Abstract
The material presented in the previous chapters suggests that the life course paradigm could be employed to study consumers over the course of their lives. Nearly every form of consumer behavior that entails stability and change or development over time and is influenced by previous life experiences and future expectations can be studied within the life course framework. Thus, consumer behaviors that are time- and context-dependent may be viewed as duration-dependent events where the onset or development, stability, and change in cognitions and overt behaviors can be considered with respect to the length of time a consumer has been in a particular state and has been embedded within certain contexts.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Ahuvia, A. C., & Wong, N. Y. (2002). Personality and values-based materialism: Their relationship and origins. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 12(4), 389–402.
Baker, A., Moschis, G. P., Kwai Fatt, C., Rigdon, E., & Mathur, A. (2011). Effects of family structure on compulsive buying: A life course perspective. Advances in Consumer Research, 39, 422.
Baker, A., Mathur, A., Kwai Fatt, C., Moschis, G. P., & Rigdon, E. (2013a). Using the life course paradigm to explain mechanisms that link family disruptions to compulsive buying. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 47(2), 263–287.
Baker, A., Moschis, G. P., Ong, F. S., & Pattanapanyasat, R. (2013b). Materialism and life satisfaction: The role of stress and religiosity. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 47(3), 548–563.
Baker, A., Moschis, G. P., Benmoyal, S., & Pizzutti, C. (2013c). How family resources affect materialism and compulsive buying: A cross-country life course perspective. Journal of Cross-Cultural Research, 47(4), 335–362.
Baker, A., Moschis, G. P., Rigdon, E., & Kwai Fatt, C. (2016). Linking family structure to impulse control and obsessive-compulsive buying. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 15(4), 291–302.
Baltes, P. B., Reese, H. W., & Lipsitt, L. P. (1980). Life-span developmental psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 31, 65–110.
Belk, R. W. (1988). Possessions and the extended self. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(2), 139–168.
Bolger, N., Avshalom, C., Downey, G., & Moorehouse, M. (1988). Persons in context: Developmental processes. Cambridge: Cambridge University.
Brown, C., & Lowis, M. J. (2003). Psychological development in the elderly: An investigation into Erikson’s ninth stage. Journal of Aging Studies, 17(4), 415–426.
Burroughs, J. E., & Rindfleisch, A. (2002). Materialism and well-being: A conflicting values perspective. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(3), 348–370.
Chaplin, L. N., & John, D. R. (2007). Growing up in a material world: Age differences in materialism in children and adolescents. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(3), 480–493.
Chaplin, L. N., Hill, R. P., & John, D. R. (2014). Poverty and materialism: A look at impoverished versus affluent children. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 33(1), 78–92.
Conger, R. D., Ge, X., Elder, G. H., Lorenz, F. O., & Simons, R. L. (1994). Economic stress, coercive family process, and developmental problems of adolescents. Child Development, 65(2), 541–561.
Cox, D., Cox, A., & Moschis, G. P. (1990). When consumer behavior goes bad: An investigation of adolescent shoplifting. Journal of Consumer Research, 17(2), 149–159.
Curasi, C. F., Price, L. L., & Arnould, E. J. (2004). How individuals’ cherished possessions become families’ inalienable wealth. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(3), 609–623.
Dowd, J. T. (1975). Aging as exchange: A preface to theory. Journal of Gerontology, 30(5), 584–594.
Elder, G. H. (1994). Time, human agency, and social change: Perspectives on the life course. Social Psychology Quarterly, 57(1), 4–15.
Elder, G. H. (1998). Life course and human development. In W. Damon & R. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (pp. 939–991). New York: Wiley.
Elder, G. H., George, L. K., & Shanahan, M. J. (1996). Psychosocial stress over the life course. In H. B. Kaplan (Ed.), Psychosocial stress: Perspectives on structure, theory, life course, and methods (pp. 247–292). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Epp, A., & Price, L. L. (2008). Family identity: A framework of identity interplay in consumption practices. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(1), 50–70.
Faber, R. J., O’ Guinn, T. C., & Krych, R. (1987). Compulsive consumption. Advances in Consumer Research, 14, 132–135.
Faber, R. J., Christenson, G. A., Zwann, M. T., & Mitchell, J. (1995). Two forms of compulsive consumption: Comorbidity of compulsive buying and binge eating. Journal of Consumer Research, 22(3), 296–304.
Featherman, D. L., & Lerner, R. M. (1985). Ontogenesis and sociogenesis: Problematics for theory and research about development and socialization across the Lifespan. American Sociological Review, 50(5), 659–676.
Gecas, V. (2003). Self-agency and the life course. In J. T. Mortimer & M. J. Shanahan (Eds.), Handbook of the life course (pp. 369–388). New York: Plenum.
