PrimeTime Women

“The Power of the PrimeTime Purse”

Women from ages 50 to 70 have much more consumer buying power than marketers historically have assumed, and they have gained increased marketplace heft in the 21st century. Women’s decision-making and spending habits are different from men’s at all ages, but the unique attributes and consumer behaviors of this group of women make them a vital, vibrant – if often underrated – audience.

The US adult population will grow by 22.9 million between 2006 and 2016, including 22.1 million who will join the older-than-50 crowd, a significant majority of them female. Baby boomers currently make up most of the “PrimeTimers,” but as boomers pass through this demographic, aging Gen X and Gen Y consumers will replace them in the PrimeTime marketing cohort. The same marketing principles will apply to the age-50-to-70 population in the future.

Boomer women’s socioeconomic strides put them eons ahead of their mothers and grandmothers. They are college educated, enjoy enhanced reproductive and property rights, hold better-paying jobs and now launch 70% of all new businesses. While men’s inflation-adjusted median income rose only 8% from 1990 to...