The effect of mortality salience on status consumption among elderly individuals: the moderating role of chronological age and subjective age
Journal of Organizational Change Management
ISSN: 0953-4814
Article publication date: 13 December 2021
Issue publication date: 24 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Over the past two decades, a large body of research has examined the effect of the awareness of the inevitability of death on consumption behaviours. However, the literature has shed little light on the effect of mortality salience (MS) on elderly individuals. The present research specifically aims to challenge the effect of MS on status consumption among elderly individuals.
Design/methodology/approach
Two experiments were conducted among individuals over 50. The experiments manipulated MS to test its effect on status consumption.
Findings
The results demonstrate that MS positively influences the preference for status products among elderly individuals (experiment 1) and that this effect is less pronounced as elderly individuals age (experiment 2). Subjective age bias, defined as the potential gap between chronological age and subjective age, negatively moderates this effect (experiment 2).
Practical implications
Luxury marketers need to pay attention to generational cohorts rather than other demographic variables in the segmentation of their market. Moreover, subjective age may be a better segmentation variable for marketers than objective variables such as chronological age.
Originality/value
This research provides insights that support a better understanding of status consumption among elderly individuals and the role of subjective ageing in this process.
Keywords
Citation
Rezaee Vessal, S. and Partouche-Sebban, J. (2022), "The effect of mortality salience on status consumption among elderly individuals: the moderating role of chronological age and subjective age", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 209-223. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-12-2019-0392
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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