Improving the lives of ageing consumers through products and service innovation
Submitting Institution
Brunel UniversityUnit of Assessment
Business and Management StudiesSummary Impact Type
SocietalResearch Subject Area(s)
Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Marketing
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration
Summary of the impact
This research addresses unprecedented demographic challenges caused by an
ageing population
through the development of socially inclusive products and services
that enhance the quality of
living of older consumers (aged 50 and over).
Welfare & inclusion
- The Brunel University research team, led by Dr Spinelli, has helped the
evaluation and
development of products and services that enable older people to live more
independently
— through enhanced mobility, assisted communication and an improved range
of choice to
suit individual needs.
Commercial Impacts
- The research has formed a knowledge base that the charity `Age UK' has
exploited to 1)
develop the AGE UK business network "Engage" (including Handicare, BSkyB,
Atoc, British
Telecom, Virgin and Homebase) which, through company engagement, seeks to
improve
products and services for older consumers and to enable the application of
inclusive design
processes to product and service development, marketing and training and
2) underpin the
principles of AGE UK Products and Service Accreditation schemes launched
in 2012 to
enhance quality and choice for older consumers.
Underpinning research
The lead academic on the research team, Dr Spinelli has collaborated with
AGE UK since 2007
helping to inform the application of her research to ageing issues and
social inclusion. In 2010 this
led to a £520,000 research grant award from the Technology Strategy Board
(TSB) and the
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). In the same year she was
joined by Dr Josko
Brakus (Brunel staff until March 2011, then external collaborator) an
expert in marketing. Three
Research Assistants joined the team: Dr Mona Shekarriz (2010); Ms Seema
Jain and Ms Anna
McConnell (2011). Dr Spinelli's interest in ageing has also led an
international research project
with Tokyo University and a Japanese consultancy (Happy Elders Ltd) which
attracted £9,000 in
funds from the Daiwa Foundation in 2011.
Drawing on Dr Spinelli's international expertise in user centred
innovation, the team established a
research agenda located at the junction between design, marketing and
gerontology. This focused
on a better understanding of the ageing market and its changing consumers
through innovative
user-centred methodologies based on self-perception of age and
life-style (rather than on more
traditional marketing segmentation approaches based on
psycho-demographics). This transcended
consumer profiling that could be ageist and/or lead to impractical results
(e.g. products that lack
aesthetic appeal). The segmentation methodology developed from the
research brought together
quantitative and qualitative techniques that have had two specific
outcomes:
1) the identification of five specific ageing market segments
based on more detailed and
in-depth knowledge of the ageing consumers' profile. This centres on self-perception
of
age (accounting for the attitudes, behaviour, values and needs) and
lifestyle.
2) the development of more precise tools to describe and predict the
factors that influence
or hinder decision making of older consumers in the three highest spending
domains of
technology and communication; personal and household retail; leisure and
travelling
This has led to defined consumer profiles that illustrate decision-making
factors, the adoption
process and the barriers ageing consumers encounter when selecting and
using products and
services.
The findings are based on a national data collection exercise that has
included:
- a qualitative study with over 100 ageing consumers in England, Wales,
Scotland and
Northern Ireland. The qualitative study informed the design of the
survey;
- a quantitative study including a national stratified sample of 1505
participants aged 50-94;
- a survey of 75 SMEs and large corporations in UK that identified the
challenges
encountered when targeting ageing consumers and the priority areas of
intervention to
promote inclusive design practice.
The significance and timeliness of the research led to successful
research funding awards
including the Technology and Strategy Board (KTP) and the Daiwa
foundation.
References to the research
Spinelli G. and Basharat A. (2011) Multi-Agent Collaboration based on
Enhanced Cognitive
Awareness: An Architecture for Agents' Profiling on the Semantic Web. Expert
Systems: The
Journal of Knowledge Engineering, Wiley-Blackwell: 28 (5): 461-487
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0394.2011.00593.x
Jain S., Spinelli G. Garaj V. (2012) The Use of the Internet by Older
People: A Behavioural Study
Universal Design Conference 2012, Fukuoka, Japan
Jain S., Spinelli G. Garaj V. (2012) The success story of Wiltshire Farm
Foods: Website design to
strengthen Business Strategy Design Conference 2012, Fukuoka, Japan.
McConnell A. and Spinelli G. (2012) Ready to Use, Easy to Evolve. 12th
International Design
Conference — DESIGN 2012, May 21st-24th, 2012, Dubrovnik — Cavtat —
Croatia
Media
Grants
Dr Gabriella Spinelli. Technology adoption among Japanese and British
ageing users. 2011 Daiwa
Research Foundation Award, November 2011-January 2013. £9,000
Dr Gabriella Spinelli. Strategic design: Business Innovation through
Inclusivity. Technology and
Strategy board (Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Age UK) October 2010-
April 2014 £520,000.
