The Silver Market Phenomenon

TheSilverMarketPhenomenon In the developed countries, the dominant factor in the next society will be something to which most people are only beginning to pay attention: the rapid growth in the older po- lation and the rapid shrinking of the younger generation. Peter F. Drucker The current shift in demographics – aging and shrinking populations – in many countries around the world presents a major challenge to companies and societies alike. As a matter of fact, this is true both for a number of industrialized nations as well as for certain emergingeconomies.However,even thoughthis crucial issue has recently started to attract the attention of scholars, business leaders, and politicians, research on the implications of the demographic change on businesses is still in its infancy. Most accounts of the so-called demographic “problem” deal, as the term already suggests, with the challenges and threats of the demographic development. These discussions feature, for example, the shrinking workforce, welfare effects, social con?icts, etc. At the same time, chances and opportunities are often neglected. The emergence of new markets, the potential for innovations, the integration of older people into jobs and work places, the joy of active aging, and their varied roles withinsociety arejust a fewexamplesofhowwhat at ?rst sight appearsto bea crisis could be turned into an opportunity. All in all, countries and industries are reacting very differently – from still neglecting to proactively looking for and developing solutions.

TheSilverMarketPhenomenon In the developed countries, the dominant factor in the next society will be something to which most people are only beginning to pay attention: the rapid growth in the older po- lation and the rapid shrinking of the younger generation. Peter F. Drucker The current shift in demographics – aging and shrinking populations – in many countries around the world presents a major challenge to companies and societies alike. As a matter of fact, this is true both for a number of industrialized nations as well as for certain emergingeconomies.However,even thoughthis crucial issue has recently started to attract the attention of scholars, business leaders, and politicians, research on the implications of the demographic change on businesses is still in its infancy. Most accounts of the so-called demographic “problem” deal, as the term already suggests, with the challenges and threats of the demographic development. These discussions feature, for example, the shrinking workforce, welfare effects, social con?icts, etc. At the same time, chances and opportunities are often neglected. The emergence of new markets, the potential for innovations, the integration of older people into jobs and work places, the joy of active aging, and their varied roles withinsociety arejust a fewexamplesofhowwhat at ?rst sight appearsto bea crisis could be turned into an opportunity. All in all, countries and industries are reacting very differently – from still neglecting to proactively looking for and developing solutions.

The Demographic Shift: Challenges, Chances, Perspectives.- Demographic Change and Economic Growth.- Talking Politics: Demographic Variables and Policy Measures in Japan.- The Silver Markets in Japan Through Regulatory Reform.- Matching Demand and Supply: Future Technologies for Active Ageing in Europe.- How Baby-Boomers in the United States Anticipate Their Aging Future: Implications for the Silver Market.- Japan’s Demographic Changes, Social Implications, and Business Opportunities.- Innovation, Design and Product Development for the Silver Market.- Disabled Persons as Lead Users for Silver Market Customers.- Integration of the Elderly in the Design Process.- Universal Design – Innovations for All Ages.- Transgenerational Design: A Heart Transplant for Housing.- Service Innovation: Towards Designing New Business Models for Aging Societies.- Marketing for the Silver Market.- Current Strategies in the Retail Industry for Best-Agers.- Silver Pricing: Satisfying Needs is Not Enough Balancing Value Delivery and Value Extraction is Key.- Macro-Structural Bases of Consumption in an Aging Low Birth-Rate Society.- Changing Consumer Values and Behavior in Japan: Adaptation of Keio Department Store Shinjuku.- Grey Power: Older Workers as Older Customers.- Older Consumers’ Customer Service Preferences.- Silver Advertising: Elderly People in Japanese TV Ads.- Advertising Agencies: The Most Calcified Part of the Process.- The Importance of Web 2.0 to the 50-Plus.- Industry Challenges and Solutions.- The Business of Aging: Ten Successful Strategies for a Diverse Market.- The Discovery and Development of the Silver Market in Germany.- India: Emerging Opportunities in a Market in Transition.- Silver Markets and Business Customers: Opportunities for Industrial Markets?.- BusinessChances in Personal Transportation: Traffic Safety for Older Adults.- In-Vehicle Telematic Systems and the Older Driver.- Taking Advantage of Adversarial Demographic Changes to Innovate Your Own Business.- The Golden Opportunity of Silver Marketing: The Case of Housing and Financial Services.- Medical System Reforms and Medical Information Systems in Japan.- The End of Mass Media: Aging and the US Newspaper Industry.- Material Innovation in the Japanese Silver Market.- Potholes in the Road to Efficient Gerontechnology Use in Elderly Care Work.- Senior Educational Programs for Compensating Future Student Decline in German Universities.- Lessons Learned and the Challenges and Opportunities Ahead.