Age associated changes in older consumers retail behaviour

Abstract

Purpose -An understanding of consumer behaviour will enable service providers to segment their client base and target specific customer groups with strategies designed to meet their retail needs. Hence, an insight into and understanding of how consumers interact with and evaluate a retail offering will help improve customer service and satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to examine the changes in consumers' food retail behaviour with regard to the demographic variable of age, based on the older population. This paper focuses on food shoppers aged over 60 years living independently in Northern Ireland. The retail geography in Northern Ireland has changed and whilst affecting all consumers has impacted to a greater degree on older consumers. This and the fact that the over 60 age group is increasing demographically illustrate why this consumer segment is worthy of greater consideration. Design/methodology/approach -A quantitative methodological approach is employed and data are collected using a consumer questionnaire (n ¼ 791). The questionnaire is analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15. Findings -The results show that as age increases older consumers' retail buying and food-related behaviour changes. A decline in patronage of multiple retailers is evident as age increases; as is consumers' perceived value of multi-purchase promotions and nutritional confidence. Alongside increasing age there is an apparent increase in the use of local shops, the enjoyment gained from shopping, the difficulty experienced in accessing food retail sites and the problems experienced when cooking. Practical implications -This paper suggests that age may be used to differentiate between customer groups and retailers must take age into consideration when providing a product offering and in retail provision for the elderly consumer. Originality/value -This paper fulfils a need for information on older consumers' retail behaviour in Northern Ireland and offers advice to food retailers attempting to better serve this increasingly important consumer segment.

Materialism and brand engagement as shopping motivations

“…Elderly consumers experience problems with store crowding, their own mobility, and service levels in stores but oddly enough, report an increase in shopping enjoyment (Meneely et al, 2009a;2009b). Age has also been shown to have an impact on where consumers prefer to shop with older consumers opting for department stores and avoiding discounter and category killer stores (Carpenter and Balija, 2010).…”

Influência Da Avaliação Comportamental De Consumo Do Idoso Na Ergonomia Organizacional De Supermercados

“…Desta forma, alguns aspectos observados nas pesquisas com relação a comportamentos e requisitos de projetos são apontados na tabela a seguir: Por fim, as pesquisas mostram que para os consumidores mais velhos, é importante criar ambientes comerciais eficientes e de fácil utilização, com especial atenção para os aspectos físicos e espaciais concretos da loja (Meneely, Burns e Strugnell 2009a;Meneely, Burns e Strugnell 2009b). Porém aspectos sociais também devem ser ponderados, tendo em vista que combinações de melhorias funcionais e sociais em supermercados podem resultar em consumidores fiéis, além de que alterações de design podem resultar em um ambiente de varejo adequado, especificamente concebido, que presta especial atenção à aplicação de uma abordagem social adequada, podem aumentar fortemente experiências de compras para o mercado maduro (Petermans e Van Cleempoel 2010).…”

The grey awakening: a South African perspective

“…However, much of the recent research conducted has chiefly focused on markets in Europe (e.g. Meneely et al, 2009;Thompson and Thompson, 2009) (Sudbury and Simcock, 2009a) such as South Africa. Research studies into this cohort should provide marketers with key insights with respect to segmenting, and effectively appealing to, senior consumers.…”