In approximately five years, 50% of the DACH region will be over 50. How is it that this huge, financially strong and consumption-oriented group has been so little researched and directly advertised to?

Companies and advertisers neglect this target group, which means that not only has it been largely unexplored to date, but it is also viewed in an undifferentiated manner, with people aged 50 and over being lumped together in a target group with their own parents, who are over 80. Yet people aged 50 are just as far away from 20 as they are from 80!

‘All the same, in need of help, brand loyal’ – these and many other clichés shape the prevailing narrative about people aged 50 and over. We want to change that! In our study ‘50plus and that's it?’ at the rheingold salon, we were able to determine in in-depth psychological interviews that this narrative is perpetuated primarily by younger generations. It offers them opportunities for differentiation and an idealised perspective on their own future. Respondents over 50 often reported cliché-compliant statements such as ‘I have become more content or more relaxed’ on a rational level (the cover story). On closer inspection, however, a different underlying feeling emerges among the over-50s: Being right in the middle of things! People over 50 are interested in everything new in everyday life, have high standards of quality and service, and enjoy special interests – here we see a return to the tried and tested, combined with curiosity and openness to new things.

They also watch and appreciate advertising, but feel less and less addressed by it. For more exciting insights into the study and ideas on how advertising can be made more appealing to this strong purchasing power, see the full presentation by Ines Imdahl at DMXCO 2025 here.