Understanding the Older Irish Consumer: An exploration of self-perceived age and the advertising perceptions of the older Irish consumer

Brennan, Emma (2019) Understanding the Older Irish Consumer: An exploration of self-perceived age and the advertising perceptions of the older Irish consumer. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

We are living through one of the biggest social transformations of the 21st century – a world population that is ageing. This has major implications for marketers, specifically how they can target this new consumer and capitalise on this demographic shift. There has been little study undertaken to gain a deep understating of this older cohort in an Irish context providing the impetus for this study. This paper endeavours to understand the self-perceived age construct, cognitive age, of over 50’s consumers in an Irish context and uncover their perceptions of Irish older consumers representation in advertising.

The existing literature indicates the growing shift in segmentation away from chronological age towards other self-perceived measures. Cognitive age is regarded as the most appropriate measure of understanding how old a consumer feels. This in turn impacts on how marketers target an older demographic. It was important to understand how older consumers currently perceived their representation in advertising due to its close relationship to how individuals perceive their own behaviours and age.

A mixed methods approach was applied in this study to provide robust findings that present a fuller picture of the over 50 Irish consumer. This study conclusively demonstrated that the over 50 consumers in Ireland possess a cognitive age younger than that of their actual age in line with existing literature on the older consumer globally. The study has also provided substantial evidence that a large proportion of Ireland’s over 50 consumers do not feel represented in advertising. The results of this study provide additional support for cognitive age as a process which enriches our understanding of the older consumer. The study contributes to research on consumer behaviour specifically the widely underrepresented older consumer.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing > Advertising H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing > Consumer Behaviour H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing
Divisions:	School of Business > Master of Science in Marketing
Depositing User:	Caoimhe Ní Mhaicín
Date Deposited:	24 Oct 2019 12:37
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2019 12:37
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/4037

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