Age-related cognitive decline and navigation in electronic environments

The older population is increasing, as is life expectancy. Technical devices are becoming more widespread and used for many everyday tasks. Knowledge about new technology is important to remain as an active and independent part of the society. However, if an old user group should have equal access to this technology, new demands will be placed on the design of interfaces and devices. With respect to old users it is and will be important to develop technical devices and interfaces that take the age-related decline in physical and cognitive abilities into account. The aim of this work was to investigate to what extent the age-related cognitive decline affects performance on different computer-related tasks and the use of different interfaces. With respect to the use of computer interfaces, two studies were conducted. In the first study, the information was presented with a hierarchical structure. In the second study the information was presented as a 3D-environment, and it was also investigated how an overview map could support navigation. The third study examined the age-related cognitive decline in the use of a small mobile phone display with a hierarchical information structure. The results from the studies showed that the most pronounced age-related difference was found in the use of the 3D-environment. Within this environment, prior experience was found to have the largest impact on performance. Regarding the hierarchical information structures, prior experience seemed to have a larger impact on performance of easy tasks, while age and cognitive abilities had a larger impact on performance of more complex tasks. With respect to navigation aids, the overview map in the 3D-environment did not reduce the age-differences; however, it contributed to a better perceived orientation and reduced the feeling of being lost

An Ergonomics Analysis of Redundancy Effect in Touch Screen Design for the Aged Population

Touch screen technology is rapidly increasing, and at the same time there is a shifting, aging population. As the percentage of the population over the age of 65 increases, adults of the age group are adopting smartphones and tablets more now than ever before. Although older adults are adopting touch screen devices, they face many challenges when interacting with said devices, such as not knowing how to navigate between pages, not knowing where to click for an action to occur, and the touch screen interface is often too sensitive or the buttons are not big enough. Furthermore, the challenges of aging, specifically sensory and cognitive decline resulting from aging affect comprehension and spacial processing, which are critical when navigating through an interface. The purpose of this thesis was to better understand redundancy effect applied to females and males between the ages of 65 and 84. There were two tasks of different lengths, and for each task there were two designs. The first design included text only buttons, and the second included symbol + text buttons, the latter being the redundant interface. Quantitative results yielded no significant results for time for either task. Qualitative results included ratings for ease of navigation, general satisfaction, overall understanding, and button design preference. Preferences between text only buttons were statistically significant; for the task of online grocery shopping and booking a cruise, females prefer text only buttons and males prefer symbol + text buttons (p = 0.0068 and p = 0.0024). Although button design had no significance in completing a task, significant preference results indicate likelihood to return to a given website. Furthermore, although quantitative results were not significant, gender did influence average times per task and average ratings across categories. Further research could be conducted with larger sample sizes, other forms of redundancy, and larger tasks, however it is evident through this experiment that gender has an impact on how adults between 65 and 84 perceive and navigate through touch screen interfaces given the constraints of the symbols used, ages, and task designs. Therefore, concluding recommendations based on the qualitative data suggest that designers should create gender specific interfaces based on gender favored websites, or design based on the ability to customize the interface upon entering a website

Shopping Context and Consumers' Mental Representation of Complex Shopping Trip Decision Problems

Depending on the shopping context, consumers may develop different mental representations of complex shopping trip decision problems to help them interpret the decision situation that they face and evaluate alternative courses of action. To investigate these mental representations and how they vary across contexts, the authors propose a causal network structure that allows for a formal representation of how context-specific benefits requirements affect consumers’ evaluation of decision alternative attributes. They empirically test hypotheses derived from the framework, using data on consumers’ mental representations of a complex shopping trip decision problem across four shopping contexts that differ in terms of opening hour restrictions and shopping purpose, and find support for the proposed structure and hypotheses.retailing;consumer decision-making;context effects;mental representations;shopping trip decisions

Buying groceries online: consumer perceptions and generational cohorts

Purpose – Online grocery shopping is gaining momentum in European retailing. The purpose of this study was to investigate four theoretical consumer-oriented constructs and their influence on consumer purchase intention in this context. Additionally, this paper examined differences between two generational cohorts, Millennials and Baby Boomers. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative study was conducted among 354 Austrian consumers. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23.0. Findings – The main results found that perceived risk has a negative relationship with purchase intention and remains particularly relevant in online grocery shopping. Prior online shopping experience, perceived online shopping convenience and grocery variety seeking were also found to influence consumer intention. With respect to generational cohorts, Baby Boomers perceived entailed risks to be higher and convenience to be lower in comparison to Millennials. The younger generation displayed higher variety seeking as well as more distinct online shopping experience and enjoyment. Practical implications – For players in the online grocery market, this study’s implications present measures to address perceived risks and effectively communicate benefits to consumers. Originality/value – Theoretically, this study provides insights into specific consumer perceptions and experiences and their effect on future shopping intention. Also, the findings add to the scarce knowledge on generational cohort segmentation in the online shopping literature

