The impact of salient product cues on aging adults

Abstract

The study draws attention to the increasing number of aging consumers who have been a neglected group in past studies on non-prescription medicines. Past research has shown that perceived risk is a critical determinant of high-risk products such as pharmaceuticals. To reduce that perception, extant consumer literature suggests that consumers use intrinsic product cues, as they connote more risk-reducing information than extrinsic cues, although they are also used as a significant variable for that purpose. Focusing on these salient product cues, a conjoint study was performed with two product types for two age groups to examine if the impact of the cues varied according to age. Results suggest that the impact of some cues may be culturally bounded and some product related, but the impact of packaging-related cues of colour in particular seems to change in relation to age. The results put forward that segmentation due to aging in response to packaging design may lead to more effective marketing. © The Author(s) 2011.