Download Do older consumers differ from younger consumers in their attitudes

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Do older consumers differ from younger consumers in their attitudes,
information sources and store choice in the Australian clothing retail market?
Giang Trinh, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, University of South Australia.
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
This study examines whether older consumers differ from younger consumers in their
attitudes, information sources and store choice in the Australian retail market. This study
provides supported findings to previous research that older consumers choose products based
on quality and brand name, and are less price conscious and deal prone than younger
consumers. Older consumers tend to find information for fashion from newspapers rather than
radio or television. However, the results also suggest alternative findings to previous research,
older Australian consumers tend to spend less on luxury products than younger consumers.
They are less fashion conscious and enjoy clothes shopping less than younger consumers.
Additionally, this study found some differences between older and younger Australian
consumers in their store choice.
Keywords: Older consumers, Attitudes, Information sources, Store choice, Clothing,
Australia.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Roy Morgan Research for supplying the data that made this
study possible. The author would also like to thank John Dawes and Bryony Jardine for their
valuable comments on a draft of this paper
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Do older consumers differ from younger consumers in their attitudes,
information sources and store choice in the Australian clothing retail market?
Introduction
Older consumers have received growing attention in marketing research in the USA and the
UK (e.g. Ahmad, 2002; Ahmad, 2003; Birtwistle and Tsim, 2005; Moschis, 2008; Moschis,
2003; Myers and Lumbers, 2008; Sudbury and Simcock, 2009). One possible reason could be
that older consumers are soon going to be the most important group in terms of retail spend
(Myers and Lumbers 2008). Yet, limited research has been conducted on older consumer
behaviors outside these countries. As such, a study in a different context will add more
insight into the topic of older consumer behaviors.
Like older consumers in the USA and the UK, those over the age of 55 are financially the
most powerful segment in the Australian market (Access Economics, 2001). This segment
earns almost 25 per cent of the nation's disposable income and controls 39 per cent of the
nation's wealth (Access Economics, 2001). However, little has been known about older
Australian consumers’ characteristics and purchase behaviors. This paper, therefore,
investigates this issue by examining whether or not older consumers differ from younger
consumers in their attitudes, information sources and store choice in Australia, using retail
clothing as the market context.
Older consumers characteristics
Previous findings in the literature have suggested that older consumers tend to patronize
reputable/ traditional stores (Lumpkin et al., 1985; Lumpkin and Greenberg, 1982; Moschis,
2003) and spend more on luxury products and services than younger consumers (Gardyn,
2002; Moschis, 2008; Moschis, 2003; Sawchuck, 1995). They also tend to choose products
based on quality and brand name, (Burt and Gabbott, 1995; Moschis, 2003) and are less price
conscious and deal prone than younger consumers (Bernhardt and Kinnear, 1976, Fox et al.,
1984; Gillett and Schneider, 1978; Lumpkin et al., 1985; Lumpkin and Greenberg, 1982;
Moschis 2003).
In terms of buying clothing, older consumers enjoy clothing shopping (Lumpkin, 1985;
Tongren, 1977; Martin, 1976) and are fashion conscious (Birtwistle and Tsim, 2005; Lumkin,
1985; Martin, 1976; Tongren, 1988; Tongren, 1977). Older consumers tend to find
information on fashion from newspapers rather than radio or television (Lumpkin, 1985;
Lumpkin and Greenberg, 1982; Martin, 1976). Yet, how these characteristics compare to
younger consumers is not known.
Given that these results are well established in the USA and the UK, findings in a different
context (the Australian market) that support these findings or suggest alternative findings
would be useful for marketing research in this area. In addition, this study also seeks to
compare characteristics of older and younger consumers in the clothing retail environment,
which has rarely been done.
Older consumers and brand/store choice
Although some authors have postulated that older consumers’ brand choices are different
from younger consumers (e.g. Cole et al., 2008), surprisingly, previous findings in the
literature shows that there is not a lot of age-based segmentation for competing brands in a
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wide range of categories from grocery products to durable products and services (e.g. Fennell
et al., 2003; Hammond et al., 1996; Kennedy, et al., 2000; Kennedy and Ehrenberg, 2001).
