Pare Senior Consumption Flaws with Pairs

An influential marketing point when selling to older adults is the opportunity for companionship during the transactions and consumption experiences. The pinnacle of companionship is a successful marriage. Researchers at University of British Columbia and Germany’s Humboldt University say that such pairings enhance the quality of senior citizen consumer outcomes beyond just someone to socialize with. Although the gains of shopping with a partner are seen at all ages, those advantages are greatest on average with older adults, who generally show more affection toward each other and interpret each other’s behavior more favorably than is the case with middle-aged couples.
     Loving couples create a positive emotional climate for each other and have specifically been found to ease shopping anxiety arising around fears of ineptitude. A spouse who is cautious helps steer a cognitively impaired older shopper away from rash decisions. Even when both people are sharp, tightwads—who recognize they should be more willing to spend money—tend to marry spendthrifts—who recognize they should be more cautious in spending.
     Health care professionals are wise to enroll the patient’s spouse in planning and implementation. When this was done with diabetes and prostatectomy patients, the recommendations for physical activity were more likely to be carried out. When wives were asked to stay alert for signs of trouble in husbands who had skin cancer, the patient skin self-examination rate climbed. It works prior to the treatment, too. Evidence is that a hand massage by a mate before cataract surgery will reduce excessive blood pressure and self-reported anxiety.
     The researchers did find circumstances where a persuasion agent is better off making the case to a senior without a partner present. This is when the shopper considers help from the partner to be overly intrusive. Still, when a couple is older, whatever help is given is more likely to be valuable because the probability is greater they’ve shared a significant portion of their life histories with each other.
     I know it doesn’t always work that way. On my fortieth wedding anniversary, my wife Irene said it was okay for me to spend part of the day at the gym. I was so pleased with this I couldn’t help bragging about it in the locker room to a guy I didn’t even know well. He replied, “Oh, yeah, I’ve been married for forty years, too,” and then after a pause, “It wasn’t all to the same woman.”

For your success: Retailer’s Edge: Boost Profits Using Shopper Psychology

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