thoughts on newest 12 + ratings?

[rogerkirk]

"Dan Strassberg" wrote:

>After being beaten over the head first with the argument that people 
>over 55 don't buy anything--except pharmaceuticals, hearing aids, and 
>cemetery plots (patently untrue), and then with the slightly more 
>sophisticated, but no less idiotic argument that the buying habits of 
>people over 55 are fixed and cannot be changed, 

I'm over 50, myself (59 this April 12th) and I think I know what they're really thinking, without actually coming right out and saying it: "People over 50 aren't swept up with fads, fashions and frivolities to consume their disposable income.  In short, they're harder to sell to."  

IMHO, people our age tend to make their buying decisions a little more carefully than they did in their 20's.  They value functionality, product longevity and quality over what's 'HOT.'  Less likely to overspend on a flashy sports car that gets poor gas mileage, but is 'HOT.' (Exemptions available for 50-somethings experiencing late/mid-life crises that demand the obligatory red sports car.)  Not as likely to buy a 'loaded' computer for gaming - more likely to buy a modest one for e-mail and printing pictures of the grandkids.  More likely to buy a basic cell phone to make calls, not a $300+ model that takes pictures, plays music & videos, sends Instant Messages, surfs the Internet and downloads Fitty-Cent ring-tones.  In short, they stop to think before they buy, they're typically more frugal and they're a heckuva lot harder to seduce with Madison Avenue trickery.  It's probably much easier to get a 20-something to part with his/her disposable income for something 'NEAT'.

>THE PEOPLE WHO ARE TOO SET IN THEIR WAYS ARE THE 20-SOMETHING TIME 
>BUYERS, WHO LACK THE IMAGINATION TO RECOGNIZE THAT BY WRITING OFF THE 
>BOOMERS, THEY ARE WRITING THE DEATH WARRANTS FOR THEIR OWN JOBS! 

I'd be glad to sell them rope.