Let’s stick with Boomers another day. OK, a little broader … this is about “middle-aged” brains (ages 40-65).

Marketer Anne Mai Bertelsen writes in Engage: Boomers about an interview she heard based on The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain, by Barbara Strauch (I’ve ordered it!).

It turns out the middle-aged brain is better at:

• Complex reasoning
• Sizing up a situation – seeing the "big" picture
• Social expertise — the ability to assess the "bad guy" from the "good guy"
• Empathy
• Getting the gist of an argument better, faster

However, there are downsides to the middle-aged brain:

• Slower to process information
• More easily distracted
• More forgetful but not for autobiographical or habitual activities

Here’s what Anne took away as the implications for marketers (maybe fundraisers?):

• "Dumbing down" is not needed: the middle-aged brain’s ability to process complex ideas, employ inductive reasoning and problem solving suggests an opportunity to communicate and market complex ideas and products to Boomers.
• Get to the point: the middle-aged brain’s ability to grasp the gist of an argument faster and better suggests long, drawn-out explanations are not needed or helpful.
• Tap into empathy to get attention: with more personal experiences to draw upon, middle-aged brains are more empathetic … and empathy elicits emotions
• Minimize auditory and visual distractions: the middle-aged brain is more apt to be distracted … or fall into a "default" daydreaming mode.

This all strikes me as good news from a fundraising standpoint – see bad guys, get the big picture, appreciate complexity (the problems and solutions aren’t easy), feel empathy. A bit of a counter-balance to yesterday’s post.

Tom

P.S. However, I guess if you want to net out the two posts … Boomers are shocked by an unexpected pinch on their financial well-being and will be less inclined to give; but hey, at least they can fully comprehend the complex reasons for their impoverished state — as long as you don’t present it to them in multi-media – and will feel sorry for you when they don’t respond to your fundraising appeal!