Middle-aged and elderly people fall in love with yoga, how can sports brands seize the "silver-haired economy"?

The fitness of middle-aged and elderly people is not limited to square dancing. Yoga is becoming the new fitness favorite of the "silver-haired people".

"In the early 1990s, I became interested in seeing Teacher Huilan teaching yoga on TV." Miya, a 60-year-old yoga teacher, has traveled to India twice to learn the pure yoga of ancient India. She shared with Jing Daily what she came into contact with and learned Fall in love with the yoga experience. When she first came into contact with yoga, her physical condition was not very good. "In addition to conditioning her body, she obtained a certificate as a nutritionist, discovered that medicine and food have the same origin, and became interested in Chinese medicine conditioning. She felt that yoga and Chinese medicine have a lot to do with each other", so she started The practical teaching of "Health Restoration Yoga".

During the epidemic, Miya's offline yoga class was converted to online teaching. With the advice of students and family members, she shared the recorded class video on Xiaohongshu, hoping to benefit more people.

"My mother started practicing yoga at the age of 74, and now she is 86 years old; the old friends around her also like yoga and benefit from it." Miya said that yoga has changed the quality of life for her and those around her. "Minor physical discomfort can be relieved through a few simple movements, especially for the elderly at home. Practicing yoga is helpful for maintaining physical and mental happiness, and it can also reduce the burden on children."

Why do "silver-haired people" fall in love with yoga?

Health preservation is the most concerned issue for middle-aged and elderly people at present. According to iiMedia Consulting’s research data, in 2021, the proportion of health consumption of China’s silver-haired group will be as high as 40.9%. As a slow exercise that is relatively easy to get started, yoga can just meet the exercise needs of middle-aged and elderly people.

Sports blogger @Eve Teacher with 50,000 fans on the Xiaohongshu platform is a professional yoga teacher. She told Jing Daily in an interview that middle-aged and elderly people like yoga first because compared to other sports, the threshold for yoga is lower. "There is no need to be very professional in terms of clothing and equipment, as long as comfortable yoga clothes are good. "; Secondly, because of the overall atmosphere of yoga, "comfortable and healing", the characteristics of novice friendliness and affinity for healing make more people choose to enter the yoga studio.

In addition to yoga's own characteristics, the "grass planting" of social media is also a key factor for the widespread popularity of this sport among "silver-haired people".

According to the "QuestMobile 2022 Silver Hair Economic Insight Report", in August 2022, the number of monthly active users of silver hair users reached 297 million, a year-on-year increase of 12.5%, and the average monthly usage time per capita was 121.6 hours, a year-on-year increase of 8.6%, which was significantly higher than that of the entire network Average.

When the stalk of "you should dress more mature after the age of 20" has become a social media traffic password, the real "mature users" middle-aged and elderly people have also begun to be active in the Internet world, becoming a force that cannot be ignored by major platforms, and there are " Xiaohongshu, also known as the "grass planting platform", has also become their "surfing" destination. Open Xiaohongshu and search for "yoga for middle-aged and elderly people". Many bloggers like @60年岁YOGA 郭姐, @60年岁吉节日记, @65年岁秋姐 insist on recording their yoga practice, including those mentioned above And yoga teachers including @Eve 师 and @Miyayoga popularize yoga exercises and tutorials to middle-aged and elderly users; in the comment area of related tweets, "silver-haired people" are also exchanging their own yoga experiences and feelings.

China's silver-haired healthy consumer market worth trillions

Along with the aging of China's population and the transformation of its aging population structure, the "silver economy" was born; it involves a wide range of industries and has great potential.

According to the main data of the seventh national census, the population aged 60 and over in my country is 264 million, accounting for 18.7%. The National Working Committee on Aging's "China Aging Industry Development Report" predicts that between 2014 and 2050, the consumption potential of the domestic elderly population will increase from about 4 trillion yuan to about 106 trillion yuan, and the proportion of GDP will increase from about 8%. To about 33%, China will become the country with the greatest potential in the global aging industry market.

The "leisure and money" and growing elderly population will constitute a huge consumption power, which is especially prominent in the health consumption market. The "2022 National Fitness Trend Report" pointed out that the spending power of the elderly on sports and fitness continues to increase. In 2020, the per capita sports consumption will exceed 1,000 yuan, which is 1.85 times that of 2014. According to iiMedia Consulting's "2021 China Silver-haired Economic Industry Research Report", the scale of China's silver-haired healthy consumption market in 2021 is estimated at 1.2-2 trillion yuan.

In addition, the support of government policies will also promote the development of the "silver economy". In April this year, the General Administration of Sports issued the "Notice on Further Doing a Good Job in Sports for the Elderly", from infrastructure construction to sports promotion, integrated sports and medical services, and financial support, injecting new opportunities into the development of the elderly sports market. Kinetic energy, thus stimulating the emergence of related enterprises. According to observations, some Chinese local real estate giants and insurance companies have already deployed in the fields of elderly care real estate and elderly care. And many Internet giants have also begun to launch related services in the field of elderly care, using 5G technology to break through the problem of smart elderly care.

How do sports brands grasp the "silver hair economy"?

In the face of the blue ocean of silver-haired healthy consumption under China's "silver-haired economy", sports brands at home and abroad may have to take action.

"For middle-aged and elderly people, it is more comfortable to wear loose, breathable, and sweat-absorbing cotton." Miya believes that suitable yoga clothing should make the body unrestricted, and "it is more beneficial for the flow of Qi and blood." Teacher @Eve also said that his middle-aged and elderly students mainly like loose and comfortable sportswear.

In terms of product design, the brand needs to be targeted and designed for the special needs of middle-aged and elderly people. For example, the product pays more attention to quality and durability, and pays more attention to the protection of joints in terms of function. In addition, wearability also needs to be paid attention to, and products need to meet the daily diverse dressing scenes of middle-aged and elderly consumers.

"I often see in yoga studios that old sisters recommend styles or brands of yoga clothes to each other, which is quite interesting." Teacher @Eve told Jing Daily. Obviously, "acquaintance recommendation" is the main way for brands to reach potential middle-aged and elderly consumers. Dudarenok analyzed this, “The trust threshold of the elderly is relatively high, and recommendations from friends and acquaintances play a very critical role in their purchasing decisions.”

Unlike young consumers with ever-changing interests, middle-aged and elderly consumers are more loyal to brands, but this also requires brands to invest more energy in user retention. Due to the accelerated pace of society, it is difficult for most young people in China to have time and energy to accompany their parents. Therefore, middle-aged and elderly consumers care more about emotional connection and companionship.

The elderly establish real and effective connections, "For example, try to use human customer service to provide telephone consultation instead of automatic text responses from robots, and even use video to increase opportunities for face-to-face communication." Brands should focus on "offline marketing, online marketing As a supplement", various exclusive offline activities have become the main way to build a brand community, and then cooperate with middle-aged and elderly KOLs to seize the minds of "silver-haired" users.