ONLINE SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS TRENDS IN OVER 50s

7 October 2009

Nearly one thousand New Zealanders aged 50 and above have taken part in this year’s annual GrownUps.co.nz online survey, highlighting some interesting trends in people aged 50 to 90, says GrownUps co-founder Richard Poole.

This year the survey has revealed some interesting results, particularly in the health, internet, finance and travel categories.

“We now know that we have members who spend more than 20 hours a week on the internet and who are avid tweeters and social networkers,” says Mr Poole.

“We also know that the over 50s who took part in this survey are into everything from academia, art and antiques to pets and breeding, motoring and engineering and gardening.

“GrownUps is New Zealand’s only specific 50 plus lifestyle website, so it is important for us to take the time to find out more about our members. This allows us to better tailor the information, news and entertainment on our website to ensure it meets their needs,” says Mr Poole.

GrownUps was initially set-up in 2006 to service the rapidly-growing group of Internet savvy over-fifties.

It already has close to 35,000 members and had more than 100,000 unique browsers during August.

GrownUps.co.nz is consistently ranked one of the best websites in NZ by Nielsen/NetRatings for average page duration, meaning visitors enjoy spending time reading the articles and product information carried on the site.

It was also recently named as a finalist in NetGuide People's Choice Awards for Best Lifestyle Website & Best Community Website in NZ for 2009.

Highlighted results from the survey are included below:

Internet stats
*More than 34 per cent of those surveyed spend more than 20 hours a week online.
*6.9 per cent are using Twitter, 41.7 percent are using Facebook and 29 per cent are logging onto YouTube.
*Nearly 81 per cent of members make purchases online.

Finances
*18 per cent of GrownUp respondents spend more than $500 per year per grandchild.
*33 per cent of respondents have had no change to their financial circumstances in the past year, while 3.6 per cent claim to be in a much better position and 7.4 per cent claim to be in a much worse position.
*35 per cent say that they will invest in a bank term deposit in the next six months and 7 per cent will invest in the stock market/equities.
*Over 31 per cent of those surveyed say they will sit tight for the next six months.

Travel
*Nearly 60 per cent of over 50 New Zealanders travel mostly in New Zealand with most stating that they would spend an average of $1000 to $3000 on the total expense of their holiday, with only 7.1 per cent spending $7500 or more.
*54 per cent research and book their holidays themselves, with less than half of this number using a travel agent.
*Over 42 per cent are thinking of going to Australia in the next 12 months, with Queensland being the most preferred option.

Health
*42 per cent of over 50 year olds visit the dentist once a year, however, nearly the same per cent of people claim never to visit the dentist (40.2 per cent).
*Over 63 per cent of survey respondents make a yearly visit to the optometrist, with 33.5 per cent of over 50s opting out of regular eye checks altogether.
*A massive 81 per cent of the over 50s surveyed by GrownUps never visit the audiologist.
*Similarly, over 80 per cent of over 50s do not belong to a gym or to a sports club.

ENDS

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