Age-related differences in responses to affective vs. rational ads for hedonic vs. utilitarian products
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Age-related differences in responses to affective vs. rational ads for hedonic vs. utilitarian products Aimee Drolet & Patti Williams & Loraine Lau-Gesk
Received: 13 October 2006 / Accepted: 9 April 2007 / Published online: 4 May 2007 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2007
Abstract This research investigated the moderating role of product category type (hedonic vs. utilitarian) on age-related differences in responses to affective vs. rational ads. An experiment showed that elderly consumers (age 65 plus) had more favorable attitudes toward affective (vs. rational) ads, regardless of product category type. In contrast, young adult consumers (age 18–25) favored affective ads only for hedonic products. They favored rational ads for utilitarian products. Results of the experiment imply that, to explain age-related differences in decision making, researchers must take into account age-related differences in motivational states apart from apparent shortfalls in cognition. Keywords Aging . Advertising Population aging is a world-wide phenomenon. Over the next several decades, the proportion of elderly adults (age 65 and over) in all major industrial countries will increase rapidly as the share of the total adult population declines (United Nations Population Information Network 2007). Researchers have been considering the potential social and economic impact of different marketplace factors on the elderly segment. Much of this research has been psychology-based and has concentrated on how the elderly process and evaluate marketplace information, such as advertising A. Drolet University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA P. Williams University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA L. Lau-Gesk University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA A. Drolet (*) UCLA Anderson School, 110 Westwood Plaza, Gold Hall 406, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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Market Lett (2007) 18:211–221
(e.g., Law et al. (1998); Skurnik et al. (2005)). Overall, this research has sought to understand the decision making of elderly consumers by identifying deficits in the cognitive system due to aging. In brief, past research has found that the elderly have decreased attentional ability, memory (including sensory, working, short-term, longterm, and remote memory), and capacity to process data deeply and elaborately. Recent research has revealed that, besides age-related cognitive differences, there are age-related motivational differences between elderly and young adult consumers that influence information processing and, in turn, decision outcomes (e.g., Fung and Carstensen (2003); Williams and Drolet (2005)). Studies have shown that, compared to young adults, the elderly place more emphasis on personal values and experiences (LaBouvie-Vief and Blanchard-Fields 1982). This increased emphasis affects attentional processes, leading them to focus relatively more on affective information at the expense of their recollection of factual information and decision making performance (Isaacowitz et al. 2000
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