Gentry, J. W., Baker, S. M., & Kraft, F. B. (1994). The role of possessions in creating, maintaining, and preserving one’s identity: Variation over the life course. Advances in Consumer Research, 22, 413–418.
Gentry, J. W., Kennedy, P. F., Paul, C., & Hill, R. P. (1995). Family transitions during grief: Discontinuities in household consumption patterns. Journal of Business Research, 34(1), 67–79.
George, L. K. (2010). Still happy after all these years: Research frontiers on subjective well-being in later life. Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Gerontological Society of America, 65B(3), 331–339.
Gierveld, J. D. J., & Dykstra, P. A. (1993). Life transitions and the network of personal relationships: Theoretical and methodological issues. In W. H. Jones & D. Perlman (Eds.), Advances in Personal Relationships, 4, 195–227.
Hagestad, G. O., & Neugarten, B. L. (1985). Age and the life course. In R. Binstock & E. Shanas (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (2nd ed., pp. 35–61). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Harrison, K., & Kantor, J. (1997). The relationship between media exposure and eating disorders. Journal of Communication, 47(1), 40–67.
Harrison, R. L., Veeck, A., & Gentry, J.W. (2011). A life course perspective of family meals via the life grid method. Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, 3(2), 214–233.
Hayward, M. D., & Sheehan, C. M. (2016). Does the body forget? Adult health, life course dynamics, and social change. In M. L. Shanahan, J. T. Mortimer, & M. K. Johnson (Eds.), Handbook of the life course: Volume II (pp. 355–368). New York: Springer.
Healy, K. M., & Hasher, L. (2009). Limitations to the deficit attenuation hypothesis. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19(1), 17–22.
Heatherton, T. F., & Baumeister, R. F. (1991). Binge eating as escape from self-awareness. Psychological Bulletin, 110(1), 86–108.
Heckhausen, J., & Schulz, R. (1995). A life-span theory of control. Psychological Review, 102(2), 284–304.
Helsen, K., & Schmittlein, D. (1993). Analyzing duration times in marketing: Evidence of effectiveness of hazard models. Marketing Science, 11(4), 395–414.
Henry, B., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Langley, J., & Silva, P. A. (1994). On the ‘remembrance of things past’: A longitudinal evaluation of the retrospective method. Personality Assessment, 6(2), 92–101.
Hershey, D. A., Brown, C. E., Jacobs-Lawson, J. M., & Jackson, J. (2001). Retirees’ perceptions of important retirement decisions. The Southwest Journal on Aging, 16(2), 91–100.
Hetherington, E. M., & Baltes, P. B. (1988). Child psychology and life-span development. In E. M. Hetherington, R. M. Lerner, & M. Purlmutter (Eds.), Child development life-span perspective (pp. 1–19). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hill, R. L. (1965). Decision making and the family life cycle. In E. Shanas & G. Streib (Eds.), Social structure and the family: Generational relations (pp. 113–139). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Hill, M. S., Yeung, W. J., & Grey, D. J. (2001). Childhood family structure and young adult behaviors. Journal of Population Economics, 14(2), 271–299.
Hirschman, E. C. (1992). The consciousness of addiction: Toward a general theory of compulsive consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(2), 115–179.
Hughes, D. C., Blazer, D. G., & George, L. K. (1988). Age differences in life events: A multivariate controlled analysis. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 27(3), 207–220.
Jacobs-Lawson, J. M., & Hershey, D. A. (2005). Influence of future time perspective, financial knowledge, and financial risk tolerance on retirement saving behavior. Financial Services Review, 14, 331–344.
Johnson, J. H., & Bradlyn, A. S. (1988). Life events and adjustments in childhood and adolescence. In L. G. Cohen (Ed.), Life events and psychological functioning (pp. 64–95). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Kasser, T., Ryan, R. M., Zax, M., & Sameroff, A. J. (1995). The relations of materials and social environments to materialistic and prosocial values. Developmental Psychology, 31(6), 907–914.
Lazarus, R., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.
Lewit, E. M., Coate, D., & Grossman, M. (1981). The effects of government regulation on teenage smoking. Journal of Law and Economics, 25(3), 273–298.
Litt, A., Pirouz, D. M., & Shiv, B. (2011). Neuroscience and addictive consumption. In D. Mick, S. Pettigrew, C. Pechman, & J. Ozanne (Eds.), Transformative consumer research for collective and personal well-being (pp. 523–542). New York: Taylor & Francis.
Lockenhoff, C. E., & Carstensen, L. L. (2004). Socioemotional selectivity theory, aging, and health: The increasingly delicate balance between regulating emotions and making tough choices. Journal of Personality, 72(6), 1395–1424.
