Disability growing market
- According to the World Bank, one billion people (15% of the world’s population) experience some form of disability, with one-fifth (between 110 million and 190 million people) experiencing significant disabilities.
- a population that has clear persistent needs that are not being adequately fulfilled.
- This population spans the world, is growing and includes very motivated customers. population is currently being underserved and misunderstood by many businesses, many of the customers could be very grateful and loyal.
- trends, such as the aging of the population, and medical advancements that help people survive disease and injury could mean that this market will continue to grow.
- Katie Kenny in this Stuff piece describes people with disabilities as the "world's fastest-growing minority."
- The problem is many marketers (and people, for that matter) focus too much on the differences between “groups” of people rather than the similarities.
- “There are still a lot of disparaging images in advertising and broadcast of events involving those with disabilities,” says Lujano. “Even the Paralympic Games, the images are designed to warm and fuzzy, different from other athletes and people.”
- are policies, equipment and services that benefit people with disabilities really exclusively for people with disabilities? Take, for example, curb pits. Those slopes that allow wheelchairs to move from the street up to the sidewalk can also help those with bicycles, rollerblades, rolling luggage and shopping carts (not the ones that you really shouldn’t be taking away from the supermarket).
- Changing the design of buildings, offices, outdoor areas such as state parks, clothes, equipment and technology can allow more people to use them, expand the market, boost revenues and potentially override real or perceived cost in doing so.
- as universal design becomes more commonplace, even the initial expenses of universal design may drop.
- People with disabilities present additional targeted business opportunities as well, such as new equipment, technology and services to facilitate adaptive sports and daily activities. To really seize such opportunities, businesses must truly understand the disability culture. And it’s difficult to really understand a culture without talking to people who are part of the culture and getting them involved in decision making.
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