Recent marketing literature encourages advertisers to direct promotional efforts toward the younger self-perceived age of older consumers while gerontological literature reports psychological and physiological abilities to comprehend new information decrease with increased age. These streams of research may lead advertisers to develop contrary promotional strategies. For example, based on the marketing proposition that age is more a state of mind than a physical state, firms may target consumers with advertising formatted to appeal to a subjectively youthful audience. However, this approach may result in lower advertising comprehension among older consumers if information processing efficiency decreases at an accelerating rate as a function of increasing chronological age. In turn, this miscomprehension may lead to dissatisfaction with the product or firm. / By blending the marketing and gerontological literature, this dissertation examined the age-related cognitive processing differences between self-perceived young and old adults. Specifically, this study tested whether chronological or subjective age is a more predictive antecedent of the processing of advertising. Using people ranging in age from 20 years to 80 years (n = 265), an experiment was designed to assess whether self-perceived age affected the processing of advertisements with informational appeals and emotional appeals. It was found that subjective age has no significant effect on information processing. In addition, chronological age significantly affects the processing of advertising using emotional appeals. Chronological age has no impact on informational appeal advertising. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-12, Section: A, page: 4859. / Major Professor: Richard Mizerski. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77615 |
| Contributors | Henderson, Kenneth V., Jr., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 131 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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