Do Retailers Adapt to the Needs of Older Food Shoppers? Empirical Evidence from a Cross-Cultural Multiple-Case Study Design

摘要

Due to the increasing relevance of senior consumers, retailers in particular must be aware of the trends, needs, and wants of older consumers to secure this increasing share of retail expenditure over the next decades (Myers and Lumbers 2008). There is consensus within the gerontological literature that personal and environmental resources contribute to ageing well and a good life (Lawton 1983; Wahl and Weisman 2003). Consequently, store concepts for senior supermarkets based on previous marketing related research efforts (e.g. Angell et al. 2012) represent an attempt to improve elderly food shoppers' quality of life. However, in the marketplace very few food shopping concepts cater successfully to the needs of the elderly. The aim of the study at hand is to shed light on this discrepancy between the needs of the elderly as proposed by research and the performance of stores tailored to these needs in practice. Investigating the person-environment relationship within the context of food retailing, the research project provides an insight into the "naturally" occurring interrelationship between ageing and retailing by answering the following research question: How does a chronologically old customer base influence the functions of a food-retailing environment?