Journal of Consumer Research Inc.

The Elderly Consumer and Adoption of Technologies Author(s): Mary C. Gilly and Valarie A. Zeithaml Source: The Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Dec., 1985), pp. 353-357 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/254379 . Accessed: 23/02/2011 14:18 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpress. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

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The Elderly Consumer and Adoption of Technologies MARY C. GILLY VALARIEA. ZEITHAML* The study investigated adoption of several key consumer-related technologies by the elderly. Specifically, the adoption of scanner-equipped grocery stores, electronic funds transfer, automated teller machines, and custom telephone calling services was compared in an elderly and a nonelderly sample of consumers. Results indicated that lower percentages of the elderly group were in the trial and adoption stages for most of the innovations. However, elderly consumers were more likely to adopt electronic funds transfer. The elderly also used sources of information to different degrees than did the nonelderly to learn about innovations.

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nterest in the elderly has burgeonedin the last ten

to attitudes toward and adoption of technology: the older the consumer, the more negative the view toward technology and the lower the use of various technologies. In two other studies, elderly consumers were shown to be more resistant than younger consumers to the item price removal associated with scanner technology (Harris and Mills 1971; Pommer, Berkowitz, and Walton 1980). The purpose of this study was to investigate the elderly's adoption of several key technologies. Specifically, young and elderly consumers' acceptance and adoption of scanner-equipped grocery stores, electronic funds transfer, automated teller machines, and custom telephone calling services were compared. The adoption of innovations is considered to represent a process rather than an instantaneous event. For example, Rogers (1983) offered a five-stage model consisting of:

years because this demographic segment-defined as adults aged 65 and older-has expanded in size and spending power. Demographers report a sharp increase in the number of older Americans and in the proportion of the U.S. population that falls into this age category (Lumpkin and Greenberg 1982; Phillips and Sternthal 1977; U.S. Department of Commerce 1980). Although income and expenditures are lower per capita in this segment, aggregate spending power is impressive (Bernhardt 198 1; Goldstein 1968). Sociologists, psychologists, and marketers have documented the elderly's resistance to change. Studies have revealed that the elderly resist relocation and changes in work situations (Kasteler, Gay, and Carruth 1968; Pollman and Johnson 1974). Compared to younger people, the elderly tend to be more cautious and to seek greater certitude before they act (Botwinick 1973). As consumers, older adults have been shown to be among the last to adopt a product, service, or idea innovation (Robertson 1971; Uhl, Andrus, and Poulson 1970). Kerschner and Chelsvig (1981) found age to be related

1. Knowledge. The individual becomes aware of the innovation's existence and gains understanding of its function. 2. Persuasion. The individual develops a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the innovation based on the information acquired.

*Mary C. Gilly is Assistant Professor of Administration at the University of California, Irvine, CA 92717. Valarie A. Zeithaml is Associate Professor of Marketing at Texas A & M University, College Station, TX 77843.

3. Decision. The individual engages in activities (such as trial) that lead to a decision to adopt or reject the innovation. 353 ? JOURNAL OF CONSUMERRESEARCH* Vol. 12 * December 1985

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THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH

4. Implementation.The individualputs the innovation to use.

EXHIBIT 1 PROFILE OF RESPONDENTSa

5. Confirmation.The individualseeks reinforcementof the innovation decision alreadymade.

Demographic characteristic

In previous research, the elderly have been found to be less aware of retailing innovations than the nonelderly population (Bearden and Mason 1979), less likely to use different sources of information (Phillips and Sternthal 1977), less likely to try and to adopt new technologies (Kerschner and Chelsvig 1981), and generally more satisfied in the marketplace than younger consumers (cf., Ash, Gardiner, and Quelch 1983; Bearden and Mason 1979). It has been- predicted that elderly consumers depend on mass media and family more than on friends or neighbors as information sources, and on print media sources more than on broadcast media (Phillips and Sternthal 1977). Therefore, this study predicted that the preceding differences between the elderly and nonelderly consumers' adoption processes would also appear for consumer related technologies.