Patterns of brand buying within a product category are similar between older and younger
consumers (Uncles and Ehrenberg, 1990; Uncles and Lee, 2006). Yet, whether or not these
findings can be generalised to the clothing retail market is not known. Indeed, some authors
have suggested that there might be age-based segmentation within this market (Burt and
Gabbott, 1995, Quinn et al., 2007). The reason is that retailers often use targeting strategies to
attract particular age groups of buyers (Bevan, 2002; McGoldrick, 2002) (cited in Quinn et
al., 2007). To date, there is no study that has reported whether different competing clothing
retail stores appeal to different age groups of consumers. As such, a finding on this issue will
advance marketing knowledge in this particular type of market.
This paper, therefore, aims to provide empirical research by answering the question whether
or not older consumers differ from younger consumers in their attitudes, information sources
and store choice in the Australian clothing retail context.
Research method and data
In order to see if there is any difference between older and younger consumers, we compared
the proportions of those aged 55 and over to those aged 34 and under in terms of their
attitudes, information sources, and store choice. Not only did we wish to identify if older and
younger consumers are different in their characteristics and brand choice, but we also wished
to identify the magnitude of the differences. We did this by calculating the difference of
proportions (Older group – Younger group) and the ratio of proportions (Older
group/Younger group) between the two groups. We did this because in the case of low
proportions, absolute comparison might not detect differences due to a scaling effect. If there
is little or no difference among the two groups, the difference of proportions should be less
than 5 percentage points (Hammond et al., 1996; Kennedy et al., 2000; Kennedy and
Ehrenberg, 2001) and the ratio of proportions should be approximately 1.0 (Agresti, 2002).
Therefore, we will be looking for differences of +-5 percentage points and above, and ratios
of either >1 or < 1.
The data used in this study is individual consumer data from Roy Morgan Research. The
sample consists of 58294 individuals aged 14 and over across Australia. Thirty percent of the
sample are aged 14 to 34, while thirty-six percent are aged 55 and over. The sample was
weighted to be representative of the total population of Australia in the age range of the
sample. The data was collected by face-to-face interviews during the period January 2006 –
December 2006 (Roy Morgan Research, 2006). The data was proccessed ussing the
ASTEROID data analysis software provided by Roy Morgan Research. ASTEROID is an
analysis software that allows users to produce aggregation of results based on consumer
surveys (Roy Morgan Research, 2006).
To take into account the attitude variable, the respondents were asked if they agree with the
statements such as “It is important to look fashionable” and “I believe that quality is more
important than price”, which indicate fashion and shopping preference.
For the information source variable, the respondents were asked which one media source they
find most useful for providing information when selecting fashion or jewellery.
To examine the consumers’ association with store/brand choice, the respondents were asked
at which stores they have made a purchase within the last four weeks. We include all stores
that have more than 200 respondents reported buying from it. This left us with the top 28
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stores in our analysis. Previous large scale data analysis usually limited the number of
stores/brands analysis to the top 5 - 10 stores/brands (e.g. Hammond et al., 1996; Kennedy et
al., 2000; Kennedy and Ehrenberg, 2001; Uncles and Lee, 2003) or more than 200
respondents reported buying the brand (e.g. Fennell et al., 2003).
Results and Discussions
Table 1 shows the proportions of older and younger consumers who agree with the attitudinal
statements about fashion and shopping preference. As we can see, there are differences in
attitudes between the two groups. The older group is more likely to believe that quality is
more important than price (77 percent vs 73 percent). They tend to buy Australian made
products (86 percent vs 58 percent). They also tend to trust well-known brands (49 percent vs
46 percent), but do not buy more luxury products than younger consumers (66 percent vs 40
percent).
On the other hand, older consumers search for a bargain less than younger consumers (34
percent vs 47 percent). They also enjoy clothes shopping less (36 percent vs 55 percent) and
are less fashion conscious than younger consumers (24 percent vs 39 percent).
