Psychological changes
Aging can trigger psychological changes in several areas, including cognitive capability or
function, attitude formation and change, and even mood and emotion. Two salient aspects of
cognitive capability that can change are memory and information processing capabilities.
These changes can affect the customer’s cognitive processes underlying brand awareness,
attitude formation, information searches, comparison of alternatives, point of purchase
behavior, and post-purchase satisfaction.
For example, an information processing challenge faced by age 50þ consumers is a
noticeable decline in one’s ability to ignore ‘‘noise,’’ or irrelevant stimuli, whether it is visual,
aural, tactile, or language-related. Noisy advertising that works for younger customers may
backfire with age 50þ customers.
The rate at which new information is learned also declines with age, although Spotts and
Schewe (1989) found that learning deficiency attributed to aging did not occur when the
individual was allowed to self-pace the information[6]. In light of this, managers need to assess
how they inform customers through advertising and promotions, as well as how they design
products and services that adjust to different styles and slower rates of consumer learning.