‘Geezers’ and ‘geeks’ rule market

The products introduced at the recent International Home & Housewares Show here straddle the divide between a rising generation that started keyboarding in kindergarten and an aging group asking for larger digital readouts on alarm clocks and microwaves.

Tom O’Higgins, who heads a marketing and design firm, tags the groups as tech-obsessed “geeks” and over-50 “geezers” -- “segments of the population who increasingly rule the market.”

The “geeks,” ages 10 to 26, are less impressed by luxury brands. They will buy the latest thing, but when something better comes out, they’ll upgrade. As consumers, says O’Higgins, they respond to cutting-edge design as well as nostalgia stuff.

Many of the Americans older than 50 are “looking for professional products for their kitchen, and investment appliances that look good on their kitchen islands,” says O’Higgins. “And they love massaging anything.”