Getting to know the ageing market: concepts and techniques

Gabriella Spinelli, Brunel University

When?

Wednesday 28 March 2012, 16:00 to 17:00

Where?

32MS01

Open to:

Staff, Students, Public

Speaker:

Dr Gabriella Spinelli

Abstract

Due to the unprecedented changes in the population structure, the UK, together with most of the developed countries, is experiencing a phenomenal social and economical transformation. The ageing market is emerging as a fertile place of innovation given its size, heterogeneous needs and wealth. However the youth-obsessed culture we are embraced by has little knowledge and instruments to understand and predict the consumer behavior, preferences and aspirations of ageing consumers. The seminar will articulate the construct of functional age as an alternative to traditional segmentation approaches. It will expand and articulate on tools that, at the interface of marketing and design, can better articulate/predict consumer behavior. The impact of ageing on decision-making will be discussed with a particular interest to technological products’ purchase and adoption.

Biography

Dr Gabriella Spinelli is a Senior Lecturer in System Design and Innovation at Brunel University (London). Her research interests are located at the interface between design and marketing where most of her work now resides. Prior to her doctoral studies Gabriella worked at the research centre of Domus Academy (Italy), the Human Factors and Ergonomic Lab at Eastman Kodak (NY) and the Appliance studio (UK), the Communication office of Florence Borough. Before her academic post at Brunel, Gabriella was a research fellow at Sussex University. Throughout her academic career Gabriella has received considerable research funds to apply user-centred approaches to product/service/system design and commercialization. Lately she is leading a multidisciplinary research group investigating the effects of ageing on decision-making and consumer behaviour. She continues her work as consultant to make her research socially and commercially relevant. Gabriella is a visiting scholar at the Helen Hamlin centre (RCA), and the Director for Business Strategy and Innovation at the Brunel Institute for Ageing Studies (BIAS). She also collaborates with the Innovation lab at Tokio University, Japan.