Details of the impact
The research responds to challenges raised by unprecedented demographic
changes caused by
an ageing population and by longevity. In collaboration with AgeUK, the
research has led to the
development of knowledge on inclusive design and the marketing of socially
inclusive products and
services for older consumers. It is predicted that those aged 65 and over
will account for 23 per
cent of the total population by 2035 (ONS1) so it is essential that
the needs of this group (e.g.
mobility, communications, assisted living) are addressed by bespoke
products and services.
Further, this group owns 80% of the UK's wealth and has the highest
disposable income (ONS,
2011). The benefits of this timely research therefore extend to a large
and growing segment of the
population whose needs have hitherto been neglected, as well as to Age
UK (the largest charity for
older people) and the companies that are key players in servicing this
market.
The research has had significant welfare and commercial
impacts, including benefits relating to
greater social inclusion.
(1) Welfare & inclusion
(i) Welfare: The research has led to health and welfare impact by
improving the lives of ageing
consumers in the UK. This has been achieved by the development and
commercialisation of
technology products e.g. assistive living products by Handicare (the
largest provider of stairlifts in
the UK) and British Telecom. Such products are tailored to meet the needs
and lifestyle of older
people and have been designed with a user-centred approach that
incorporates, through the
segmentation methodology developed by the research, aspirations,
appearance and `fit' with older
people's self-perceptions — enhancing both effectiveness and appeal.
Benefits include greater
mobility and independent living; assisted communication, improved product
quality and greater
product and service choice that better fits different lifestyles and
needs.
(ii) Inclusion: The research has contributed to the landscape of products
and services that satisfy
the increasingly sophisticated aspirations of older consumers, helping to
challenge the myth that
older consumers are passive and simplistic in their needs. This has
enhanced cultural
understanding of issues relating to older people, shaping or informing
public attitudes and values.
(2) Commercial Impacts
The insights generated by the research have fed into AGE UK with
the following commercial
impacts:
(i) Age UK's business network, Engage, has seen a 500% increase in
membership from 7
companies in 2010 to approximately 40 in 2012. The Engage member
companies, interested in the
ageing market or major players in such market, have improved the
application of inclusive design
processes to their product development and marketing processes through the
principles
underpinning the accreditation schemes and the training opportunities
organised by Dr Spinelli and
AGE UK. This training (e.g. through seminars; workshops) has created a
knowledge base as
evidenced by the following feedback:
"I now understand that usability testing is essential" (Head of
Marketing, Pearson; member
of Engage)
"(I valued) the whole process [of the seminar]; talking to real users
through to designing
with (ageing consumers) in mind" (Partnership Director, E-ON, member
of Engage)
(ii) The research has created a knowledge base that Age UK has exploited
to underpin and frame
the principles of the AGE UK Products and Service Accreditation schemes
launched in March
2012. This enhances brand product and service inclusivity as well as
quality and consumer choice.
(iii) Informed by the research, Age UK has established a consultancy
service to companies which
has increased and differentiated its revenue stream. Consultancy services
in 2010-2012 have
totalled £100,000 compared to nil in previous years.
The research outputs have been disseminated by Age UK in two reports, one
published in
February 2013 and the second in press, and through public seminars and
conferences.
Sources to corroborate the impact
The saliency of the knowledge partnership between Brunel University and
Age UK is described in
the Engage Business network website at:
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/professional-resources-home/engage-network/research-and-business-insight/
Parts of the research and of the case studies conducted have been
published in the forms of
blogs:
`The Older Internet User':
http://blogs.fasthosts.co.uk/2012/02/user-centred-web-design-and-the-older-person/
Passengers with Limited Mobility':
http://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/index.cfm?v=LIMITED_MOBILITY_TRAVEL_FeaturedArticle&fkArticleID=101&fuseaction=pubDsp.dspFeaturedArticle
`Internet Usability and Older People':
http://ageukblog.org.uk/2012/01/06/internet-usability-and-older-people/
`Making airports more user friendly':
http://ageukblog.org.uk/2012/09/15/guest-blog-making-airports-more-user-friendly/
"Home
accidents amongst older adults":
http://ageukblog.org.uk/2012/01/03/home-accidents-amongst-older-adults/
"A
changing approach: inclusive design":
http://ageukblog.org.uk/2012/04/11/a-changing-approach-inclusive-design/
"Aspirational products for older people: What are we waiting for?":
http://ageukblog.org.uk/2012/07/16/guest-blog-aspirational-products-for-older-people-what-are-we-waiting-for/
Reports and Publications
Engage Business network. February 2013. Ageing Consumers: Lifestyles
and Preferences in the
current marketplace
Engage Business network. (in press). Ageing Market: An actionable
segmentation approach
segments: Behaviours, Needs and Aspirations
People
A letter from the Senior Manager of the Engage Business Network confirms
the growth of the
Engage business network and the impact of the research on consultancy
services and the
accreditation scheme.
1 By 2035 it is projected that those aged 65 and over will account
for 23 per cent of the total population. The
number of people aged 85 and over will be almost 2.5 times larger than
in 2010, reaching 3.5 million and
accounting for 5 per cent of the total UK population. "Population Ageing
in the United Kingdom, its
Constituent Countries and the European Union" March 2012.