Macmillan, R. & Furstenberg, F. (2016). The Logic and practice of growth curve analysis: Modeling strategies for life course dynamics. In M. L. Shanahan, J. T. Mortimer, & M. K. Johnson (Eds.), Handbook of the life course: Volume II (pp. 541–569). New York: Springer.
Mathur, A. (1996). Older adults’ motivations for gift-giving to charitable organizations: An exchange theory perspective. Psychology & Marketing, 13(1), 107–123.
Mathur, A., Smith, K., & Moschis, G. P. (1992). The elderly’s motivation for charity gift-giving: An exchange theory perspective. AMA winter educators’ conference proceedings (pp. 430–431). 3.
Mathur, A., Moschis, G. P., & Lee, E. (2008). A longitudinal study of the effects of life status changes on changes in consumer preferences. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36(2), 234–246.
McAlexander, J., Schouten, J. W., & Roberts, S. D. (1993). Consumer behavior and divorce. In J. A. Costa & R. W. Belk (Eds.), Research in consumer behavior (Vol. 6, pp. 153–184). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
McLeod, J. D., & Almazan, E. P. (2003). Connections between childhood and adulthood. In J. T. Mortimer & M. J. Shanahan (Eds.), Handbook of the life course (pp. 391–412). New York: Kluwer/Plenum.
Mick, D., Pettigrew, S., Pechman, C., & Ozanne, J. (Eds.). (2011). Transformative consumer research for personal and collective well-being. New York: Routledge.
Minowa, Y., & Belk, R. W. (2018). Romantic gift giving of mature consumers: A storgic love paradigm. In Y. Minowa & R. W. Belk (Eds.), Gifts, romance, and consumer culture (pp. 37–64). New York: Routledge.
Minowa, Y., Khomenko, O., & Belk, R. W. (2011). Social change and gendered gift-giving rituals: A historical analysis of valentine’s day in Japan. Journal of Macromarketing, 31(1), 41–56.
Moen, P., Dempser-McClain, D., & Williams, R. M. (1992). Successful aging: A life-course perspective on women’s multiple roles and health. American Journal of Sociology, 97(6), 1612–1638.
Moore, E. S., Wilkie, W. L., & Desrochers, D. M. (2017). All in the family? Parental roles in the epidemic of childhood obesity. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(5), 824–859.
Moschis, G. P. (1987). Consumer socialization: A life-cycle perspective. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Moschis, G. P. (1992). Marketing to older consumers. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
Moschis, G. (1994). Consumer behavior in later life: Multidisciplinary contributions and implication for research. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 22(3), 195–204.
Moschis, G. P. (2000). Consumer behavior in later life: Multidisciplinary approaches and methodological issues. Research in Consumer Behavior, 9, 103–128.
Moschis, G. P. (2003). Marketing to older adults: An updated overview of present knowledge and practice. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 20(6), 516–525.
Moschis, G. P. (2007a). Life course perspectives on consumer behavior. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 35(2), 295–307.
Moschis, G. P. (2007b). Stress and consumer behavior. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 35(3), 430–344.
Moschis, G. P. (2012). Consumer behavior in later life: Current knowledge, issues, and new directions for research. Psychology & Marketing, 29(2), 57–75.
Moschis, G. P., & Mathur, A. (2006). Older consumer responses to marketing stimuli: The power of subjective age. Journal of Advertising Research, 46(3), 339–346.
Moschis, G. P., & Moore, R. L. (1979). Decision making among the young: A socialization perspective. Journal of Consumer Research, 6(2), 101–112.
Moschis, G. P., Mathur, A., & Smith, R. B. (1993). Older consumers’ orientations toward age-based marketing stimuli. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 21(3), 195–205.
Moschis, G. P., Mosteller, J., & Kwai Fatt, C. (2011). Research frontiers on older consumers’ Vulnerability. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 45(3), 467–491.
Moschis, G. P. (2017). Research frontiers on the dark side of consumer behaviour: The case of materialism and compulsive buying. Journal of Marketing Management, 33(15–16), 1384–1401.
O’Guinn, T. C., & Faber, R. J. (1989). Compulsive buying: a phenomenological exploration. Journal of Consumer Research, 16(2), 147–157.
O’Guinn, T. C., & Shrum, L. J. (1997). The role of television in the construction of consumer reality. Journal of Consumer Research, 23(4), 278–294.
Parke, R. D. (1988). Families in life span perspective: A multilevel developmental approach. In E. M. Hetherington, R. M. Lerner, & M. Perlmutter (Eds.), Child development in life span perspective (pp. 159–190). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Pearlin, L. I. (1982). Discontinuities in the study of aging. In T. K. Hareven & K. J. Adams (Eds.), Aging and life course transitions: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 55–74). New York: The Guilford Press.
