80 who have poor self-care ability or can't take care of themselves, including nursing services, special nursing facilities and special commodities.
The second is to provide self-help sexual life AIDS for the frail elderly, such as electronic call-for-help devices, walkers, medical rehabilitation equipment, places, housekeeping services and psychological counseling services.
The third is to provide more facilities and places for leisure, recuperation and entertainment for the younger elderly consumer market, which is the so-called "elderly consumer preference" market. The development prospect of China's elderly industry is optimistic, because China has a large elderly population, stable income growth and many levels of demand, and the huge "empty nest families", lonely elderly and elderly people living alone are increasingly demanding social services. Due to the rapid growth and increasing proportion of the elderly population, the demand for medical services has always ranked first. There is a growing demand for services for the elderly who can still take care of themselves, home care for the elderly who are bedridden due to illness and self-help auxiliary equipment provided by the health of the elderly.
The pension industry has strong forward and backward effects. The long-term effect refers to the labor effect on the upstream industry. Due to the changes in the age structure of the population, the needs of the elderly will drive the development of a series of upstream industries such as traditional commodities. Backward effect refers to the thrust effect on downstream industries. The formation of the old-age industry will bring new development opportunities to many industries and industries, such as clothing, food, special goods, transportation, tourism, entertainment, welfare facilities for the elderly, housing and community services. Pension industry, like nano-industry, has the potential to form a national leading industry, and will quickly form a huge product group and enterprise group around the special needs of the elderly. It contains great wealth and the growth point of the new economy.
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(B) the needs of the elderly for special commodities
According to the survey of shopping desire and commodity demand of family relatives and elderly people with old people in Shanghai, ①. For families with elderly people, their relatives or children often buy things for the elderly: healthy food (38%), health care products (33%), clothing (19%), fitness equipment and cultural goods. In the choice of daily necessities, we mainly choose clothes suitable for the elderly, health products, medicated toothpaste, mattress medicated pillows that can promote microcirculation, fitness equipment, small flashlights that can illuminate and listen to sounds, magnetic therapy soft-soled slippers, and joint protection. In addition, some people expressed their willingness to buy infrared underwear, clothes that are easy to take off, cosmetics that protect the skin against aging, bidets, automatic dispensing and medicine timers, stationery and so on. (The most popular new products and services for online interviewees are accompanying reading, chatting, chatting, healthy food and health care products, and about 83% people choose these items. In addition, the number of people who choose stationery and zoom lenses is also high. 12% people think that the price is not a problem, but the key is that the goods are really suitable for the elderly. They pay more attention to the practicality, quality, price and brand of goods, and few people pay attention to packaging.
47% of the elderly products market is dissatisfied and dissatisfied, 4 1% thinks it is average, and only 12% is satisfied. They believe that the quality of goods should be directly proportional to publicity, and the commercial flavor of old-age products should not be too strong. It is best to deliver goods to your door, provide perfect after-sales service, develop more shopping environment for the elderly, explore more markets and diversify varieties.
Nearly half of the respondents in the online survey expressed dissatisfaction with the current market for elderly products. Their opinions are: merchants and manufacturers do not study the market carefully, do not pay attention to the investigation of market demand, know little about the special needs of the elderly, and there are few products suitable for the needs of the elderly, and the varieties are monotonous.
Most of the old people's pensions surveyed are concentrated in 500- 1500 yuan, accounting for more than 80% of the total number of people surveyed, which shows that the consumption market of the old people at this stage should be dominated by middle and low-grade products, that is, "cheap goods" should be the main body. Most of their income is used for basic family expenses and medical care, which shows that the overall consumption level of the elderly surveyed is still low. However, we should also see that many elderly people spend part of their income on savings, investment, stock copying and so on. This shows that they still have great consumption potential to tap. Therefore, the production and development of goods and services that truly meet the needs, preferences and reasonable prices of the elderly will promote the development of the elderly consumer market.
Most elderly people spend 3- 10 times a month, which is related to their inconvenient legs and feet and their preference for one-time purchase. But at the same time, it also shows that there is still a lack of shopping places suitable for the elderly in Shanghai, which can't attract the elderly to visit and choose what they like. In some economically developed countries, there are some elderly streets selling daily necessities for the elderly, mostly located near hospitals, nursing homes, temples, activity centers for the elderly and parks frequented by the elderly. Apart from the brand-new clothes and trousers worn by the elderly, most of the items sold on the street are second-hand. The things sold in "Old Street" are generally cheaper and can be bargained.
When investigating what goods are suitable for the elderly, among them, healthy food accounts for 3 1%. Frozen snacks account for 20%; Easy-to-open cans account for 7%; Chewing gum suitable for the elderly accounts for 5%. (daily necessities) medicinal toothpaste accounts for 60%; Cultural goods account for 55%; Health products account for 48%; Clothes suitable for the elderly accounted for 46%; Clothes that are easy to put on and take off account for 20%; Small refrigerator accounts for12%; Others (zoom lens that can see far and near, small flashlight that can illuminate and receive radio, "alarm" crutch, "luminous" crutch, music crutch, mattress pillow that can promote microcirculation, pedal refrigerator, portable urine bag, automatic dispensing timer, simple unpacking device, sitting shower, lifting bed and chair, music hypnotist, cosmetics that protect skin against aging, infrared underwear, etc.
