The global demographics have changed significantly over the last century. The mortality has decreased while the overall medical treatment has improved, thus expanding the average lifespan of the world’s population (Robine, 2021). According to Ritchie and Roser (2019), the global median age has shifted from 21.5 in 1970 to over 30 years in 2019 (para. 2). This shift results from the reduced number of children born and an increased number of people over 65 (Ritchie & Roser, 2019; Kasai, 2021). It has significant social and economic implications, including the effect on global consumer behavior.
The first implication is the increased diversity of consumers’ needs. According to Kasai (2021), the growing adult population has more diverse health and social needs. Moreover, as the average lifespan lengthened, people accumulated more knowledge and experiences (Kasai, 2021). Therefore, they may have more interests, hobbies, projects, and ideas that they would want to dedicate themselves to and would need to purchase tools, guides, educational programs, and learning materials for that.
Another implication is connected to the reduced number of children born. Nowadays, more families prefer to be child-free or, at least, to plan pregnancy more carefully with regard to their financial security (Rodgers, 2018). Firstly, it impacts the women’s health as every pregnancy increases pressure on their organisms and the risk of health issues, including cardiovascular diseases (Chen et al., 2019). Secondly, having no or fewer children allows people to spend more money on their own needs and increase the quality of childcare. Thus, it would also affect the general consumer behavior and needs.
Finally, higher median age and a large adult population can mean more paying customers and more active consumers. According to Ritchie and Roser (2019), these are generally higher-income countries that have higher median age (para. 18). While one cannot accept this fact as universal, one cannot ignore this trend either. Therefore, one may assume that increasing median age may correlate with society’s economic and social development.
In conclusion, the increase in the global population’s median age impacts general consumer behavior. Firstly, higher median age leads to more opportunities for people and increased diversity in their needs. Secondly, fewer children born in the families allow parents to spend more on themselves. Moreover, nowadays, more families prefer to have children when they are financially ready. Finally, higher median age may denote a higher level of economic and social development of society.
References
Chen, F., Jiang, Q., Lu, Z., Cao, S. (2019). More children, more happiness? Fewer and better births, a happy life: The relationship of parity and maternal cardiovascular disease risk.European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 26(6), 589–591. Web.
Kasai, D. T. (2021). Preparing for population ageing in the Western Pacific Region.The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, 6. Web.
Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2019). Age Structure. OurWorldInData.org. Web.
Robine, J.-M. (2021). Ageing populations: We are living longer lives, but are we healthier?The Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations. Web.
Rodgers, J. (2018). On the margins of motherhood: Choosing to be child-free in Lucie Joubert’sL’Enversdulandau (2010), Women: A Cultural Review, 29(1), 75-96. Web.