Dive Brief:
- Although 64.4% of baby boomers with cell phones now use smartphones, they are less enamored by them than following generations.
- Baby boomers index lower in appreciation of text messages, mobile internet access, and smartphone shopping research, and are wary of mobile ads, according to research from Experian Marketing Services.
- eMarketer predicts that smartphone penetration among the entire U.S. population has reached 59.3%, and among millennials aged 25-34, 90.2% use a smartphone.
Dive Insight:
Overall, boomers’ attitudes toward smartphone lag that of millennials and Gen Xers, says an Experian Marketing Services poll, with lower percentages of boomers agreeing that “my mobile phone connects me to my social world,” finding text messages as meaningful as voice conversations, or using a smartphone as their primary access point to the internet.
Mobile shopping showed big disparities between boomers and later generations. While they shop via digital channels at almost the same rate as millennials, only 13.4% of baby boomers say they use mobile devices to look for deals—less than half the percentages of Gen Xers and millennials. Baby boomers were also half as likely to accept ads in return for something of value or purchase a product advertised via mobile, and only 5.2% wanted to see ads at all.
As a result, marketers are likely wasting their money when targeting mobile ads to the 50-and-up crowd. They should consider other channels when targeting boomer buyers—especially desktop, where they demonstrate more shopping comfort. A mobile app may also be more effective in attracting mature shoppers, since download and opt-in effectively prequalify some level of interest.