In the clothing market for the elderly, 76% of the elderly are dissatisfied, 10% are very dissatisfied, 13% are satisfied, and only 1% are satisfied. In addition, 465,438+0% of the elderly think that it is necessary for the elderly to dress up with the changes of the times, 30% think it is necessary, 27% think it is average, and only 2% think it is unnecessary. With the development of economy, the concept of the elderly is also changing. They abandon the traditional way of dressing (either blue or black) and hope to dress themselves more beautifully.
When investigating whether the elderly can buy everything you want, the answer is 72%; 28% can't. When asked what can't be bought, the answer is: clothes worn by the elderly with novel styles and beautiful colors; Shoes suitable for the elderly; Pocket radio; Small washing machine; Emergency alarm; Modern Chinese medicine and health care medicine combining traditional Chinese and western medicine; Leisure and entertainment products suitable for the elderly.
What do the elderly value when shopping? The answer is that quality accounts for 80%; 55% value price; 565,438+0.8% value the beauty and practicality of articles; 9.6% value the brand of goods.
When asked if the elderly know that some shopping malls in Shanghai have special counters for the elderly, 49% people don't know. 5 1% got it. Almost half of the elderly people don't know that there are counters for the elderly, which means that the total number of counters for the elderly in Shanghai is small, and that the products of counters for the elderly are not attractive to the elderly, and quite a few products are not necessarily liked by the elderly.
In the survey, whether the elderly are satisfied with the current market for elderly products, the answer is satisfactory or relatively satisfactory11%; 89% are dissatisfied.
It can be said that on the whole, the old people are not satisfied with the current market.
From the above analysis, we can see that the first factor affecting the purchasing behavior of the elderly is quality. In fact, compared with people of other age groups, the consumption stability of the elderly is stronger. Old people and young people have different consumption concepts and psychology. Young people pay attention to the brand of goods, while old people pay more attention to the quality of goods. A major feature of shopping for the elderly is that they are willing to buy products that have been tested by their own or their loved ones and that they absolutely trust. In addition, the price factor ranks second, indicating that products for the elderly are not only good but also cheap to attract more elderly customers. For the producers and designers of articles for the elderly, designing articles suitable for the psychological and physiological needs of the elderly will be welcomed by the elderly. Faced with the huge demand market for the elderly, manufacturers can also make huge profits by making small profits but quick turnover. The key is that manufacturers and designers can see the huge demand market of the elderly, understand their special needs and develop products suitable for the needs of the elderly.
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(C) the needs of the elderly for the service market
With the improvement of people's living standards, the demand of the elderly for community services and entertainment is increasing, and the scope of service projects is also expanding. Community service projects to meet the needs of the elderly are particularly urgent. As people get older, their life scope is getting smaller and smaller, their social scope is getting narrower and narrower, and their activities are getting closer and closer. However, the elderly in modern society are increasingly demanding to expand their life fields and enrich their life in their later years. Many elderly people are no longer satisfied with playing chess and cards, but are eager to pursue a more elegant, entertaining, knowledgeable and self-beautified cultural life. These new phenomena in the life of the elderly show that the elderly are no longer satisfied with the traditional narrow consumption range such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, but have new consumption needs.
In western developed countries, the degree of socialized services is high, and the social services provided for the elderly are also various, including life services, such as housekeeping, sending meals home or helping to cook, preparing meals, taking a bath, having a haircut or sending the elderly out, chatting with the elderly, traveling or home maintenance services. There are also medical and health care services, such as patient care, treatment and health consultation, health guidance, psychological consultation and other services. Other services, such as consumer guidance, providing transportation for the elderly, helping the elderly find jobs and solving problems for the elderly, are readily available.
Because the whole social service industry in China is underdeveloped, there are few services that can be provided to the elderly, and the elderly industry has not yet formed a scale and is underdeveloped. The society has not paid enough attention to the development of services and entertainment facilities for the elderly, and has not paid attention to this huge demand, consumption and service market for the elderly. 64% of the elderly said that there were no fitness and entertainment activities and facilities suitable for them in their communities or streets, and 54% and 45% of the elderly expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of special elderly activity areas and medical institutions in their communities. There are still 40% and 18% elderly people who are dissatisfied with the convenience of transportation and shopping in the community. ②
Among the community services, housework accounts for 9.6%, followed by home-based aged care services for 6.7% and day care services for 5.6%. In suburban counties, the highest proportion of elderly people's needs is to accompany them to see a doctor, accounting for 1.5%, followed by accompanying them to read books and newspapers, accounting for 1.3%.
In the evaluation of the demand and necessity of community services for the elderly, the top three are: home-based care services, day care services and accompanying medical services. (Beijing Community Service Survey 1997) It is not difficult to see that with the aging of the elderly population, the demand for old-age care, nursing and home-based care will increase rapidly.
