Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee Published Report on Elderly Health Care Products Consumption

Recently, Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee printed and distributed Report on Elderly Health Care Products Consumption(hereinafter referred to as Report), revealed the deep demand mechanism behind the elderly health care products consumption and the overall situation of Shanghai elderly health care products consumption. 

According to the briefing, with the acceleration of aging process, the elderly consumption demand for health care products is continuously releasing, elderly consumers are becoming the core targeted group in health care products industry. Some illegal managers utilize the insufficient emotional need and cognitive ability of the elderly, luring the elderly to purchase health care products at expensive prices with low quality by organizing tours and free physical examination, which has became a hot topic. 

To fully understand the reality of elderly health care products consumption, Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee and Sociology Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Shanghai Dibo Large Data Center jointly completed Report on Elderly Health Care Products Consumption after six months of survey facing 1000 senior citizens and their daughters and sons from Shanghai.

Report is divided into qualitative and quantitative research, revealed the deep demand mechanism behind the elderly health care products consumption and the overall situation of Shanghai elderly health care products consumption through reason exploring and large data mining. The Report shows that nearly 70% of senior citizens have purchased health care products in the past year, and the direct reason is the pursuit of health, youth and happiness. Overall, 55.1% of senior citizens are inclined to consume rationally, which is declining rapidly along with the decline of health situation and increasing age.

The Report also shows that the essence of senior citizens’ irrational consumption is the embodiment of unsatisfied self emotion needs. After retirement, their shrinking life and social circle, slow pace of gaining new knowledge and declining body function contributing the development of loneliness and feeling like ‘I am not important any more’. The more distant the relationship is between parents and children, the lonelier they feel, senior citizens with low self-recognition are more likely to be lured by the marketing mode of health care products, therefore generating irrational consumption. In contrast, irrational consumption tendency of seniors who are close to their children, and have various interests and social life is relatively low. 

Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee called the entire society to share concern and care to the elderly consumers, to know their objective emotional needs, on one hand to promote legislative and executive branches strengthen rules of law, carry out strict supervision towards health care products industry and promote credit management, on the other hand to intensify the construction of age-friendly community with activity rooms, purchase socialized elderly help service and perfect the social support system of elderly related services.