Senior Consumers Research Articles

The shopping experience of older supermarket consumers

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to investigate the difficulties and challenges faced by the older supermarket consumers in order to form insights into potential ways of applying IT support and design solutions within the supermarket service for older consumers. The rationale for this research stemmed from observations and discussions with supermarkets with regards to the use of IT and better process design for a growing segment of their consumer base.Design/methodology/approachA mixed research methodology was used for this research. Firstly, an ethnographic approach based on direct observations was felt appropriate as this would offer a visual unbiased view of the processes involved in the shopping experience. Secondly, it was felt that it would be appropriate to support these findings with semi‐structured interviews. The data was clustered to provide contextual awareness of the problems involved within the shopping experience.FindingsThe findings indicated a range of areas where senior consumers faced difficulties. One major problem was around understanding where certain products were placed on shelves and why. The other areas of concern were access to products (shelf height), poor signage, labelling and inappropriate portion sizes.Research limitations/implicationsThe main research limitation is the small sample size that was studied. Obviously with a much larger sample a wider range of problems would be uncovered. The other area of concern is the fact that studying particular customers invades the privacy of customers that are inadvertently caught up on videos. In future, it may make sense to get participants to film themselves and talk into smart mobiles, recording real‐time data.Practical implicationsThe research indicates that it is important for supermarkets to improve signage and customer support, and use IT more freely in most areas. The use of electronic ink signage is a new and important area that they could invest in. This would allow real‐time updates.Social implicationsAs many countries are faced with growing numbers of senior citizens, it is important that their lives are made easier and the shopping experience improved.Originality/valueThere are limited attempts at the use of an ethnographic approach to explore elderly consumers’ shopping experiences in the UK. The existing studies do not look at the practicalities of everyday shopping problems faced by this segment of the population. It also adds value to the retailers’ understanding of the behaviour patterns of this important customer segment, at the same time offering solutions to certain problems such as signage and directions through the utilisation of IT.

고령친화식품 개발을 위한 한국 노년층의 조리 요구도 조사 - 서울·경기 지역 노인을 중심으로 -

Abstract The purpose of this study was to understand the characteristics of senior consumers' food-related lifestyle and to investigate their demand for menu development of senior' friendly food products. An one-to-one survey method was used for data collection, and the survey was conducted with 490 senior participants who are over 55 years-old living in Seoul and Kyunggi area. The main results of this study were as follows: Most participants usually spend from 60,000 to 150,000won on food a month, and the female participants played a decisive role on food purchasing and preparation. They preferred home meal for their three regular meals to bread, convenience food, or eating-out. For menu development of senior-friendly food products, the demand for food products using moist-heat cooking method was higher than those using dry-heat cooking method. Also, the respondents did not like strong taste such as salty, spicy, or bitterness in senior-friendly foods, and wanted to have a variety of noodle, kimchi, meat, seafood meals.Key words : senior-friendly food, menu development, consumer demand1)

Seniors’ Motivations and Perceived Risks: A Cross-Cultural Study

ABSTRACT This research reports on the findings of a comparative study of senior consumers from a major European (French) market and a key Asian (Chinese) one. The study concentrates on the tourism market regarding the growth and importance of this industry both for European and Asian markets. Travel motivations and perceived risks were of particular interest to understand consumer behavior, with scales being tested and utilizing survey data collected from 300 French and 264 Chinese seniors. The study reveals that two reliable Western scales could be adapted to the Chinese and to the French cultures. Second, it shows significant differences between Chinese and French senior consumers in terms of motivations and risks perceptions. Particularly, Chinese seniors are described by a past-oriented motivation, linked to nostalgia, and patriotism, which differentiates them from the Western seniors. This article provides a contribution regarding a major issue in comparative and cross-cultural studies: the use of a unique and culturally adapted scale. Two scales have been tested and showed to be suitable for marketing studies in four cultures. Second, this study provides interesting information on a European and an Asian senior market. Knowing that the current aging of the global population presents an exciting opportunity for growth for several industries, these results are of particular interest for international marketers.

Understanding Seniors in the Context of an Aging European Population as a Modifier for Further Brand Management: Case of the Czech Republic

This paper outlines the growing potential of the aging population in Europe with a focus on its impact on the food industry. The importance of mature consumers over the next few decades will radically grow. The impact on companies' volumes will be significant without sophisticated innovations in products and communication. The objective of this paper is to selectively highlight relevant research of the segment of senior consumers and using this to clarify two important areas with significant implications for marketers: (i) the importance of the senior segment for future food marketing and (ii) the specifics of the mature segment in terms of benefits selection for the development of brand positioning strategies. Additionally, different segmentation approaches to the senior market, together with their implications on targeting and communication, are discussed.

