Euehun Lee

Targeting the mature market: opportunities and challenges

Points out that the aging population has captured the attention of marketers, but that many companies are still uncertain as to whether they should, or how they should, go about marketing to the mature market. Highlights some of the key issues marketers are confronted with and discusses reasons for implementation of certain strategies. Concludes that, for marketing strategies to be effective, they should take into consideration the heterogeneity of the mature market and the specific product or service being marketed. Uses the results of recent studies to illustrate how such target product‐specific strategies can be developed.

A study of life events and changes in patronage preferences

Abstract Retail patronage studies usually attempt to profile and understand loyal customers. This paper presents a study of changes in patronage preferences. Based on theory and research, it is proposed that changes in patronage preferences and development of patronage orientations are the result of life events that serve as markers of life transitions. These life events create new consumption needs and are stressful because they create demand for readjustment. People are likely to change their patronage preferences as they attempt to change their consumption lifestyles to cope with stressful life changes and satisfy new consumption needs. The data support these notions and suggest implications for retailers.

Planning to move to retirement housing

Abstract As the size and diversity of the older segment of our population grows, they will need increased assistance in planning for and choosing appropriate housing from the array of options offered in the marketplace. This national survey of people age 55 and older indicates interest in retirement community housing among all socioeconomic groups, but especially among women and better-educated seniors. Facilities that offer access to medical services, transportation, and shopping while providing housekeeping and personal care services along with social activities will appeal to these consumers.

Stress and consumer behavior: Coping strategies of older adults

Social scientists, public policy makers, consumer researchers, and marketers have traditionally focused on age‐related differences to understand the behavior of older adults. This research focuses on the processes through which adults learn behavioral patterns and norms that characterize behavior in later life. The socialization framework is first presented as the process through which adults learn roles and norms for old age, and data from a national study are presented to test the hypotheses derived from this model. The results suggest that certain antecedents and processes are important in socializing adults to old age.

Stress, coping and consumer preferences: a two-way transitional event history analysis

More than 20years ago, Andreasen suggested the importance of studying life status changes for understanding a consumers likelihood of changing his or her preferences, attitudes and behaviours. The present study attempts to further advance this approach by providing a conceptual framework within which future research can be conducted. It also suggests the utilization of newly developed statistical techniques congenial to studying changes in behaviours and preferences over time. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data are used to fill gaps in previous research and demonstrate the value of this approach. While Andreasens data revealed a significant negative relationship between stress due to life status changes and brand preference changes when subjected to conventional analysis, the two-way transitional event history analysis of our data yielded a significant positive relationship between the two variables. The results suggest that when a consumer experiences high levels of stress, he or she is likely to engage in subsequent consumption-coping behaviours which include changes in brand preferences.