Pechman, C., Levine, L., Loughlin, S., & Leslie, F. (2005). Impulsive and self-conscious: adolescents’ vulnerability to advertising and promotion. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 24(2), 202–221.
Perlmutter, M. (1988). Cognitive potential throughout life. In J. E. Birren & V. L. Bengtson (Eds.), Emergent theories of aging (pp. 247–268). New York: Springer.
Pettigrew, S., & Moschis, G. P. (2011). Consumer well-being in later life. In D. Mick, S. Pettigrew, C. Pechman, & J. Ozanne (Eds.), Transformative consumer research for personal and collective well-being (pp. 565–581). New York: Routledge.
Price, L., Arnould, E., & Curasi, C. F. (2000). Older consumers’ disposition of special possessions. Journal of Consumer Research, 27(2), 179–201.
Pulkkinen, L., & Caspi, A. (2002). Personality and paths to successful development: An overview. In L. Pulkkinen & A. Caspi (Eds.), Paths to successful development: Personality in the life course (pp. 1–16). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Rindfleisch, A., Burroughs, J. E., & Denton, F. (1997). Family structure, materialism and compulsive consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 23(4), 312–325.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2017, August 31). The state of obesity. Stateofobesity.org.
Roberts, J. A., Manolis, C., & Tanner, J., Jr. (2003). Family structure, materialism, and compulsive buying. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 31(3), 300–311.
Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1998). Successful aging. New York: Pantheon Books.
Salthouse, T. A. (1999). Theories of cognition. In V. L. Bengston & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of theories of aging (pp. 196–208). New York: Springer.
Salthouse, T. A. (2010). Major issues in cognitive aging. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shanahan, M. L., Mortimer, J. T., & Johnson, M. K. (2016). Introduction: life course studies—trends, challenges, and future directions. In M. L. Shanahan, J. T. Mortimer, & M. K. Johnson (Eds.), Handbook of the life course: Volume II (pp. 1–23). New York: Springer.
Sherrod, L. R., & Brim, O. G. (1986). Retrospective and prospective views of life-course research on human development. In A. Sorensen, F. E. Weinert, & L. R. Sherrod (Eds.), Human development and the life course: Multidisciplinary perspectives (pp. 557–580). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Simons, R. L., Johnson, C. C., Cogner, R. D., & Elder, G. H., Jr. (1998). A test of talent trait versus life-course perspectives on the stability of adolescent antisocial behavior. Criminology, 36(2), 863–891.
Simons, R. L., Stewart, E., Gordon, L., Rand, L. C., Conger, D., & Elder, G. H. (2002). A test of life-course explanations for stability and change in antisocial behavior from adolescence to young adulthood. Criminology, 40(2), 4001–4433.
Smith, K., Mathur, A., & Moschis, G. P. (1990) The elderly’s motivations for gift giving: An exchange theory perspective. AMA Educators’ Conference Proceedings (pp. 182–187). Chicago: American Marketing Association.
Solomon, R. L. (1980). The opponent-pleasure theory of acquired motivation: The case of pleasure and the benefit of pain. American Psychologist, 35(8), 691–712.
Sternthal, B., & Bonezzi, A. (2009). Consumer decision making and aging: A commentary. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19(1), 23–27.
Strahilevitz, M. A., & Loewenstein, G. (1998). The effect of ownership history on the evaluation of objects. Journal of Consumer Research, 25(3), 276–289.
Tepper, K. (1994). The role of labelling processes in elderly’s consumer responses to age segmentation cues. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(4), 503–519.
Thoits, P. A. (1983). Multiple identities and psychological well-being: A reformulation and test of the social isolation hypothesis. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 174–187.
Uhlenberg, P., & Mueller, M. (2003). Family context and individual well-being. In J. T. Mortimer & M. J. Shanahan (Eds.), Handbook of the life course (pp. 123–148). New York: Plenum.
Vuchinich, S., Teachman, J., & Crosby, L. (1991). Families and hazard rates that change over time: Some methodological issues in analyzing transitions. Journal of Marriage and Family, 53(4), 898–912.
Wagner, J., & Hanna, S. (1983). The effectiveness of life cycle variables in consumer expenditure research. Journal of Consumer Research, 10(3), 281–291.
Wheaton, B. (1990). Life transitions, role histories, and mental health. American Sociological Review, 55(2), 209–223.
Williams, P., & Drolet, A. (2005). Age-related differences in responses to emotional advertisements. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(3), 343–354.
Yoon, C., Cole, C. A., & Lee, M. P. (2009). Consumer decision making and aging: Current knowledge and future directions. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 19(1), 2–16.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Moschis, G.P. (2019). Applications to Select Areas of Consumer Behavior: An Agenda for Future Research. In: Consumer Behavior over the Life Course. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05008-5_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05008-5_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-05007-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-05008-5
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)