Marketing travel services to senior consumers

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify the profiles of current senior travelers using accurate segmentation criteria based on ageing and behavioral tourism variables, shown to be useful in gerontology, marketing and tourism marketing literature.Design/methodology/approachA self‐complete questionnaire was administered to a work status‐based quota sample of 300 senior consumers (retired people aged 50‐76). Using behavioral variables, cluster analysis was performed. The clusters were then profiled using a discriminant analysis, involving demographic, ageing, and also some behavioral variables not included in the initial analysis. Finally, the current tourism offers were studied, considering the segments characteristics revealed.FindingsFour distinct segments have been identified. Each segment differs considerably from one another on a set of variables, including consumer behaviors variables.Research implicationsThis paper fills a research gap, outlined by several previous researchers in the senior consumer field, by identifying the current travel motivations of seniors and the role of subjective ages in the consumption of tourism.Practical implicationsThe paper provides dedicated tools to better understand the senior market. It also provides practical guidance for tourism companies to improve their current offer, better target and better satisfy each senior segment.Originality/valueThis research provides the first known tourism French senior market segmentation. It also reveals an interesting (discriminant) segmentation variable for the senior market: the discrepancy age, which has until now been neglected in senior studies. Finally, it addresses an issue linked to one of the major current opportunity markets, i.e. the senior market, for one of the most important service industries, i.e. the tourism industry.

A cross-cultural analysis of pro-environmental consumer behaviour among seniors

This paper presents the results of a cross-national study into the ecologically conscious consumer behaviour of senior consumers (aged 50+, mean age 64 years) in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Hungary. Using a survey, the study (n = 1275) utilises a modified version of the Ecologically Conscious Consumer Behaviour Scale, in addition to a battery of variables to measure wider ethical purchasing behaviour and sociodemographic characteristics. Findings suggest that there are segments of older consumers in all countries under study who demonstrate ecologically conscious consumer behaviour, and at the same time there are segments that do not. These segments cannot be identified by sociodemographic variables, but do differ in their wider ethical purchasing behaviour. The study is the first of its kind to measure actual ecologically conscious consumer behaviour in the senior market across different nations.

Study on Fashionable and Preferable Emotion of Men’s T-Shirt between Senior Males and Females

T-shirt attracts a crowd of various consumers and endures worldwide popularity for both ever-changing style and colour-rich. In this article, it takes 42 men’s T-shirts as the objects, “fashionable” and “preferable” as emotional stimuli words were used from the point of view visual cognition. The aim of this paper is to provide concrete basis for the design of more fashionable and preferable emotion of men’s T-shirts to meet the needs of senior consumers.

Partnering with an Area Hospital to Provide Senior Consumer Health Information

The purpose of this project was to provide better consumer health information and services to a patient population of a hospital-based nursing home. Nintendo Wii® devices were purchased to improve physical activity of patients in the nursing home. All nurses were trained to use MedlinePlus®. MedlinePlus materials were added to the consumer health library in the hospital, and DVD players were purchased for watching consumer health videos. The capacity of the nursing home and hospital to deliver consumer health information to patients and their families has been improved. This project was a great way to introduce a health care system to the services and products of the National Library of Medicine and empower the staff to better provide consumer health information.

Surveys of Seniors Reveal Roadblocks to Reliable Life Settlement Information

This research involved an analysis of the decision-making behavior of consumers who chose to purchase life insurance, and the results reveal that the life insurance settlement option is a missed opportunity for many. “Roadblocks” prevent consumers from obtaining the forthright and comprehensive information that they need to investigate this option, and those hindrances include: insurer interference, media bias, and inferior industry education. ISI asks: will stakeholders of the life insurance secondary market step up to the task of educating senior consumers?

A multivariate segmentation model of senior consumers

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide a multivariate segmentation model of the older consumer market, utilising variables based on the major dimensions of ageing, and behavioural variables previously shown to be pertinent to older adults in the gerontology and marketing literature.Design/methodology/approachA self‐complete questionnaire was administered to an age‐based quota sample of 650 older consumers (aged 50‐79) in the UK. Using the age and consumer behaviour variables, cluster analysis was performed. The clusters were then profiled using ANOVA, Kruskal‐Wallis and χ2 techniques, using those variables not included in the initial analysis.FindingsThe results confirmed that the older consumer market is not homogeneous. Rather, five distinct segments emerged which differ considerably from one another on a range of variables, including consumer behaviours.Practical implicationsThe model has practical implications for targeting older consumers, and the paper provides guidelines on how to reach the different segments.Originality/valueThe paper, the result of the largest known empirical study into older consumers in the UK, provides a comprehensive segmentation model that overcomes many of the limitations of previous segmentation studies pertaining to older adults. It also fills a research gap noted by several previous researchers in that a variety of different types of age are utilised.

Tourism Market and Demographic Changes

Summary This paper identifies the major demographic trends and their implications for consumer market. It is important to know how will demographic change influence the tourism market in particularly and how can the tourist industry adapt to these. The advancing ageing of society will result in far reaching changes, particularly on the demand side. To profitably seize the opportunities, managers must understand how senior markets evolve and adapt products and service offerings along multiple dimensions to meet the needs of senior consumers.

