South Africa’s over-55 consumer market is a growing economic force, with one in four South Africans projected to be over 55 by 2035.
Research by the UCT Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing and You’ve Earned It found that 81% of older South Africans believe brands focus primarily on younger consumers, while 62% feel overlooked by marketers.
Older consumers have significant spending power. SARS data shows that people aged 56 and older increased their taxable income by more than R335 billion between 2014 and 2023.
The over-55 market is digitally active, with 79% of surveyed respondents using the internet as their primary source of news and entertainment. Many remain employed, start businesses, travel and invest in their homes.
Brands can unlock growth by representing older consumers authentically in mainstream advertising, challenging ageist stereotypes and recognising their influence on household spending, brand loyalty and off-peak demand.
For years, marketers have obsessed over youth. The cool kids. The trendsetters. The under-35s with sneakers, side hustles and TikTok habits.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s most powerful consumers have quietly been sitting in the corner, watching the whole thing unfold with growing irritation.
They are travelling. Renovating homes. Buying cars. Booking holidays. Taking out insurance. Starting businesses. Supporting children and grandchildren. Staying online. Staying active. Staying economically relevant.
And yet, according to new research from The UCT Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing and You’ve Earned It, they feel invisible. The numbers are impossible to ignore. Eighty-one percent of older South Africans believe brands focus mostly on younger people. Sixty-two percent say they feel overlooked by marketers. Forty-one percent say advertising still leans on negative stereotypes about ageing.
One respondent summed it up with brutal precision: “Every ad shows grey-haired grannies on beaches. We’re not all like that.”
This is not just a representation problem. It is a business problem. Because the over-55 market is no longer a niche. It is becoming the mainstream.
The money is moving up the age ladder
The report, titled ‘The Longevity Economy: A Marketer’s Guide to unlocking the overlooked value of the over-55 market/rethinking how brands engage the over-55 consumer’, paints a picture many brands have failed to grasp. South Africa is ageing. And ageing fast!
Adults over 60 already make up more than 10% of the population, officially placing the country in what the United Nations call an ageing society. By 2035, one in four South Africans will be over 55.
Yet marketing still behaves as though youth equals relevance. It is a strange disconnect when you consider where the money is moving.
Globally, consumers over 60 are expected to command $20 trillion in spending power by 2030.
In South Africa, SARS data shows that people aged 56 and older increased their taxable income by more than R335 billion between 2014 and 2023, while their tax contribution grew by over R81 billion.
This is not a fading generation. It is an economically active one.
They’re still spending, and planning to spend some more
And they are spending. According to the survey, 40% of respondents renovated or improved their homes in the past two years. Another 40% booked domestic holidays. Twenty percent bought vehicles. They are planning to keep spending too.
The old stereotype of retirees sitting quietly on the sidelines no longer holds. In fact, retirement itself is being rewritten.
Retirement is being reimagined
The report argues that the traditional retirement model is disappearing.
Older South Africans are increasingly working longer, consulting, freelancing, starting small businesses and building portfolio careers.
The line between ‘working age’ and ‘retirement age’ is blurring.
That shift changes everything for brands. Because when people continue earning longer, they continue spending longer too.
Older doesn’t mean old
What makes the findings especially interesting is the enormous gap between how older consumers see themselves and how brands portray them.
Eighty-three percent of respondents describe themselves as being in good health. Seventy-one percent exercise weekly. Seventy-seven percent say they feel younger than their parents did at the same age.
And despite persistent assumptions about digital exclusion, 79% use the internet as their primary source of news and entertainment.
This matters because many marketers still speak to older audiences as though they are fragile, disconnected or technologically confused. The research suggests the opposite.
What older consumers want is not pity. They want relevance.
Invisible in plain sight
One of the report’s sharpest insights is that older consumers do not necessarily want “senior marketing”. They do not want to be placed in a separate category with patronising messaging and beige aesthetics. They want to appear in mainstream life. That distinction is important.
