Describe Alternatives’ Appearances for Seniors

If shown even a small number of purchase alternatives, we can get confused later when trying to compare and contrast them from memory. Because advancing age brings memory deficits, the problem is greater for seniors. Researchers at The University of Edinburgh find that one technique smart seniors use to maintain recollections of the item alternatives is to describe the physical features of each one to themselves. With this technique, older adults can perform at about the same level as young adults.
     Success of this technique depends on the senior having sufficient opportunity to describe the item, either aloud or inside their head. To assist with this, be patient with seniors as you persuade. In addition, thoroughly describe physical characteristics of each alternative you present to seniors, such as the colors, the shape, and the size.
     Since the physical characteristics may have little to do with the functions or benefits of the item, you might be tempted to omit mention of the physical characteristics. With young adults, that’s fine. In fact, including the descriptions could irritate younger consumers, coming across as a waste of time or an effort to distract the shopper.
     But with older adults, the careful description of the physical characteristics of each alternative serves a function. This holds whether or not the physical characteristics are integral to the products’ features and benefits. Still, if you can verbally associate the physical characteristic to the specifications, so much the better. “Being less than 24 inches high, this one would fit nicely under the counter you described to me.” In comparison grids you give to a shopper or post online, include photos or illustrations of the alternatives.
     A cardinal characteristic of items is color. Colorblindness is more common in the elderly, so a comparison of the alternatives in terms of color might need to be augmented with descriptions of shape and size. And for seniors who aren’t colorblind, the best way to describe colors differs from what works best with young adults.
     Unexpected color names like “freckle brown” and blatantly ambiguous ones like “millennium orange” build interest among young shoppers, and mental involvement increases purchase likelihood. Ambiguous names work best when the shopper doesn’t see the actual product color first, while unexpected descriptive names work best when the product color is seen.
     For older consumers, an ambiguous name muddles remembering. For them, if the item is red, call it red.

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