‘Product and Service Design for the 50+ Consumer’

What:                  

A panel of representatives from business, housing, entertainment and engineering will discuss the importance of product design and service directed toward consumers who are age 50 and older, during a May 4 presentation sponsored by Mihaylo College of Business and Economics' Marketing Department at Cal State Fullerton.

When:                 

Friday, May 4
11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Where:        

Cal State Fullerton, Mihaylo Hall, Room 1506
800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton 92831

Who:                   

Panelists are Don DiCostanzo, CEO, PEDEGO Electric Bikes; Bonnie Barchichat, executive producer, Bonnie Barchichat's Senior Comedy Afternoons; Steven Lefler, vice president, Modular Lifestyles Inc.; Sina Azari, regional director associate, Bankers Life and Casualty; and Sang June Oh, CSUF assistant professor of mechanical engineering. Moderator is Steven Chen, CSUF assistant professor of marketing.

Why:                   

“The 50+ segment represents over one-fifth of the U.S. population and over $700 billion in spending power. However, many firms shift their marketing focus towards younger generations, and ignore the needs and vast opportunities of the 50+,” said Susan Cadwallader, coordinator of the speaker series and associate professor of marketing. “This panel seeks to illuminate and demystify contemporary thoughts on the 50+ age group by looking at the following issues:

• What are the needs, wants and desires of the 50+ consumer?
• What considerations do you make when you produce a product/service for the 50+ consumer? How might these considerations differ from other consumer segments?
• How do you market your product/service for the 50+ consumer?

“The panel of executives who are participating will share how they are marketing to this consumer segment. This panel reflects the vitality and active lifestyles of the 50+ segment and that a diverse range of products/services is desirable,” Cadwallader noted.

Additional:        

The “Product and Service Design for the 50+ Consumer” panel is a follow-on to a panel held Nov. 4 on “Marketing to the 50+ Consumer."”

The two-part panel series, added Cadwallader, “has played an important role in supporting the Department of Marketing’s early efforts to establish expertise and a research hub dedicated to 50+ consumer studies at Cal State Fullerton.

More Info:           

CSUF Marketing Department at 657-278-2223

Media Contacts:            

Susan Cadwallader, Marketing, 657-278-7565

Pamela McLaren, 657-278-4852