Stress and consumer behavior

Abstract

Social scientists, public policy makers, consumer researchers, and marketers have traditionally focused on age‐related differences to understand the behavior of older adults. This research focuses on the processes through which adults learn behavioral patterns and norms that characterize behavior in later life. The socialization framework is first presented as the process through which adults learn roles and norms for old age, and data from a national study are presented to test the hypotheses derived from this model. The results suggest that certain antecedents and processes are important in socializing adults to old age.