Many labels have been placed on members of the baby boom generation, from "self-absorbed" to "young-at-heart." But one phrase marketers may not associate with boomers is "tech-savvy" – and that's a mistake.

While most marketers have increased their online efforts aimed at the powerful cohort of those born between 1946 and 1964, some say marketing researchers have been slow to use the Internet to reach this group. But the faster they get on the Internet bandwagon, the better off they'll be.

Experts say the good news is that, besides their sheer numbers, boomers aren't much different from other demographic segments, and reaching them online needn't be any more difficult, either. For researchers to reach this market via the Internet, they must understand and address its diversity, while at the same time tailor their information-gathering tactics to the qualities that members of this generation have in common.

At almost 80 million strong, boomers are the largest and wealthiest segment of the U.S. population. They are online in considerable numbers that grow each day. According to research conducted recently by Washington, D.C.-based Pew Internet & American Life Project, 58% of Americans ages 50 to 65, and 75% of those ages 30 to 49 are online. That compares favorably with 77% of respondents ages 18 to 29.

"The spread of PCs is well beyond the various early and late adopter groups; we're into the laggards now," says Peter Fader, professor of marketing at Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. "When it comes to the Internet, boomers are not leading-edge, but . . . most of them at this point have followed." As a result, Fader says, researchers would be remiss in not using the Internet to reach out to this market, through Web surveys or online focus groups.

To reach the boomers online, experts recommend keeping a few strategies in mind. The most important boomer quality for researchers to keep in mind is its diversity; different members of a group this large are bound to respond to various issues in different ways.

"You have a spread of people from 40 to 60 years of age called boomers, and a 40-year-old simply doesn't think like a 60-year-old," says Jim Gilmartin, president of Coming of Age Inc., a Lombard, Ill.-based marketing firm. "Marketers should not consider in any way that there's an 'average' boomer."

In addition, according to Matt Thornhill, president and founder of the Boomer Project, a market research and consulting company in Richmond, Va., even those of the same age may respond differently to different approaches.

"You can't try to define them just because you know their age," Thornhill says. For example, he points out that David Letterman is 57 and a first-time father, while his pal Billy Crystal, also 57, is a grandfather. "They are the same age, but in totally different life stages," he says. "You need to consider and target this group in terms of life stage, not age."

To be sure they are reaching the market they need in this sea of potential boomer respondents, researchers will need to segment within the category, Gilmartin says. "Because boomers are made up of a variety of different cohorts, they'll have to take some time to clearly understand who they're targeting and then get that specific market."

Daunting as that sounds, insiders say researchers needn't do more extensive prescreening when determining which boomers to target online. Rather, a better approach is to simply expand the parameters of the sample to make sure they have the representative sample they ultimately need.

"There are always going to be some groups that are underrepresented online – some people are just happier to respond," Fader says. "You want to over-sample those groups so in the end you have a good number of responses from the people you're targeting."

While this approach may seem to involve more work, Fader says that the efficiencies of conducting research online – from creating the survey and administering it to capturing the data and analyzing it – are so great that researchers are better off expanding the size and scope of the sample rather than trying to segment their populations up front, or reach different groups via different media.

Once the targeted populations are defined, researchers can tailor their projects to get the participation and response rates they seek among boomers.

Of course, incentives are crucial in garnering responses, whether the surveys are open- or closed-panel in nature. To reach boomers in particular, researchers should make sure they offer an incentive that is appropriate to their interests and lives. That may mean retooling some of their traditional incentives of money or other items, Gilmartin says.

"As people get older, they look more for experiences and less for possessions. They're more interested in doing things than having things," he says. For this reason, a chance to win a trip, tickets to a show or some other experience may be a better incentive than, say, the latest electronic gadget. "If you can offer boomers the additional value of the chance of experiencing something different in life, you have a better chance of getting them to participate," Gilmartin says.

Finally, the most obvious detail to researching boomers is the one most often overlooked, experts say: Keep the surveys as easy to read as possible. Like it or not, this group is aging and their eyes are, too.

"Every time we test these kinds of things online, the ads or Web sites with the largest fonts always test better," Thornhill says. "Even though boomers have their glasses on when they're reading at their computers, it's immensely helpful to simply make the font bigger. Make it bigger and you'll make it easier for them to respond."

Similarly, Gilmartin adds, it's best to keep colors and design elements to a minimum. "As people get older, they see differently and colors change. Stick with one color and uncomplicated pages. This is no time to try and win a design award – keep it simple and straightforward," he says.

Though these last points may seem simplistic, Thornhill says he can't overemphasize their importance.

"It's the tactical things that are going to make the difference in getting more responses and better responses," he says. "You just need to demonstrate that you know where boomers are in their lives and that you understand them."


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