Subjective age and status consumption: The moderating effects of brand consciousness and price consciousness

This paper sets out to study the relationship between subjective age and status consumption among middle-aged consumers (aged 40-60), using the context of automobile buying behavior. Existing literature does not clearly conceptualize subjective age and its effect on middle-aged consumers’ status consumption due to being largely targeted at the youth segment. Two scales of measurement (the age decade scale and the Likert scale) were employed to measure the impact. The study involved a quantitative research methodology employing a structured questionnaire and cluster sampling with a sample of 277 in North-eastern Iran. The findings suggest that subjective age is of crucial importance among middle-aged consumers in influencing their status consumption. In fact, middle-aged consumers who feel cognitively young will be more motivated to consume for status and that this relationship is moderated by both brand consciousness (stronger for those who are more brand conscious) and price consciousness (stronger for those who are less price conscious). Using the examples of present communication strategies adopted by status product marketers, the paper argues how they are missing an opportunity and provides them with a novel way to market their brands, focusing on how consumers associate themselves with these brands.

Keywords:

subjective age , status consumption , brand consciousness , price consciousness , Iran