استفاده از “gerontographics” برای شرح رفتار مصرف کننده در زندگی بعدی: شواهدی از مطالعه تایلندی Using gerontographics to explain consumer behaviour in later life: evidence from a Thai study

Introduction Increase in life expectancy globally has created a rise in the older segment of the population that has become important worldwide, as companies and governments look for ways to address the ageing persons’ consumption needs and enhance their wellbeing (Drolet et al., 2010; Pettigrew and Moschis, 2011). To help develop effective strategies and policies, researchers and practitioners must understand older consumer behaviour, especially agerelated changes and the variability in the physiological and experiential nature of ageing in later stages of life (Moschis, 2012). Individuals experience different ageing processes due to a wide variety of factors, some hereditary and others environmental, such as health conditions, exposure to different events, and life circumstances that shape their mindsets (Drolet et al., 2010; Pettigrew and Moschis, 2011). Studies on older consumers’ behaviour that attempt to explain why individuals act the way they do tend to use the passage of time (indexed by chronological age, for example) as a surrogate measure of ageing processes to explain differences. They infer changes in consumer behaviours from observed age differences (Moschis, 2012), in part because chronological age is associated with ageing (e.g., Gregoire, 2003; Moschis, 2000). Consumer behaviour studies that report different patterns of behaviours as a result of the age factor cannot clearly explicate and decompose the reason(s) for changes in behaviour (Moschis, 2012). Thus, previous studies offer inadequate explanations of how ageing processes affect behaviour because they have used either chronological age, which presents the passage of time and has little explanatory power (Rutter, 1996), or inadequate measures of ageing processes (Moschis, 2012). Although differences in consumer behaviours in later life may reflect age-related changes, previous studies do not rigorously examine the effects of ageing process(es) that may better explain these differences. Because ageing entails multi-dimensional process, such as psychological, social, spiritual, and biological ageing that are believed to be universal (Moody, 1988), Moschis (2000) urges researchers to seek explanations for older adults’ consumer behaviours by employing a multidisciplinary approach that underscores the role of various ageing processes. To capture multi-dimensional aspects of age and ageing, the present study employs the gerontographics model that has been used to explain a wide variety of older consumer behaviours but has seen limited cross-cultural applications.