What are the most promising consumer segments ?

First is old people. They have lots of disposable income, they have insatiable curiosity, and they are not afraid to spend. An obvious choice. Next are employed women in their 20s and 30s. These are people -- a lot of them sometimes called parasite singles -- who have no qualms about indulging their consumerist habits. Many observers would also cite the bubble kids -- those low-teen girls who have a keen fashion sense and usually don much more expensive garb than their parents wear. All of these segments are obvious marketing targets.

Overlooked in much of the discussion are the baby-boomers' children. Even though these middle-aged people are poised to have decisive market impact, researchers disregard them as "hard to fathom." Yet they are only hard to fathom because they are not avid consumers and thus do not fit the consumption-is-all market model.

Does this mean marketers should write them off ?

Not at all. These people want comfortable lives, and they are quite willing to spend on goods that will contribute. But one of their criteria is whether or not the product fits in seamlessly with the kind of lifestyle they want. Is it compatible with their self-image?

And design is at least as important as function is in answering this. That is why even white goods and other appliances are competing on design. Design is crucial to reaching this demographic bulge.

Nakajima Toshikazu

Shogakkan