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. 2021 Aug 1;30(4):327-334.
doi: 10.1177/09637214211011468. Epub 2021 Jun 25.

Beyond stereotypes: Using socioemotional selectivity theory to improve messaging to older adults

Laura L Carstensen  1 , Hal E Hershfield  2
Affiliations

Beyond stereotypes: Using socioemotional selectivity theory to improve messaging to older adults

Laura L Carstensen et al. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. .

Abstract

The tremendous heterogeneity in functional and demographic characteristics of the over-65 age group presents challenges to effective marketing and public health communications. Messages grounded on tacit assumptions that older people are frail, incompetent, and needy risk being overlooked by most of the older population; on the other hand, ignoring age-associated vulnerabilities is problematic. We argue that while traditional approaches to market segmentation based on chronological age often fail, reliable age differences in motivation can inform the types of information that older people typically prefer, attend to, and remember. Socioemotional selectivity theory maintains that as future time horizons grow limited - as they typically do with age - emotional goals are prioritized over goals that focus on exploration. As time left becomes more limited, positive messages are remembered better than negative, and products that help people savor the moment are preferred over those that benefit the long-term future. Relatedly, acknowledging individual strengths and personal resilience are likely to be especially appealing to older people.

Keywords: marketing; motivation; public health messages; socioemotional selectivity theory; time horizons.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
A conceptual framework of socioemotional selectivity theory. The theory maintains that goal priorities shift with age and time horizons such that exploration-focused goals are prioritized earlier in life, when time horizons are expansive, and emotionally meaningful goals are prioritized later in life, when time horizons are more limited.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
A pair of advertisements (identical except for the slogan) used to study age differences in preferences and memory for products. The slogan in the left panel promises an emotionally meaningful reward, while the slogan on the right highlights gaining knowledge and experience.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Recommended Readings

    1. Carstensen LL, (2006). The influence of a sense of time on human development. Science, 312, 1913–1915. doi:10.1126/science.1127488 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

    2. A brief overview of the core tenets of socioemotional selectivity theory and early supporting empirical evidence.

    1. Carstensen LL, & DeLiema M (2017). The positivity effect: The negativity bias in youth fades with age. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 19, 7–12. doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.07.009 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

    2. A critical examination of the positivity effect concluding that preferences for positive information are consistent with motivation as opposed to neural or cognitive decline.

    1. Raposo S, Hogan CL Barnes JT Chemudupati T & Carstensen LL (2020). Leveraging meaningful goals to incentivize healthful behaviors in younger and older people. Psychology and Aging. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/pag0000428 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

    2. Findings from a study in which older, but not younger, participants increased walking over baseline to benefit a charity.

    1. Reed AE, & Carstensen LL (2012). The theory behind the age-related positivity effect. Frontiers in Emotion Science, 3, 1–9. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00339 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

    2. A critical discussion of the literature on the positivity effect which concludes that findings are highly reliable when study procedures do not impose experimental goals.

    1. Samanez-Larkin GRS, Gibbs SEB, Khanna K Nielsen L Carstensen LL Knutson B (2007). Anticipation of monetary gain but not loss in healthy older adults. Nature Neuroscience, 10, 787–791. doi:10.1038/nn1894 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

    2. Findings from a neuroimaging study in which older adults experienced less arousal than younger adults in anticipation of monetary losses but comparable levels of arousal in anticipation of gains.

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