Revisiting the Age Construct: Implications for Service Research

2020 ◽  
pp. 109467052097513
Author(s):  
Volker G. Kuppelwieser ◽  
Philipp Klaus

People in the older consumer segment spend more money on services than those in other segments, making them a desired target for service providers. This universal trend has led researchers to start discussing this trend’s implications for service research and marketing practice. These discussions’ results are ambiguous because service researchers and managers face the problem of having to choose between three main age constructs: chronological age, cognitive age, and future time perspective (FTP). Unfortunately, current age-related research lacks an understanding of their real value, as only a few studies have combined them to discuss their specific impact. Recognizing this gap in the literature, this article compares the three age constructs in behavioral and perceptional settings. We highlight each age construct’s merits and weaknesses as well as exploring which construct delivers the best results in which service context. Bayesian analyses of our data reveal that chronological age has its merits as a control variable but does not sufficiently discriminate between age groups’ behavior and perceptions. Cognitive age is useful if customers’ own age perceptions are included but only identifies age differences in specific service settings. FTP consistently detects age-related differences in customers’ perceptions and in their behavior in all contexts.

1980 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willy Lens ◽  
Antoine Gailly

Age related differences in extension of future time perspective in motivational goals are studied at three socio-economic levels in a representative sample of the French speaking adult population in Belgium. The hypothesis of an inverted U-shaped relationship between age and extension of future time perspective is tested statistically. It cannot be maintained when using two indices of future extension that are borrowed from earlier studies in this field: (a) the proportion of number of references to the near future to the number of references to the distant future, and (b) the mean future extension score in number of years. The proportion of the mean future extension score to the statistically calculated expected life time is proposed as a new and better index of future extension for comparing different age groups. With this new index the hypothesis is confirmed at the three socioeconomic levels. The limits of the cross-sectional method that is used and the relative value of the new index of extension of future time perspective are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (10) ◽  
pp. 2112-2121
Author(s):  
Helene H Fung ◽  
Steven Tsun-Wai Chu ◽  
Da Jiang ◽  
Amber Xuqian Chen ◽  
Carson Chuen Ng

Abstract Objectives This study aims at contrasting the effects of limited future time perspective and mortality salience on goal prioritization across adulthood. Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) argues that people increasingly prioritize emotionally meaningful goals when they perceive future time as more limited. Terror management theory (TMT) suggests that mortality salience (i.e., the awareness of one’s mortality) drives people to prioritize the goal of perpetuating own existence through affirming cultural worldview. Method In this study, participants (N = 438) were randomly assigned to six conditions that primed (a) limited future time, (b) mortality salience, (c) death reflection, (d) both limited future time and mortality salience, (e) both limited future time, and death reflection, or (f) none. Results Results showed that older adults allocated significantly more resources to emotionally close recipients who supported their cultural worldviews in conditions involving future time limitation and death reflection. They also allocated less resources to emotionally not close recipients who did not support their cultural worldviews in conditions involving future time limitation. Younger adults did not show these differences. Nor did mortality salience have any effect. Discussion These results suggest that future time perspective and death reflection shift age-related goals more than mortality salience.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malgorzata Sobol-Kwapinska ◽  
Aneta Przepiorka ◽  
Philip P Zimbardo

The purpose of the paper is to present the main findings on the factor structure of time perspective measured using the Polish version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (Zimbardo and Boyd, 1999) in different age groups. A total of 2789 adults took part in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis of Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory items was conducted in a group of respondents aged 18–78 years to verify the original five-factor structure. Separate principal component analyses were carried out for three age groups: 18–27, 28–39, and 40–65 years old. In the group of students, a fairly clear five-factor structure of time perspective was found. In the group of the oldest respondents, a three-factor structure emerged, which can be described as follows: Past-Negative combined with Present-Fatalistic, Past-Positive combined with Future, and a separate factor corresponding to the Present-Hedonistic scale. Differences in the factor structure of time perspective were interpreted in the context of developmental change.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-92
Author(s):  
Larry P. Pleshko ◽  
Richard A. Heiens

Given the growing body of research dedicated to self-perceived age and the cognitive age construct, it is widely believed that one’s self-perceived age may actually be a better predictor of age-related psychological states or attitudes than mere chronological age. Extending the research on cognitive age, the current study examines the impact of both cognitive age and traditional chronological age on the behaviors of coffee shop users in Kuwait. The study finds that chronological age and cognitive age are highly correlated, both in age levels and in terms of consumer behavior. Nevertheless, a large portion of the sample perceived themselves to be younger than their chronological age. This is especially true of consumers aged 55 and over. The main findings that differentiate chronological age from cognitive age are that as Kuwaiti consumers become chronologically older, coffee drinks become more important to them. Also, as cognitive age increases, consumers are less likely to drink coffee with friends.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (8) ◽  
pp. 443-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siddarth Narula ◽  
Adam Lawless ◽  
Peter D’Alessandro ◽  
Christopher W. Jones ◽  
Piers Yates ◽  
...  