Brands often think inclusion means creating special campaigns for older audiences.
The report argues that the smarter move is simply representing older people naturally and authentically in everyday storytelling.
CapeNature understands this well. Rather than portraying older consumers as passive or dependent, the organisation positions them as active participants in outdoor experiences, hiking, travelling and exploring nature. That approach is more than good ethics. It is commercially smart.
When ageism becomes a business problem
The report repeatedly returns to the idea of dignity.
Ageism, respondents suggest, is not just about advertising. It appears in customer service, banking, healthcare and insurance.
One participant recalled being denied a loan at 73 despite having collateral. Another described sales assistants ignoring them in favour of younger shoppers. One respondent said a doctor phoned their son with medical results instead of speaking directly to them.
The emotional thread running through these stories is autonomy. Older consumers do not want to disappear. And they are increasingly frustrated with brands that behave as though they already have.
The most undervalued asset in business? Time
CapeNature says older travellers are already contributing significantly to domestic tourism, particularly during off-peak periods.
Which brings us to one of the report’s most fascinating ideas. Older consumers control something many businesses desperately need. Time.
Retired and semi-retired consumers travel midweek. Shop during quieter hours. Use services outside peak periods. For industries battling fluctuating demand, this is gold.
The report describes the over-55 market as a potential revenue stabilisation strategy. They can help flatten demand curves, fill quiet periods and improve utilisation rates across sectors from tourism to healthcare.
Yet many brands still treat this market as secondary.
The values economy
The irony is that older consumers may also be the audience most aligned with the values brands claim to care about.
According to the survey, 86% prioritise reducing energy use. Seventy-one percent care about reduced packaging. Fifty-nine percent prefer locally produced goods.
This generation has lived through recessions, political transitions and economic instability.
They are often sceptical of empty marketing promises. They respond to substance, trust and long-term thinking. They do not respond to gimmicks.
Belonging is the new loyalty
The V&A Waterfront offers another example of an organisation that values the relationship of ‘Senior Icons’.
Instead of targeting older consumers through isolated campaigns, it focuses on creating spaces that feel accessible, welcoming and socially engaging across generations. The key word here is belonging.
The report notes that 87% of respondents view maintaining social relationships as essential to wellbeing.
Older consumers are not engaging with brands in isolation. They are often the glue in multigenerational families. Their spending decisions ripple outward. In other words, winning over older consumers may influence entire households.
The future customer has grey hair
Perhaps the most uncomfortable question in the report appears near the end.
Before launching a campaign, marketers are urged to ask a simple question: ‘Would a 68-year-old feel respected by this?’
It sounds obvious. But many campaigns would fail that test instantly. The deeper issue here is that marketing culture still worships youth. Agencies skew young. Creative teams skew young. Strategy discussions skew young. Older consumers often remain absent from the rooms where brand decisions are made. Which means assumptions fill the gaps.
The report argues that brands need age intelligence internally. Not as a diversity exercise, but as a strategic advantage. Because this demographic shift is not coming someday. It is already happening. The average consumer is getting older. The economy is getting older. The future customer is getting older.
Brands can either adapt to that reality now or spend the next decade wondering why they lost relevance with the country’s fastest-growing consumer segment.
For too long, older consumers have been treated as an afterthought in marketing. A footnote. A niche. This research suggests they are actually the main story.
And the brands that realise this first may inherit one of the biggest growth opportunities of the next decade.
* Summary created by AI
The UCT Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing and You’ve Earned It will host a webinar to unpack the research report’s findings and bring industry leaders together to discuss this important topic. Join us to learn more, share your perspective and help drive meaningful change.
Webinar: Time 10am or 7.30pm
Date: Tuesday, 3 November 2026
Please sign up for the webinar here.
Research conducted by You’ve Earned It and the University of Cape Town Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing
Marilyn Hallett and Sonya Girnat-Hallett are the founders of You’ve Earned It, the digital and community platform for South Africans aged 55+
Email: info@youve-earned-it.co.za