Cognitive load during planned and unplanned virtual shopping:Evidence from a neurophysiological perspective

Rapid adoption of virtual-reality-assisted retail applications is inadvertently reshaping consumer buying patterns, making it crucial for businesses to enhance their shopping experience. This new scenario challenges marketers with unique hurdles in both the commercialization of products and in managing information cues derived via VR retailing. Therefore, this study examined consumers’ impulsive behavior and unplanned purchases in a virtual retail store, using self-reports and electroencephalography. Borrowing assorted perspectives from retailing, virtual reality, and neuromarketing literature, we extended the stimulus-organism-response framework to evaluate how unplanned behavior evolves through conscious and unconscious measures. We found that consumers’ impulsiveness was significantly associated with their unplanned expenditure and the number of unplanned purchases. Using mediation analysis, we observed that flow experience during shopping partially mediated the relationship between the sense of presence and the desire to stay longer in a virtual shopping store. Desire to stay in the virtual store positively influenced store satisfaction, basket-size deviation, and budget deviation. Additionally, cognitive workload obtained via electroencephalogram revealed significant differences during both planned and unplanned purchases. These findings provide fresh opportunities for retailers to leverage the disruptive potential of immersive and interactive virtual technology to transform consumer shopping experiences

The impact of brand and category characteristics on consumer stock-out reactions

We develop two models to test hypotheses on the specific impact ofbrand and category characteristics on consumer stock-out responses.Our empirical results show that both characteristics are importantdeterminants. Consumers are more product loyal in hedonic productgroups than in utilitarian product groups and consumers are more brandloyal to high equity brands than to low equity brands. Brand loyaltyis especially strong for high equity brands in hedonic product groups.Our study also confirms findings from prior research on OOS reactions.Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings of the studyare discussed.retailing;consumers;brand management;fast moving consumer goods;marketing-models

A Qualitative Investigation of Polish Consumers’ Retail Experiences during the Transitional Period: 1989-2001

The general objective of this dissertation is to investigate the most current phenomenon in the Polish retail environment and the recent Polish consumers’ retail experience. Specifically, by examining information search behavior, shopping behavior, and post-purchase behavior, themes emerged in terms of how the changes in the retail environment influenced the patronage and consumption behavior of Polish consumers. An exploratory research approach is used to conduct this research due to the lack of existing knowledge on Polish consumers and the ever-changing nature of the market environment in Poland. Moreover, qualitative research method with naturalistic inquiry was used to present the Polish consumers’ point of view on their retail experiences. The data are analyzed in two simultaneous stages: 1) an open coding analysis, and 2) a thematic analysis. The findings indicate that Polish consumers shopping behavior as well as consumption behavior have been influenced by the dramatic changes in the retail environment, retail experiences in the past, and the time perception. The data appear to provide empirical evidence that the changes in time perception appear to have an impact on Polish consumers’ consumption behavior. The findings also present that Polish consumers may have adapted the retail environment under free market economy but their attitudes and behaviors remain to be heavily influenced by their retail experiences under the planned economy. This research presents a contribution to the body of knowledge by taking a significant step and addressing several untapped issues. This research provides a theoretical foundation for better understanding of Polish consumers’ attitudes and behaviors, which is beyond the descriptive information presented by the previous studies. For practitioners, this research highlights the need for better understanding of consumers in countries undergoing political and economic transition in order to achieve the promising performance by formulating and implementing the sufficient retail strategies. Replication of the study on consumers in the other parts of Poland would further strengthen the conclusions. Future research should also explore the alternative research methods due to the nature of the unknown group of consumers. Following research topics are also suggested for the further investigation: 1) effectiveness of retailer’s advertising/promotion campaigns in Polish market; 2) Polish consumer’s in-store shopping behavior; 3) search behavior; 4) influence of time perception on purchase behavior; and 5) conceptualization of Polish consumer satisfaction response to retail experience

