This study explores the relationship between old-age stereotyping and older consumers' masstige product consumption, specifically, their intention to purchase masstige brand products, with a focus on their motivational drives from an identity-signaling perspective. We surveyed 533 people aged 54 to 64 years in South Korea. Structural equation modeling was used to analyse the mediating effect, and hierarchical regression analysis was applied to test the moderating effect. Our results indicated that among older consumers in South Korea who felt threatened by old-age stereotypes, intention to purchase masstige brands was high. Their dissociative motivation, that is, their motivation to dissociate from their age group, and the symbolic value of masstige brands as signifiers of a youthful, desirable identity were found to mediate both the threat of old-age stereotyping and intention to purchase masstige brands. Furthermore, we found that interdependent older consumers were more sensitive to old-age stereotyping and had a stronger motivation to dissociate from the “old-age” group. The findings offer insights into masstige brand consumption by older South Korean consumers that may be useful for both academics and marketers.

中文翻译：

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年龄刻板印象威胁对老年消费者购买大众品牌产品意愿的影响

本研究探讨了老年刻板印象与老年消费者大众产品消费之间的关系，特别是他们购买大众品牌产品的意图，并从身份信号的角度关注他们的动机驱动。我们对韩国 533 名年龄在 54 岁至 64 岁之间的人进行了调查。采用结构方程模型分析中介效应，采用层次回归分析检验调节效应。我们的研究结果表明，在感到老年刻板印象威胁的韩国老年消费者中，购买大众品牌的意愿很高。研究发现，他们的分离动机，即脱离自己年龄段的动机，以及大众品牌作为年轻、理想身份象征的象征价值，可以调节老年刻板印象的威胁和购买大众品牌的意愿。此外，我们发现相互依赖的老年消费者对老年刻板印象更加敏感，并且有更强的动机脱离“老年”群体。研究结果提供了有关韩国老年消费者大众品牌消费的见解，这可能对学者和营销人员都有用。