METHOD A questionnaire and cover letter were mailed to two groups of respondents. The first sample-approximately 2,500 respondents-was selected randomly from a mailing list of automobile registrations of people 1864 years of age in Texas and California. The second sample-also about 2,500 respondents-was selected randomly from automobile registrations of people in Texas and California aged 65-and-over.' The overall response rate was 21.8 percent. Response rate from the first sample was 24.6 percent and from the second sample, 19 percent. About 56 percent of the respondents were under 65; 44 percent were 65 and older. A profile of the sample is shown in Exhibit 1. Each section of the questionnaire began with a description of one of the technologies-scanner-equipped grocery stores, automated bank teller machines (ATMs), electronic funds transfer (EFT), and custom telephone calling services (CTCS)-and was followed by questions about that technology. Respondents were asked questions corresponding to all levels of Rodgers's five-stage model (see the Table).

RESULTS Chi-square analysis was used to compare elderly and nonelderly respondents on their knowledge, sources of information, implementation, and satisfaction with the four technological innovations. The Table and Exhibit 2 show the results of the analyses performed on all variables. 'Studies of the elderly vary in the age cutoff used to define the elderly segment. While several researchers define elderly as 55-andover (e.g., Ash et al. 1982), most consider the elderly to be persons 65-and-over (see Lumpkin and Greenburg 1982, p. 76).

Nonelderlyb

Elderly'

Marital status Single Married Widowed Divorced

14.5 71.6 4.1 9.8

4.4 65.7 22.9 6.9

Income Under $10,000 $10,000-$19,999 $20,000-$29,999 $30,000-$39,999 $40,000-$49,999 $50,000+

8.6 15.7 23.1 19.5 12.8 20.4

24.2 32.5 18.3 11.8 7.2 6.1

Dwelling House Apt/condo Retirement home Duplex Mobile home

81.2 14.5 0.0 0.8 3.4

67.8 20.4 2.1 0.4 9.3

Education 16 years

31.4 48.1 20.5

54.5 31.3 14.2

* Numbers are given in percentages. 613. C n = 474. bn=

Only the custom telephone calling services showed a significant association between age and awareness of the innovation. Almost 88 percent of those respondents under 65 had heard about CTCS, whereas only 73 percent of the 65-and-over group had heard about the innovation. For the other three technological innovations, age was not significantly associated with knowledge. The data suggest that the elderly have levels of awareness for most of these technologies that are comparable to those of younger consumers, a finding that runs counter to what existing literature would predict. One explanation is that the technologies studied here are of greater interest to the elderly than are those in the Bearden and Mason (1979) study (i.e., open code dating, nutritional labelling, and unit pricing). Another explanation is that these four technologies received considerable media coverage because of their novelty. According to Phillips and Sternthal (1977), the elderly engage in high mass media exposure to compensate for their reduction in interpersonal contacts. Therefore, the elderly may have been more aware of these technologies than others who receive less extensive media coverage. The latter explanation is consistent with this study's finding that the elderly relied more on mass media for information, whereas the nonelderly relied more on friends and work associates. In the case of all four innovations, age was significantly associated with source of information. As shown

355

ELDERLY'S ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGIES TABLE DESCRIPTIONOF MEASURES, PERCENTAGES OF ELDERLYAND NONELDERLYIN STAGES OF ADOPTION,AND CHI-SQUARE RESULTS FOR ASSOCIATIONS BETWEENAGE AND STAGE OF ADOPTIONa Operationalization

Elderly

Nonelderly

X

Percent answering "yes" Knowledge (Awareness) Before reading this questionnaire, had you heard of -Scanner equipment? -ATMs? -EFT? -CTCS?

96.6 97.2 93.0 73.3

98.5 98.7 90.5 87.9

3.5 2.3 1.9 36.1 b

86.5 3.1 14.8 38.0 8.1 5.3 5.3

92.2 3.3 43.2 28.2 30.8 25.1 17.6

8.63c