Lynn Sudbury and Peter Simcock
The purpose of this study is to provide a multivariate segmentation model of the older consumer market, utilising variables based on the major dimensions of ageing, and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide a multivariate segmentation model of the older consumer market, utilising variables based on the major dimensions of ageing, and behavioural variables previously shown to be pertinent to older adults in the gerontology and marketing literature.
Design/methodology/approach
A self‐complete questionnaire was administered to an age‐based quota sample of 650 older consumers (aged 50‐79) in the UK. Using the age and consumer behaviour variables, cluster analysis was performed. The clusters were then profiled using ANOVA, Kruskal‐Wallis and χ2 techniques, using those variables not included in the initial analysis.
Findings
The results confirmed that the older consumer market is not homogeneous. Rather, five distinct segments emerged which differ considerably from one another on a range of variables, including consumer behaviours.
Practical implications
The model has practical implications for targeting older consumers, and the paper provides guidelines on how to reach the different segments.
Originality/value
The paper, the result of the largest known empirical study into older consumers in the UK, provides a comprehensive segmentation model that overcomes many of the limitations of previous segmentation studies pertaining to older adults. It also fills a research gap noted by several previous researchers in that a variety of different types of age are utilised.
Details
Keywords
Lynn Sudbury-Riley, Florian Kohlbacher and Agnes Hofmeister
The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-perceived age among Baby Boomers in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Hungary, and identifies two horizontal segments based on the way…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-perceived age among Baby Boomers in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Hungary, and identifies two horizontal segments based on the way consumers view their age.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaires were used to sample 880 Baby Boomers. Structural equation modeling is used to investigate multinational measurement invariance of the cognitive age scale.
Findings
Two distinct segments are identified, providing support for a young-at-heart consumer culture in all nations in the study. Results also find cognitive age to exhibit partial measurement invariance, which is expected given the disparate nations under study.
Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to cross-cultural global age research which is still in an early pioneering stage. The study builds on a small number of previous studies that validate cognitive age, extends current knowledge of the measurement properties of cognitive age, and identifies two distinct international segments of Baby Boomers. Further research needs to delve into the antecedents of self-perceived age, particularly in the ways in which different life experiences and cultures may impact age identities.
Practical implications
The study has implications for marketing managers wishing to target the increasingly important young-at-heart Baby Boomer.
Originality/value
The study uses four non-American countries, uses samples matched for chronological age, and does not use convenience samples, which make it unique in the cognitive age literature. The study has value for marketing managers, global age researchers, and consumer culture researchers.
Details
Keywords
Katarzyna Lakoma and Peter Murphy
Safe and Well visits are the primary preventative vehicle now used by all Fire and Rescue Services in England. The purpose of this paper is to examine their recent development to…
Abstract
Purpose
Safe and Well visits are the primary preventative vehicle now used by all Fire and Rescue Services in England. The purpose of this paper is to examine their recent development to identify notable practice and potential improvements.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review and archival document analysis have been supplemented by data and information from the evaluation of a case study at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Findings
There is considerable scope to improve Safe and Well visits, although individual services and the sector are not yet able to implement effective benchmarking across services or commission a more appropriate evaluation methodology such as a social return on investment.
Research limitations/implications
The research is situationally bound to England, although there may be transferable lessons to other services and jurisdictions.
Practical implications
Potential future improvements are identified and recommended at local and national levels, both in the data and information available, and for policy, operationalisation and public assurance.
Originality/value
Although a small number of professional reviews have been undertaken, the authors are not aware of any academic evaluation of Safe and Well visits since they superseded the previous Home Fire Safety Checks.
Details
Keywords
Justin Beneke, Nicole Frey, Ruth Chapman, Nontuthuzelo Mashaba and Tatum Howie
This article is the culmination of an exploratory study into the mature market (defined as over the age of 55) in South Africa. The article aims to focus on the mature market's…
Abstract
Purpose
This article is the culmination of an exploratory study into the mature market (defined as over the age of 55) in South Africa. The article aims to focus on the mature market's media consumption, perception of portrayal in the media, adoption of technology, and outlook on life – all of which influence their spending patterns in their twilight years.
Design/methodology/approach
The study gained an international perspective of the mature market through the literature on the subject. Empirical analysis of the South African market was thereafter conducted through a lifestyle survey of 117 respondents living in metropolitan areas. The data were imported into – and analysed using – Statistica for descriptive and clustering purposes.
