Patronage Motives of Mature Consumers in the Selection of Food and Alcoholic Beverage Brands

We live in an aging society with unprecedented demographic changes underway. Consumer product manufacturers will benefit by better understanding this growing and diverse segment of our population since mature consumers spend more money on the average on food and beverages than their younger aged counterparts. In this investigation we employ a random, nation-wide, mailed questionnaire sent to a sample of 10,500 head of households. Using factor analysis, four gerontological segments result that best describe the mature consumer market. Marketing strategies are offered for successfully appealing to the four gerontological segments.