Abstract
The Republic of Korea is the fastest aging country in the world, and its silver market, which is the market segment broadly defined as senior citizens, began to emerge in 2008 as Korean baby boomers started to retire. Given that the assets of households headed by individuals 55 years of age and over are much higher than those of average Korean households, it is essential for Korean financial institutions targeting elderly consumer groups to understand their credit card usage behavior, as it can be very attractive and provide the potential to lead to sustainable growth for institutions, while the market targeting for this group has not been well developed yet. This study examined elderly Korean consumers’ credit card usage behavior in terms of key demographic variables. In this study, we found that the number of cards owned was negatively related to age and positively related to income level. In addition, those who were not retired owned more credit cards than those who were. Although the average monthly expenditure by credit cards was positively related to income, it was not significantly different in terms of age or retirement status. The findings from this research provide significant implications for marketers of credit card companies when searching for key target groups, particularly elderly consumers.
Highlights
The main effect of age and the interaction effect were not significant (F = 3.24, p = 0.08 and F = 0.01, p = 0.91, respectively). These findings suggest that income is the main factor that produces differences in the amounts charged using credit cards for elderly consumers
This study examined the credit card usage behavior among elderly consumers in This study examined thewas credit card usage behavior among consumers in KoKorea
Credit card usage predicted to vary according to elderly age, income, and retirement rea.status
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea) is the fastest aging country in the world. Korean population estimates reveal that the senior population over the age of 65 is increasing, while the younger population under the age of 14 is shrinking to more than half of that in the 1960s. The number of elderly persons has already doubled over the last 15 years, and is forecast to double again over the 15 years [1]
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