Extended 'offspringhood' means opportunity for marketers: Hakuhodo

The Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living (HILL) issues an annual report giving insights into sei-katsu-sha—a colloquial word that translates to "living person" and which the agency uses religiously instead of "consumer".

Not primary research, but more of a think piece based on demographic trends, this year's edition on 'Extended offspringhood' was issued in the fall in Japan and released in English this week.

The report starts with demographic realities from Japan, many of which are echoed by trends elsewhere, notably Singapore: 

• The number of adult "children" is growing. Adult offspring with at least one living parent account for about 50 per cent of Japan’s total population.
• The ageing population and low birth rate are pushing the average age of offspring upward: it reached 32.8 in 2010, compared with 25 in 1980. By 2030, it will reach 36.7.
• The parent-offspring relationship now lasts 60 years. This means, for example, that it is less and less unusual for parents to be around to congratulate their kids when they reach upper management or even retire, the report notes.

These trends will drive a variety of changes, according to HILL. For one, families will move from the nuclear structure toward "clanning". Multiple generations will live with or near each other, pooling resources and sharing responsiblity for household tasks, child-rearing and caring for older family members. The concept of "gross family product" will spread as families manage their finances and family-owned businesses with a longer-term perspective. 

Meanhile, inter-generational conflict will change to inter-generational cooperation, the report said. More time spent together, and experiencing the realities of aging together, will engender greater cooperation and support among the generations. This will lead to outcomes such as parents and their adult offspring "rebooting" their lives based on their shared wealth at any time—for example by starting a business together or re-locating overseas.

As this happens, offspring will change from rushing to assume adult responsibilities to enjoying the freedom of offspringhood, according to the report. "Having living parents is reassuring to offspring, even if only unconsciously," the report authors wrote. "There are challenges that offspring can undertake that those without parents cannot. Financially and emotionally, the presence of parents over a long period of time enables offspring to retain the idealism and social consciousness of the young, and to act on these, changing society for the better."

But what about marketing opportunities? The HILL report outlines two key areas of possibility. 

The first is defined as "New targets and behaviours based on the positive aspects of offspringhood". Opportunities here include:

• Parents and their adult children embarking on education together
• Adult offspring enjoying a "carefree 40s" period as their own kids are in school and their parents don't yet require care.
• More women founding home-based businesses
• Offspring using their retirement benefits to start new businesses in partnership with their parents

The second area of opportunity, according to the report, revolves around "lifestyles and lifestyle infrastructure that support familial relationships". Examples here include:

• Housing, fixtures, furniture, and household products designed with features that support multi-generational cohabitation.
• Classes, products and services that support child-rearing by parents and both sets of grandparents
• Multi-generational entertainment content, such as "yesterday's anime heroes...brought back to life for a new generation" and comic book series that underline clan-family values and support reading by those with older eyes.
• Multi-generational travel opportunities.