A double-hurdle analysis of travel expenditure: Baby boomer seniors versus older seniors

Abstract This study examined the socio-demographic and economic determinants of leisure travel expenditure and compared these determinants in baby boomer senior households and older senior households in the United States. Unlike previous studies, this study performed Heckman's double-hurdle analysis, using the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES), to present a two-step process for making travel consumption decisions. The results revealed that more baby boomer senior households participated in leisure travels than older senior households. However, among those households that chose to travel, the mean expenditure of the older senior group was higher than for baby boomers. This study also showed similarities and differences in the determinants of travel consumption decisions between baby boomer seniors and older seniors. This two-step approach provided in-depth information on the processes involved in deciding to travel and how much to spend on travel. This additional information will be valuable in understanding senior consumers in the tourism industry.

Understanding the relationship between holiday taking and self‐assessed health: an exploratory study of senior tourism

AbstractThe senior market is particularly attractive to the tourism industry. Alongside evidence of a growing propensity to travel and spend, consumption is often deliberately linked to low seasons, balancing out the peaks and valleys for tourism suppliers. Health is one variable which is particularly significant to this consumer. Personal health influences all patterns of consumer behaviour regardless of age, although the full extent to which this models senior tourism activity is unclear. An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken in the spring of 2005, with 22 senior consumers (aged 55 years plus) interviewed. Utilizing the earlier work by Zimmer et al.into self‐assessed health as a framework, travel propensity, the perceived effects of travel and factors inhibiting full participation were questioned. Conclusions drawn outline both a senior tourism typology and areas for future research. Notably the relationship between caregiving and tourism consumption is singled out for further investigation.

Food-Away-From-Home Expenditure of Senior Households in the United States: A Double-Hurdle Approach

This study investigated the association of demographic and socioeconomic variables with food-away-from-home (FAFH) expenditures in senior households in the United States. Using the Consumer Expenditure Survey, the two-step decision process for FAFH consumption was examined using Heckman's double-hurdle approach. The first step was a probit regression to estimate the probability of FAFH participation. The second step was to predict FAFH expenditure using a truncated regression with the inverse Mills ratio for correcting sample selection bias. The results indicated that sociodemographic characteristics were more useful in understanding the participation decision of senior households about FAFH, whereas access to and availability of restaurants as well as financial resources are better predictors of FAFH expenditures. This approach provided in-depth information on the unique role of each variable in the decision-making process for eating out and for how much to spend. This information will be valuable in understanding senior consumers in the restaurant industry.

Senior Centers

This article explores the degree of influence of the racial and linguistic characteristics of staff and the availability of culturally diverse programs on the level of minority elder participation in senior centers. Two hundred twenty senior centers, recreation clubs, nutrition sites, and local Area Agencies of Aging in New York State were surveyed and comprise the study population. The impact of factors such as the racial/ethnic backgrounds of the senior center staff, linguistic abilities of the staff/administrators, and the availability of culturally specific programs on the level of participation among non-Caucasian elderly were evaluated. The study found that increasing the representation of minority staff and diverse programming, increases the level of participation of minority elders in senior centers. These findings provide the framework for recommendations to increase the representation of non-Caucasian staff in senior centers. Doing so will lead to a greater diversity of senior center consumers and allow senior centers to reach out to traditionally under-served populations.

Cognitive predictors of satisfaction with hospital inpatient service encounters among the elderly: a matter of trust.

Given the burgeoning growth of the elderly population, ensuring the satisfaction of senior consumers of health services is worthy of heightened attention by healthcare administrators both on economic and social grounds. By examining inpatient satisfaction among the elderly, we have focused our attention on an important and understudied segment of health consumers within a dominant service delivery context. Moreover, we have supplemented traditional hospital service satisfaction indicators by including a variety of rarely used psychological variables as cognitive predictors of service assessments. This study reinforces the empirical connection between trust in one's physician and elderly inpatient satisfaction at an increased level. The results suggest that increased levels of trust is positively associated with overall satisfaction of elderly inpatients as well as their satisfaction with several subdimensions of service that represent specific attributes of the hospital inpatient encounter.

Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly in 2002

This year is a pivotal time for the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) because the deadline for movement from demonstration project to permanent status is just around the corner for many sites. By late November, more than a dozen programs either will apply and be granted permanent provider designation or will cease to exist, once again altering the landscape of senior consumer options. After 3 decades of development, the PACE alternative has undeniably achieved success by both clinical and financial standards, but it does not lack some current and future challenges. HISTORY AND MODEL OVERVIEW PACE is an innovative, all-inclusive approach to caring for the frail elderly under a capitated reimbursement model. Originating in San Francisco in the early 1970s, the forerunner to today’s PACE model began in the ChineseAmerican community, wherein institutionalizing aging members in a nursing home was culturally unacceptable. On Lok (Cantonese for peaceful, happy abode) Senior Services developed a comprehensive, community-based approach to maintaining the frail elderly in their homes by applying multidisciplinary primary care within a structure that placed the adult day health center and related services (social, nutrition, recreational, medical, etc.) at its center and included home, acute, and extended care as relevant. By creatively applying the principles of health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to applicants deemed otherwise eligible for institutional care, On Lok has addressed the health care system issues affecting the elderly: fragmentation, expense, and lack of creativity in communitybased care. On Lok has maintained frail elders in their homes while enabling them to receive health care, recreation, and socialization through day centers and has managed risk through common sense preventive care. 1

The Senior Consumer and Health Educators

The Senior Consumer and Health Educators