#FUNCTIONAL AGE VS CHRONOLOGICAL AGE TRIAL#

It then realized that its target market was not the chronological young, but those who were psychologically young (Kotler 1976, p. Ford found to its surprise that the car was being purchased by all age groups.

The car was designed to appeal to young people who wanted an inexpensive sporty automobile. A noteworthy exception is the Ford Motor Company's eventual recognition of the importance of self-perceived age in positioning its Mustang automobile: There have been few references in the marketing and consumer behavior literature to the influence of self-perceived age on consumer behavior. Still further, from the perspective of the present paper, and consumer behavior research in general, the overriding shortcoming of chronological age would seem to be that it does not take into account the fact that people frequently perceive themselves to be at an age other then their birth age, and that this self-perceived or cognitive age seems to influence purchase behavior. Stated differently, the unique antecedent character of chronological age restricts its usefulness to being employed as a predictor variable. More precisely, chronological age does not lend itself well to functioning as a dependent variable that is, it is exceedingly difficult to justify employing almost any behavioral variable of interest to consumer researchers as a predictor of chronological age. In consumer behavior research it is often employed in descriptive consumer behavior studies, or in efforts to segment consumer markets.ĭespite its great popularity, the use of chronological age is problematic for researchers interested in age-related research, particularly research that examines the attitudinal or behavioral patterns of the elderly. As a demographic variable, chronological age stands out from all other variables in terms of frequency of its use. More specifically, this paper will endeavor to: (1) set out some of the major limitations of chronological age, (2) review the major types of nonchronological age variables, (3) propose a new perceived age variable, 'cognitive age,' and present some initial results pertaining to its reliability and response patterns in comparison to chronological age, and (4) offer our thinking on the future use of this age variable in various types of research, especially consumer behavior research.Ĭhronological age is usually defined as either the number of years lived (Hendricks and Hendricks 1976), or as the distance from birth (Jarvik 1975). In the spirit of the Roscoe, LeClaire and Schiffman (1977) recommendations, this paper is concerned with the need for both refined and new measures of age, especially non-chronological measures of age.

#FUNCTIONAL AGE VS CHRONOLOGICAL AGE TRIAL#

In particular, they proposed that the age variable, the variable of concern in this paper, should be broadened so that it reflects such age-related factors as: the age of the household, age at birth of first child, age of siblings, birth order, age at first awareness of a product (or brand), age at first trial of a product and perceived age (i.e., youthfulness).

Within a consumer behavior context, Roscoe, LeClaire and Schiffman (1977) have been sensitive to this problem when they suggested the need to refine existing demographics and develop new ones. Moreover, there has been a general lack of attention given to the development of new forms of demographic and 'demographic-like' variables. While demographic variables have been a mainstay of marketing and consumer behavior research, this group of variables is typically selected and operationally defined quite automatically and usually without much imagination. This paper discusses a newly developed self-perceived age measure entitled 'cognitive age', and presents some results concerning its reliability and its response patterns. The determination and measurement of self perceived age as an alternative to chronological age has received almost no attention in consumer behavior and marketing research. Monroe, Ann Abor, MI : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 602-606.Īdvances in Consumer Research VolPages 602-606ĬOGNITIVE AGE: A NONCHRONOLOGICAL AGE VARIABLEīenny Barak, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey Schiffman (1981) ,'Cognitive Age: a Nonchronological Age Variable', in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 08, eds. This paper discusses a newly developed self-perceived age measure entitled 'cognitive age', and presents some results concerning its reliability and its response patterns.īenny Barak and Leon G. ABSTRACT - The determination and measurement of self perceived age as an alternative to chronological age has received almost no attention in consumer behavior and marketing research.

Functional age vs chronological age