Table 1. Attitudes about fashion and shopping preference by older and younger consumers.
Attitudes
Overall
I believe quality is more important than price
I try to buy Australian made products as often as possible
I have favourite brands for most things I buy and I tend
to stick to them
I am always ready to try new and different products
I try to look stylish
I don't buy luxuries anymore
I trust well known brands better than the stores' own
I enjoy clothes shopping
I'll go out of my way in search of a bargain
I buy more store's own products than well known brands
It's important to look fashionable
I will buy a product because of the label
I was born to shop
I wear clothes that will get me noticed
74
72
68
<35 (Y)
(%)
73
58
70
55+ (O)
(%)
77
86
66
60
58
52
47
44
40
35
30
24
16
16
66
65
40
46
55
47
39
39
31
25
29
50
52
66
49
36
34
31
24
18
8
6
Difference of
proportions
5
27
-4
Ratio of
proportions
1.1
1.5
0.9
-17
-13
26
3
-19
-14
-9
-15
-13
-17
-22
0.7
0.8
1.6
1.1
0.7
0.7
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.3
0.2
All differences are statistically significant at p < 0.05.
The results support previous findings that older consumers choose products based on quality
and brand name, and are less price conscious and deal prone than younger consumers.
However, the results also suggest alternative findings to previous research. Unlike previous
findings, older Australian consumers tend to spend less on luxury products than younger
consumers. They are not fashion conscious and enjoy clothes shopping less than younger
consumers.
Table 2 shows the differences between older and younger consumers in their information
sources. As we can see, catalogues and magazines are the most useful sources of information
for both groups. However, there are large differences between the two groups in relation to
newspapers, television, internet, radio and cinema. The younger group tends to obtain fashion
related information from internet, television, radio, and cinema more than the older group.
While 11.8 percent of the younger group find information from internet most useful, only 2.5
percent of the older group find information from this medium most useful. The difference
between the two groups is -9.3 percentage points or 0.2 in terms of ratio, which is quite
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substantial. Similarly, with the television medium, the difference is quite large, with the
difference being -6.9 (2.5 - 9.4) percentage points or 0.3 (2.5/9.4) in terms of ratio.
By contrast, the older group tends to obtain fashion related information from newspapers
more than the younger group. While 9.4 percent of the older group find information from
newspapers most useful, only 6.2 percent of the younger group find information from this
medium most useful (3.2 percentage points difference or 1.5 in terms of ratio).
Table 2. Information sources by older and younger consumers.
Information
sources
Catalogues
Magazines
Newspapers
Internet
Television
Yellow Pages
Radio
Cinema
Can’t say/ No answer
Overall
43.7
18.9
7.7
7.0
5.7
4.1
1.1
0.6
23.6
<35 (Y)
(%)
42.3
22.5
6.2
11.8
9.4
3.9
1.7
1.0
18.0
55+ (O)
(%)
36.1
15.6
9.4
2.5
2.5
3.8
0.7
0.3
36.7
Difference of
proportions
-6.2
-6.9
3.2
-9.3
-6.9
-0.1
-1.0
-0.6
18.7
Ratio of
proportions
0.9
0.7
1.5
0.2
0.3
1.0
0.4
0.3
2.0
All differences are statistically significant at p < 0.05 except for Yellow Pages.
The results support previous findings that older consumers tend to find information for
fashion from newspapers rather than radio or television (Lumpkin, 1985; Lumpkin and
Greenberg, 1982; Martin, 1976). In addition, this study found that both older and younger
consumers find catalogues and magazines the most useful information sources for fashion
purchasing. Only a very small proportion of older consumers (2.5%) find that internet is the
most useful information source.
Table 3 shows the differences between older and younger consumers in their clothing store
choice. As we can see from the table, the competing clothing stores have different appeals to
older and younger consumers. Within the department stores, David Jones and Harris Scarfe
appeal slightly more to older consumers; while Target, Kmart, and Big W appeal slightly
more to younger consumers. These differences are not very large possibly because the
department stores tend to offer a wide range of competing brands.
