"Starting today, I want to enjoy life! Who cares what others might say, Who cares what they think; Starting today, I'm going to look my best every day, I'm going to be happy every day. . . ."
Isn't this just another typical "I'm all right, Jack" ad aimed at the younger generation?
In fact this is publicity material aimed at retired folks, put out by an up-market retirement home called Ch'i Yen Chu Hot Springs Resort. With their years of marketing experience, its backers Pacific Enterpriseare going after the money in old people's pockets.
Launched last October, the Ch'i Yen Chu old folks' resort charges a long-term residence fee of between NT$1.5 million and NT$3.8 million, sky-high prices for any Taiwan private nursing home.
Its operators stress that their home really can create an enriched and beautiful life for old people, and they've done away with the usual atmosphere of an old people's home in the expectation that sons and daughters will be proud to be able to send their parents here.
They've laid down rules for applicants, the main one being that only healthy people who can look after themselves are admitted as residents. Once you move in there's an absolute guarantee of security, together with medical and leisure facilities such as hot spring baths, karaoke, a tea-room, mahjongg room, garden coffee house, golf driving range, and presidential suites for visiting relatives . . . in short, it has everything.
Elsewhere, Taiwan's first department store aimed specifically at elderly people--the I Jui Fancy Goods Store --opened a year or so back, selling health foods, health products and all the kind of Buddhist figurines, antiques and art objects older people like, and the operators claimed to have "created a brand new image of optimism, glamour and health for Taiwan's elderly."
Opened two years ago near National Taiwan University Hospital, the Home Nursing & Health Products Plaza is another new business for whom the elderly are prime potential customers. Specializing in high quality physiotherapy & health products and health foods, they also have experienced nurses and nutritionists on hand to help customers, further underlining their professional approach.
Another instance is the feelers put out by the travel industry in the past one or two years to test the senior citizen market, such as airlines offering discount tickets for the elderly as part of their anniversary celebrations; and travel agencies often woo the elderly when promoting up-market tours to South America or Scandinavia. . . .
Clearly business firms have recognized the potential in the old people's market, but the actual response has had them tearing their hair.
Faced with poor results, the I Jui department store decided to change track at the end of last year and cater instead to ordinary middle-aged and younger consumers.
The Ch'i I Chu old people's home has fielded numerous enquiries, but those actually taking up residence have been few and far between; in April this year they adopted a new marketing strategy whereby, while still continuing to take in long-term residents over 60, their facilities would also be used as a health club for anyone over 40, with a membership fee of NT$50,000 entitling you to ten days residence per year (including a three-day complimentary check-up), thus turning the place into a combined leisure center and old people's resort.
Meanwhile the travel industry's wooing of older people proved equally short-lived, with each tentative initiative being followed by a waiting period to see what would happen; special offers for the elderly were a flash in the pan and rarely lasted for long.
The business community rarely strikes wild, they only commit themselves when market potential is proven. So how come catering to old folks has turned into such a commercial debacle?
According to United Nations standards, any country with more than 7 percent of its population aged 65 and over counts as an aging nation. Countries like Japan, Sweden, Italy, Britain and America have elderly populations of over 11 percent; they're already "old people's countries."
Ministry of interior statistics show that in the ROC the proportion of people over 65 has now reached 6.4 percent of the population, and is expected to surpass 7 percent in 1994.
Clear statistical data has never been available on the purchasing power of Taiwan's elderly. But in early 1991 the Opinion Poll Foundation was commissioned by Taipei City Government's social affairs department to carry out a survey of economic power and consumer needs of people over 65 in Taipei. This survey is currently still in progress.
Other academic data may be relevant, nevertheless. Tsai Hung-chao, an assistant professor at Tamkang University's economics department, has spent years studying elderly oriented business. A survey he conducted in 1988 into the economic condition of Taiwan's elderly showed that in their own estimation 0.8 percent of the elderly were wealthy, 20.8 percent were comfortably off, 61.6 percent were average, 11.2 were badly off, and only 5.6 percent were in poverty.
These definitions were purely subjective, but Professor Tsai thinks it's not far wrong to class all those of "average" and above as having purchasing power. Taiwan's 65-year-olds number at least 1.2 million. so local elderly-oriented businesses should by rights have a basic consumer group of around 1 million.
"It's not as if these kind of products are restricted entirely to the elderly, young and middle-aged people also need to purchase them to provide for their parents," Tsai points out.
Taiwan's social background seems to offer potential for this line of business to grow; but old people's consumer appetite seems to fall far short of business expectations.
In order to encourage the development of businesses catering to old people's welfare, Taipei City Government's social welfare department got together with businessmen last year and this February to hold consumer exhibitions of welfare products for the elderly. Plenty of old people attended, but actual purchasing activity was very limited.
Having held a post-mortem, twenty manufacturers of welfare products for the elderly organized an association in March and decided to step up their exhibitions and launch a consumer publicity drive. "Through repeated discussions, we found the main reasons for the current stagnation in the market are a lack of consumer awareness on the part of the elderly, excessively high prices for products, and an imbalance between supply and demand," says association spokesperson and director of Taipei City Women's Outreach Center Hsieh Tseng Fang-lan.
The absence of a spending mentality is natural enough. Many of the outreach center's women volunteers serve the elderly in the community, and they've found that while the majority of old people are well enough off, they tend to own real estate property and to cling to the traditional mentality of living frugally and leaving their wealth to their children. It's almost unheard-of for elderly people to realize their assets and spend it on their own personal enjoyment, so most have only a very limited amount of cash to spend.
