The growing number of ageing consumers and their increasingly active engagement in social media platforms present a great opportunity for digital marketing to the grey market. However, the potential of this segment has been underrated by both marketers and marketing scholars. The empirical belief of senior consumers' technological illiteracy somewhat discourages industrial and academic approaches to seeking the answer to some critical questions such as what older consumers think about social media-based advertising, influencers, or peer communications. Thus, this study aims to explore and explain older consumers' social media-related behaviour through (a) delving into motives behind their frequently used social media site(s), (b) investigating older consumers' purchase behaviour aspects (i.e., determinant(s) to purchase decisions, favoured shopping modes), (c) discovering what senior consumers think about social media-based advertising, influencers, and peer communications, and (d) evaluating the impact of social media on older consumers' purchase behaviour. Five key themes emerging from the adopted qualitative approach are (1) Facebook predominance, (2) Scepticism, (3) Price sensitivity, (4) Asymmetric social influences, and (5) Favoured physical store shopping. Each finding is demonstrated in a detailed causal explanation. Academic contributions and implications for social media marketers are highlighted and discussed.

中文翻译：

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社交媒体蓬勃发展中老年消费者行为的探索与解释

越来越多的老龄化消费者以及他们越来越积极地参与社交媒体平台为灰色市场的数字营销提供了绝佳的机会。然而，营销人员和营销学者都低估了这一细分市场的潜力。对老年消费者技术文盲的实证信念在某种程度上阻碍了工业和学术方法来寻求一些关键问题的答案，例如老年消费者对基于社交媒体的广告、影响者或同行交流的看法。因此，本研究旨在通过 (a) 深入研究他们经常使用的社交媒体网站背后的动机，(b) 调查老年消费者的购买行为方面（即决定因素（ s) 购买决定，(c) 发现老年消费者对基于社交媒体的广告、影响者和同行交流的看法，以及 (d) 评估社交媒体对老年消费者购买行为的影响。从采用的定性方法中出现的五个关键主题是（1）Facebook 占主导地位，（2）怀疑主义，（3）价格敏感性，（4）不对称的社会影响，以及（5）偏爱的实体店购物。每个发现都在详细的因果解释中得到证明。突出和讨论了对社交媒体营销人员的学术贡献和影响。从采用的定性方法中出现的五个关键主题是（1）Facebook 占主导地位，（2）怀疑主义，（3）价格敏感性，（4）不对称的社会影响，以及（5）偏爱的实体店购物。每个发现都在详细的因果解释中得到证明。突出和讨论了对社交媒体营销人员的学术贡献和影响。从采用的定性方法中出现的五个关键主题是（1）Facebook 占主导地位，（2）怀疑主义，（3）价格敏感性，（4）不对称的社会影响，以及（5）偏爱的实体店购物。每个发现都在详细的因果解释中得到证明。突出和讨论了对社交媒体营销人员的学术贡献和影响。