Creating experiences for the elderly

There is a new growing market coming up, the “grey” market. These former baby-boomers are now 65+ and getting into their retirement. Their material needs have mostly been fulfilled and with money and time on their hands they are now seeking experiences.The concept of the experience economy is not new and the experience providers should take advantage of this growing market. It is the fastest growing demographic and will outgrow other demographics in the near future. This is the elderly segment. How can it be that we have taking so little consideration of the elderly segment when discussing the experience economy? Do we outgrow the need for experiences as we age? How can we improve experience design targeted towards the elderly? The objective for this thesis is to provide better understanding on the importance of creating experience for the elderly and research the benefits of doing so. The theoretical framework of the research is based on experience management models that are introduced in the theoretical framework. The qualitative research method has been used to evaluate whether the satisfied residents of Saga Kaskenpuisto and Saga Kaskenniitty are happy due to their vast resource of activities and events. The results indicate that the residents of Saga Kaskenpuisto and Saga Kaskenniitty are satisfied because they have the opportunity to maintain their social networks by taking part in activities that are fulfilling and enhance their wellbeing