According to I Jui store manager Lin Yu-hao, whenever an elderly customer enters the shop the sales assistants flock round and exchange a few pleasantries with them in hopes of hearing straight from the horse's mouth what the real needs of the elderly are, so as to help improve their sales operation. But more often than not the response is: "I don't know what I need, I just came in to look around and see what I could find."
Health food items like low-salt soy sauce and sugar-free biscuits did well to begin with, but sales dropped off after a while. Regular customers explained they only bought them from curiosity to begin with, but for one thing they were over-priced, and for a second, eating something different is a nuisance when you live with a son or daughter. Products of this kind have a slow and imperceptible beneficial effect upon the elderly, but their cost and nuisance value are immediate and obvious, so the elderly have no trouble deciding what to do.
According to Lin Chun-sheng, proprietress of the Home Nursing & Health Products Plaza, "spending can really be seen as a kind of investment, bringing psychological and financial benefits in equal measure." For instance, it's not easy to eat when the joints in your hand are stiff, so buying a special spoon will be of assistance to you and at the same time reduce the burden on your family, while not detracting from your self respect; walking is a problem for old people, so buying a safety cane minimizes the chances of falling and breaking a bone, thus saving a considerable sum in medical expenses.
Not that everyone likes to be thought of as so old they need help!
Ms Lin recalls seeing an elderly person tottering round the shop using an umbrella for support, so she hastened over to recommend a safe and reliable walking stick specially developed for the elderly. To her astonishment the customer, blazing with anger, hollered back: "I'm not that old yet!"
Many products for the elderly are priced too high, which is another reason why old folks are reluctant to dip into their wallets.
For example, a specially made spoon costs at least NT$360, while a good quality safety walking stick will set you back NT$1,200. For people with no regular income, this is a large expense. No wonder they often look all round the store before eventually deciding to go home and just make the best of it.
In general, elderly consumers can be classified into two categories, one being those in need of long-term nursing care, the other being healthy old people full of vitality and in need of a way to kill time. Statistics from Europe and America show that the more advanced a country becomes, the higher proportion of healthy elderly folks it has.
According to Hsieh Tseng Fang-lan, the "domestic accommodation" is something all old people could do with more of; in addition, invalids need more treatment centers, and the healthy elderly often complain of having nowhere to go to while away their leisure. "Lots of old people tell me that although modern places of entertainment like KTV's and MTV's don't refuse admission to the elderly, they're basically meant for the young, and older people feel too embarrassed to go there."
Taipei City Government's social affairs department has opened an old people's day centre in Neihu. Its members pay NT$2,000 per month and attend during normal opening hours, spending the day in the center and going back home in the evening. But response has been lukewarm, and so far only 15 people have signed up.
Huang Chun-chang, head of the department's senior citizen welfare section, points out that the idea behind day centers is to enrich old people's leisure time and expand their social contacts, and ideally they should be established in every residential area to avoid transport problems. "Our purpose in starting one up was to see if we could spur private sector interest in opening such centers," he maintains.
Hsieh Tseng Fang-lan urges the private sector not to concentrate on hardware goods and ignore the market potential of software products. For example, one of the most successful items in this year's old people's consumer exhibition by the social affairs department was undoubtedly the "old people's manpower bank" organized by the Women's Outreach Center. Over 300 people signed up on the spot, and in due course another 50 be came official members, including retired military officers, retired doctors, teachers, banking personnel and civil servants. Their purpose in joining the manpower bank was to restore their sense of the value of life.
"In other words, the elderly lack a sense of security about the future and don't want to wait idly for death, so they need another stage on which to play out the remainder of their lives." Hsieh Tseng Fang-lan believes services of this kind have a promising future, and the response from outside has been most gratifying. The manpower bank has yet to be officially registered but enquiries are pouring in, with a need for services ranging from technical advisers for refrigeration and air-conditioning to electricity meter readers.
There is also a business consultancy which is planning later this year to set up an "elderly persons' general service company," and director Huang Chien-jung explains that it will focus on planning old people's lives, with services to include monetary planning, arranging finances, satisfying lifelong wishes, and advice on setting up in business and redesigning your home.
Medical technology may have extended the span of human life, and economic development may have built up purchasing power, but elderly Chinese mothers and fathers still cling to the traditional idea that everything they own should go to their children. Let us allow Hsieh Tseng Fang-lan to have the last word, when she says that businesses catering to the elderly should set their sights a decade ahead.
[Picture Caption]
The elderly make up a growing percentage of Taiwan's population, so they represent a promising market.
Eating aids may cost a little more, but they can reduce infirm old people's dependence on their families.
Looking forward to a happy, carefree old age. (photo by Vincent Chang)
Purchasing suitable therapeutic products that keep you healthy can help you avoid needless medical costs.
Healthy old folks enjoying the evening of their lives need more leisure facilities designed just for them.
Say "cheese," dear, while big brother snaps your picture.
Today the elderly must make more arrangements for their leisure time to ensure they enjoy their declining years to the full.
Gyms and keep fit facilities for the elderly are a line of business with solid potential.
Eating aids may cost a little more, but they can reduce infirm old people's dependence on their families.
Looking forward to a happy, carefree old age. （photo by Vincent Chang）
Purchasing suitable therapeutic products that keep you healthy can help you avoid needless medical costs.
Healthy old folks enjoying the evening of their lives need more leisure facilities designed just for them.
Say "cheese," dear, while big brother snaps your picture.
Today the elderly must make more arrangements for their leisure time to ensure they enjoy their declining years to the full.
Gyms and keep fit facilities for the elderly are a line of business with solid potential.
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