Shopping Context and Consumers' Mental Representation of Complex Shopping Trip Decision Problems

Depending on the shopping context, consumers may develop different mental representations of complex shopping trip decision problems to help them interpret the decision situation that they face and evaluate alternative courses of action. To investigate these mental representations and how they vary across contexts, the authors propose a causal network structure that allows for a formal representation of how context-specific benefits requirements affect consumers’ evaluation of decision alternative attributes. They empirically test hypotheses derived from the framework, using data on consumers’ mental representations of a complex shopping trip decision problem across four shopping contexts that differ in terms of opening hour restrictions and shopping purpose, and find support for the proposed structure and hypotheses

Analysis of the potential of virtual stores for german online grocery retailing

Research Problem – The effects of digitalization had a huge impact on people’s everyday life. With increased use of internet, E-Commerce became hugely popular and pressurized classic brick and mortar retailers. However, the grocery market is one of the few markets without a remarkable share of online sales. Recently various players entered the small but promising market. Still, it is not foreseeable which player and which kind of sales approach will prevail and retailers are searching for innovative, business approaches that help customers to find their way into online grocery shops. Tesco carried out one propitious sales approach – they established Virtual Stores in Metro Stations where commuters could shop for their groceries on their way to work including a convenient delivery after finishing time. Purpose of the Study – This dissertation strives to identify the potential of Tesco’s Virtual Stores approach for commercial uses in German online and mobile grocery retailing and determines if there is an adequate target group, which is likely to use Virtual Stores to do their everyday grocery shopping. In addition, another aim is to understand the motivation of consumers to use Virtual Stores and to develop a model in order to predict their behaviour. Design/Methodology/Approach – A quantitative baseline study (n=259) is stating the basis of the present study, in order to test the research hypothesis grounded on a literature review of secondary research. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analysis have been accomplished to infer meaningful results. Findings/Implications – There is a high number of potential Virtual Stores users among the respondents. Their Behavioural Intention to use Virtual Stores can be measured by their perception of the performance of Virtual Stores, the degree to which they think shopping with Virtual Stores is fun, the degree to which they perceive online grocery shopping is common, their personal openness towards new information technology and their involvement concerning grocery shopping.Research Problem – Os efeitos da digitalização tiveram um enorme impacto na vida quotidiana das pessoas. Com o aumento da utilização da Internet, E-Commerce tornou-se imensamente popular e colocou os retailers sob pressão. No entanto, o mercado de mercearia é um dos poucos mercados sem uma parte considerável de vendas on-line. Recentemente vários competidores entraram neste mercado pequeno, mas promissor. Ainda assim, não é previsível que concorrente e que tipo de abordagem de vendas vai prevalecer e os retailers estão a procurar abordagens de negócios inovadoras, que ajudem os clientes a encontrar o seu caminho em mercearias on-line. Tesco realizou uma abordagem de vendas propícia - eles estabeleceram lojas virtuais em estações de metro, onde os passageiros poderiam fazer as compras dos seus mantimentos no seu caminho para o trabalho, incluindo a conveniente entrega após o seu fim. Objetivo do estudo – Esta dissertação procura identificar o potencial da abordagem das Lojas Virtuais da Tesco, para usos comerciais no retail online e móvel Alemão; e determinar se existe um grupo-alvo adequado, que seja provável de usar lojas virtuais para fazer suas compras de supermercado do quotidiano. Além disso, outro objetivo é entender a motivação do consumidor para usar lojas virtuais e desenvolver um modelo para prever seu comportamento. Constatações / Implicações - Existe um elevado número de potenciais utilizadores de lojas virtuais entre os entrevistados. A sua intenção comportamental de usar lojas virtuais pode ser medida pela sua percepção do desempenho de lojas virtuais, o grau em que acham que fazer compras com lojas virtuais é divertido, o grau em que percebem que fazer compras de supermercado on-line é comum, a sua abertura pessoal para nova Tecnologia da Informação (IT) e o seu envolvimento no que diz respeito às compras de supermercado. Projeto / Metodologia / Abordagem - Estudo quantitativo de base de (n = 259) está a estabelecer o ponto de partida do presente estudo a fim de testar a hipótese de pesquisa fundamentada numa revisão de literatura de pesquisa secundária. Análise descripitva, bivariada e multivariada foram efetuadas de modo a inferir resultados significativo