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(D) the housing needs of the elderly
For the elderly, housing is not only a place to live, but also a place to take care of the elderly and provide them with necessary services except sleeping, eating, entertainment and recreation. After leaving work, the elderly spend most of their time at home and in the community. Therefore, a comfortable and convenient family and community environment is very important for the elderly who transition from their career to retirement.
When people get old, their body, senses, intelligence, acceptance and ability to adapt to the environment will decline to varying degrees with the increase of age. As they grow older, they will gradually pay attention to some facilities such as steps, gullies, stairs and squatting toilets in public places and houses. These places that they didn't notice in their youth and prime of life will gradually become obstacles to their physical and psychological changes as they grow older. First of all, their feet are weak, especially going up and down stairs and uphill. Compared with people of other ages, their demand for various facilities in public places and residential facilities has many special needs-that is, they hope that all facilities in residential buildings should be barrier-free facilities. (Tao Liqun 199 1 Research Materials on Aging, China Aging Science Research Center)
From 65438 to 0998, the research group of "Research on Population Aging and Social Security System", the key topic of "National Ninth Five-Year Social Science" of China Aging Science Research Center, conducted the "Survey on Old-age Security for Urban Workers". The survey results ③ show that the first choice for the elderly to purchase equipment and facilities at home is emergency call equipment, accounting for 56.5%, and those elderly people are most worried about their sudden illness when there is no one at home.
Because the facilities in most houses can't meet the special needs of the elderly, they demand to increase various facilities that are convenient for the elderly to move and beneficial to health, such as canceling the stairs between rooms, reducing the height of stairs, adding kitchens, toilets, bathrooms and corridors suitable for the elderly to install handrails (figure 1). 37. 1% of the elderly reported that the space for daily activities was prominent, and there was a lack of places for activities around the general residence, such as:
Source: Survey on Old-age Security for Urban Workers in China Aging Science Research Center1998,7.
Parks, gymnasiums (institutes), etc. What they want to increase most are parks, sports venues and green spaces, accounting for 58.2%.
Secondly, increase the construction of cultural facilities, hospitals, shops and entertainment places, hoping to increase night lighting.
Widen the road and separate the sidewalk from the driveway. (Figure 2)
Most people's houses are acquired in middle age, raising children, and when the children get married and form a new family, only the old couple are left in the old house. Compared with new houses, these old houses are not only old, but also many facilities and structural designs are unreasonable, such as large room height difference, no handrails on walls, no anti-skid facilities in bathrooms and kitchens, and backward indoor equipment. The house has poor thermal insulation, the space is too narrow, the stairs are too steep, the toilet door opens inward, and there is no call system. According to a survey conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare, 64.4% of the people who died unexpectedly in their homes were elderly people over 65 years old, and 7 1.3% of them died because of the problems of residential facilities, mainly including slipping and tripping in bathtubs and bathrooms or falling off steps and pedals. More elderly people died in their own homes because of various accidents than in street traffic accidents, and the first cause of death at home was falling.
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(five) the environment that the elderly want to live in:
The elderly, especially the very old, hope to live independently for as long as possible, and at the same time hope to avoid being isolated from society and maintain certain social contacts;
They hope that the structure and facilities of the house can meet the psychological and physiological needs of the elderly, such as better insulation and sealing of the house. With the development of science and technology, the functions of house protection against fire and theft, automatic control functions such as lighting, temperature control and power saving, and internal communication functions such as walkie-talkie, telephone and closed-circuit television in residential areas should all be introduced with automation functions. Network function of housework management and community service reservation. When they are old and weak, they can still live in their familiar environment;
Security, through the special design of the elderly housing, make up for the lack of physiological functions of the elderly. Residential design should not only fully consider the physical and mental characteristics of the elderly, but also provide help for the elderly in emergencies.
As far as possible, the location of residential buildings for the elderly should consider convenient transportation, no noise interference around, elegant environment and perfect and convenient public service facilities;
The facilities in the old people's houses must be fully considered to make the old people convenient, comfortable and safe. Therefore, in residential entrances, stairs, elevators, bedrooms, toilets, bathrooms and other places where the elderly often move, it is required to have anti-skid facilities, no threshold, no stairs, no drop, and no slope at the entrance. There should be emergency call equipment, fire doors and clearly marked passages on the public facilities of residential buildings. Western-style toilet is used in the bathroom, with additional equipment such as handrails and bells. There should also be anti-fall handrails in bathrooms and corridors.
Bedrooms for the elderly require good ventilation and lighting. Interior decoration should conform to the psychology of the elderly, avoid the strong contrast between red and green colors, and reflect the characteristics of quietness and elegance. Indoor furniture should avoid sharp edges and corners and bump against the elderly.
Advocate the development of "old and young households" where children live with the elderly, so that children can live close to the elderly and take care of them conveniently. But they have their own independent space. Real estate developers should pay attention to the special needs of this kind of housing.