Remembering less, or needing less? Age-related differences in the purchase funnel

Abstract

This study explores how age influences the stages of the brand purchase funnel (awareness, consideration, and purchase) and the mechanisms associated with any age-related differences. Aggregated analysis of survey data (n = 1862) across five markets and four age groups shows a reduction in the proportion of brands recognised that subsequently enter the consideration and purchase sets of older consumers. Subsequent individual-level GLS regression analysis using age as a continuous variable reveals an inverse-U shape for brand recognition and in some cases for brand recall and consideration. Peak cognitive performance occurs at age 56. There is a linear decline for purchase set size across age. Therefore, age-related differences in brand awareness and consideration, and the mechanisms driving these changes, do not greatly impact age-related increases in loyalty. Instead, findings suggest age-related increases in loyalty result from a combination of accumulated experience, development of purchase habits, and declining category purchase rates.