Information sources and persuasion determinants among elderly consumers: a systematic review from stability to disruption

Abstract This systematic review synthesizes more than 5 decades of research (1970–2025) on information sources and persuasion determinants among elderly consumers. It accounts for a structural discontinuity in the informational and persuasive environment of older consumers, driven by three main disruptive forces—technological advancements, societal fragmentation, and global instability—which enable identifying a pre-digital baseline (1970–2010) against which post-2010 transformations can be assessed and used as a benchmark for future research. Using PRISMA guidelines, this review identified, in marketing and consumer literature, three primary information channels (mass media, domestic relationships, and social interactions) and three key persuasion determinants (perceived image, risk perception, and sense of control), all influencing seniors’ beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Findings showed that, before the digital revolution, older consumers’ persuasion ecosystem was grounded in stability, familiarity, and interpersonal trust; whereas post-2010 disruptive forces transformed this architecture into dependency, fragmentation, and algorithmic mediation. Theoretically, innovation diffusion and self-regulation approaches explain how persuasion among older adults shifted after the digital revolution—from television centrality, restricted sources, and habitual patronage to technology-mediated manipulation, tribal capture, and crisis-driven compliance. Managerially, understanding this historical baseline and its contemporary evolution offers a foundation for designing more inclusive and ethical persuasive strategies in an era in which communication should bridge rather than divide generations.