Aims A proximal femur fracture (PFF) is a common orthopaedic presentation, with an incidence of over 25,000 cases reported in the Australian and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry (ANZHFR) in 2018. Hip fractures are known to have high mortality. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) in predicting 30-day and one-year mortality after a PFF in older patients. Methods A retrospective review of all fragility hip fractures who met the inclusion/exclusion criteria of the ANZHFR between 2017 and 2018 was undertaken at a single large volume tertiary hospital. There were 509 patients included in the study with one-year follow-up obtained in 502 cases. The CFS was applied retrospectively to patients according to their documented pre-morbid function and patients were stratified into five groups according to their frailty score. The groups were compared using t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the chi-squared test. The discriminative ability of the CFS to predict mortality was then compared with American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) classification and the patient’s chronological age. Results A total of 38 patients were deceased at 30 days and 135 patients at one year. The 30-day mortality rate increased from 1.3% (CFS 1 to 3; 1/80) to 14.6% (CFS ≥ 7; 22/151), and the one-year mortality increased from 3.8% (CFS 1 to 3; 3/80) to 41.7% (CFS ≥ 7; 63/151). The CFS was demonstrated superior discriminative ability in predicting mortality after PFF (area under the curve (AUC) 0.699; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.651 to 0.747) when compared with the ASA (AUC 0.634; 95% CI 0.576 to 0.691) and chronological age groups (AUC 0.585; 95% CI 0.523 to 0.648). Conclusion The CFS demonstrated utility in predicting mortality after PFF fracture. The CFS can be easily performed by non-geriatricians and may help to reduce age related bias influencing surgical decision making. Cite this article: Bone Joint Open 2020;1-8:443–449.


Gerontology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 572-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Fischer

Although nonhuman primates have been used in biomedical research to develop a better understanding of physiological aging processes, their value as models for studying age-related differences in motivation, cognition, and decision-making has only recently been appreciated. This paper reviews the state of the art, with a focus on a recent study on Barbary macaques. A number of studies reported that with increasing age, Old World monkeys spend more time resting, have fewer social partners, and/or spend less time in social interactions, though other studies found no such effects. Less was known about changes in cognitive performance and shifts in interest in the physical and social environment across age. A recent comprehensive study of motivational changes in a large age-heterogeneous population of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) living at “La Forêt des Singes” in Rocamadour explicitly tested predictions from social selectivity theory, which posits that in light of a shrinking future time perspective, humans become increasingly selective in terms of their social interactions. Given that nonhuman primates most likely have no conception of their limited lifetime, this allowed disentangling the effects of cognitive insights and basal physiological processes that contribute to changes in the valuation of different activities. The Barbary macaques under study revealed marked and differential motivational shifts with age: while they interacted with fewer social partners, they continued to attend to social information. In contrast, they revealed a marked loss of interest in novel objects in early adulthood, unless these were baited with a food reward. Some of the motivational changes observed during human aging may thus be shared with our closest living relatives. The awareness of a limited future time perspective in humans may enhance the effects of these ancestral processes, but it does not appear to be the only explanation. Future studies should employ a broader array of different cognitive tests to delineate the trajectories of different cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and behavioral flexibility more clearly. Taken together, an evolutionary developmental psychology perspective that combines life span psychology with evolutionary biology appears to be a promising avenue for investigations of age-related changes in motivation and cognition.


Author(s):  
Aneta Przepiorka ◽  
Tomasz Jankowski ◽  
Malgorzata Sobol

Abstract. The aim of this research was to verify the psychometric properties of scores of the Polish version of the Future Time Perspective Scale (FTPS), developed by Carstensen and Lang (1996) . In Study 1, the sample consisted of  N = 652 participants aged 18–79 years. We performed confirmatory factor analyses to verify the dimensional structure of future time perspective and obtained a three-factor solution. In Study 2, the sample consisted of 771 participants aged 18–75 years. The results confirmed that the scores of FTPS/PL are reliable and that the FTPS/PL has the three-dimensional structure of future time perspective. The following factors were extracted: Focus on Opportunity, Focus on Life, and Focus on Time. We also tested the measurement and structural invariance of the FTPS/PL in three age groups. The results showed the FTP scale after the removal of item 4 is a measure which can be used to compare individuals differing in age. Additionally, we examined the incremental validity of FTPS/PL for life satisfaction and positive and negative affect. In Study 3, the findings showed acceptable test–retest reliability what supports the possibility of using the Polish version of the FTPS in research.


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