Findings
The mature market is, unsurprisingly, most in favour of traditional media channels. To this end, television, radio, magazines and newspapers still remain an effective means to communicate with this market. Use of mobile phones and the internet was observed – although in a limited sense. A negative attitude towards advertising was observed on the whole, with individuals within this cohort feeling neglected in favour of younger consumers. The variables Age, Income, living standard measure (LSM) groupings and Internet usage, when utilised in conjunction, appear to be an effective differentiator of the mature market in South Africa. Three lifestyle clusters were discovered by the study, namely: Old optimists, Young up‐beats, and Younger opinionists.
Originality/value
It has been established that the mature market is a lucrative one for retailers. However, the majority of studies have been focused on developed nations such as the UK and the USA. This study brings about an emerging market perspective.
Details
Keywords
Damian Mellifont, Annmaree Watharow, Sheelagh Daniels-Mayes, Jennifer Smith-Merry and Mary-Ann O'Donovan
Ethical principles and practices frequently support the position that people with disability are vulnerable. Vulnerability in research traditionally infers a need for protection…
Abstract
Ethical principles and practices frequently support the position that people with disability are vulnerable. Vulnerability in research traditionally infers a need for protection from harm and raises questions over the person’s capacity to consent and engage. In addition, vulnerability in ethics infers a state of permanency and one that is all-encompassing for everyone within the vulnerable groups. This construction of vulnerability in effect legitimises the exclusion of people with disability from research or monitors and restricts how people with disability can engage in research. This results in an implicitly ableist environment for research. In this chapter, which has been led by researchers with disability, we argue that there is a critical need to move beyond a popularised social construction of vulnerability which serves to perpetuate barriers to including people with disability in research. Like all terms, the traditional and popular construction of vulnerability is open to reclaiming and reframing. Under this reconstruction, what is traditionally viewed as a limiting vulnerability can be owned, openly disclosed and accommodated. Following a pandemic-inspired ‘new normal’ that supports flexible workplace practices, and in accordance with UNCRPD goals of inclusive employment and reducing disability inequity, we argue that the pathway for people with disability as career researchers needs an ethical review and overhaul. We provide readers with a practical roadmap to advance a more inclusive academy for researchers with disability.
Details
Keywords
Social Work education has seen some changes since my first paper on how The Archers could be used to enhance a student's understanding of service user experiences (Burrows, 2016)…
Abstract
Social Work education has seen some changes since my first paper on how The Archers could be used to enhance a student's understanding of service user experiences (Burrows, 2016). Social Work students still, however, need to understand the difficulties that their future service users may experience; learning is developed through lectures, seminars and workshops, and most of all through practice experience, but a real challenge for educators is how to show students the constant lived reality of families and communities who have complex difficulties. A visit to a household only gives a snapshot of their life, and service users may be guarded in their behaviour during a professional visit. My original paper considered the educational value of the ‘fly-on-the-wall’ perspective of The Archers, in catching unguarded moments and drawing attention to issues in the community. From the impact of rural poverty and unaffordable housing, through issues of mental health, hospital discharge, to adult survivors of child sexual abuse and the tangled webs of modern slavery, these issues will resonate with any social worker, in Adult, Children and Families or Mental Health fields. These are not just issues in a rural setting; professionals in more urban settings will recognise these as things the families and individuals they work with must deal with from time to time.
Details
Keywords
Over the past twenty years, the Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) workforce in England has experienced significant developments as part of New Labour's modernisation agenda with the…
Abstract
Purpose
Over the past twenty years, the Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) workforce in England has experienced significant developments as part of New Labour's modernisation agenda with the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 and the increasing focus on prevention and community safety. Subsequent organisational changes and the introduction of new community safety services dynamically altered the role of fire fighters and introduced new roles into these organisations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues relating to an evolving fire service workforce and the tensions present in the development of new professional roles.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory qualitative critical realist case study approach was undertaken, employing semi-structured interviews and focus groups of employees across one FRS in England.
Findings
The findings of the present study identify several emerging issues from a changing fire service: in particular, the frictions between different aspects of the organisation and the tensions in the development of career “ladders” for non-operational roles.
Originality/value
To the author's knowledge, this is the first paper that examines the issues surrounding the development and evolution of professional roles in community safety aspects within the FRS in England.
Details
Keywords
DURING the past fifteen years technical literature has garnered as much information as in all previously recorded history, and man has grown very adept at quickly converting this…
Abstract
DURING the past fifteen years technical literature has garnered as much information as in all previously recorded history, and man has grown very adept at quickly converting this knowledge into machines and processes. Doing so has provided him with more material comforts than the greatest in the land enjoyed a few centuries ago. This increase in knowledge and the employment of sophisticated technology over a broad field means that every industrialized country can echo the old Swiss boast: ‘Got any rivers they say are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can't tunnel through? We specialize in the wholly impossible, doing the things that no others can do.’