Within the specialty stores, there are large differences between the two groups in terms of
store choice. Millers, Lowes, Suzanne Grae, Katies, Rivers, and Noni B clearly appeal more
to older consumers. In contrast, Jay Jays, Bras N Things, Just Jeans, Jean Wests, Rebel Sport,
Supre appeal more to younger consumers. For example, while 9.2 percent of the older group
buy from Millers, only 1.5 percent of the younger group buy this brand (7.7 percentage points
difference or 6.0 in terms of ratio). Similarly, while 4.1 percent of the older group buy from
Lowes, only 1.5 percent of the younger group buy this brand (2.6 percentage points difference
or 2.8 in terms of ratio).
In contrast, while 4.1 percent of the younger group buy from Jay Jays, only 0.2 percent of the
older group buy this brand (-3.8 percentage points difference or 0.1 in terms of ratio).
Similarly, 3.0 percent of the younger group buy from BNT, whereas only 0.7 percent of the
older group buy this brand (-2.3 percentage points difference or 0.2 in terms of ratio).
These large differences in clothing retail store choice could be explained by the reason that
older people may dress differently from younger people. Thus, different specialty clothing
stores might stock different ranges in order to target different age groups.
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Table 3. Store purchased clothing last four weeks by older and younger consumers.
Clothing stores
Department stores
Target
Kmart
Big W
Best & Less
Myer
David Jones
Target Country (incl. Fosseys)
Harris Scarfe
Specialty stores
Millers
Lowes
Jay Jays
Suzanne Grae
BNT - Bras N Things
Just Jeans
Jeans West
Rockmans
Katies
Rivers
Sussan
Rebel Sport
Supre
Ed Harry Menswear
Pumpkin Patch
Colorado
Noni B
Supermarkets
Woolworths
Coles
Factory outlet/seconds store
Overall
< 35 (Y)
(%)
55+ (O)
(%)
Difference of
proportions
Ratio of
proportions
13.5
11.6
10.3
7.5
7.4
2.8
2.0
1.0
14.4
12.5
10.9
6.9
6.1
2.2
1.8
0.4
9.3
8.4
7.1
6.3
5.6
3.4
1.6
1.4
-5.1
-4.0
-3.8
-0.7*
-0.5*
1.2
-0.2*
1.0
0.6
0.7
0.7
0.9
0.9
1.6
0.9
3.4
5.0
2.9
2.1
1.8
1.7
1.6
1.5
1.5
1.4
1.4
1.3
1.3
1.2
1.2
1.0
1.0
0.7
1.5
1.5
4.1
1.0
3.0
2.6
2.2
1.1
0.9
0.9
1.2
1.5
2.3
1.2
1.3
1.1
0.2
9.2
4.1
0.2
1.9
0.7
0.5
0.5
1.1
1.5
1.6
1.0
0.3
0.2
1.0
0.5
0.6
1.4
7.7
2.6
-3.8
0.9
-2.3
-2.1
-1.7
0.1*
0.5
0.7
-0.3*
-1.3
-2.2
-0.2*
-0.8
-0.5
1.2
6.0
2.8
0.1
1.8
0.2
0.2
0.2
1.1
1.6
1.7
0.8
0.2
0.1
0.9
0.4
0.5
8.3
2.1
1.5
1.4
1.6
1.2
1.2
2.0
1.5
1.1
0.4
0.3
-0.1*
1.2
1.2
0.9
(*) These differences are not statistically significant at p < 0.05
Conclusions
Previous research has indicated that marketers do not see older consumers as a different
market segment that need separate marketing offerings (Ahmad, 2002). Retailers are more
interested in targeting younger consumers and lack of an understanding of the needs of older
consumers (Britwistle and Tsim, 2005). This attitude towards older consumers would suggest
a less efficient marketing approach to this potential segment within the fashion retail market
considering that the attitudes, information sources and brand/store choice of older consumers
are different from younger consumers. The findings of this study demonstrate that older
consumers do need different marketing activity. By tailoring marketing activity to older
consumers, marketing managers can target this group more effectively and efficiently.
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