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Not that long ago, a fear-based marketing strategy for seniors made sense. With the digital era on the rise, companies began developing products to help seniors stay safe. When it came to marketing, we often saw brands capitalizing on older adult’s fear of life threatening situations, including a fall, loss of memory or motor skills, or other health related issues like a stroke or heart attack. Fear can be an effective motivator.
Today, as older adults are becoming more comfortable with technology, this approach has becomes less effective. Recent Pew Research Center surveys found that seniors are moving toward more digitally connected lives. Around four-in-ten adults ages 65 and older now report owning smartphones, and internet use adoption among this group has also risen substantially. Today, 67 percent of seniors use the internet and, for the first time, half of older Americans now have broadband at home.
Because of this shift, older adults have started to see technology as more than just a safety net. Instead, this demographic is looking for technology that can help them stay active, independent and connected to friends and family. Unfortunately, however, many marketers haven’t caught up yet.
Why fear-based marketing doesn’t work.
Fear is one of our strongest emotions — it’s a primal evolutionary development that helps us survive. However, when brands use a negative message to take advantage of customers’ anxieties it can make both prospective and existing customers feel sad or depressed. They may adopt a victim mentality or even feel hopeless to the point that the solutions you’re offering seem like a waste of time. California State University researcher Kaylene Williams concludes that weakly appealing to fear may not attract enough attention but provoking strong fear can cause the consumer to ignore or avoid the message. Extreme fear…
