The aim of this research is to extend current knowledge of older consumers&apos; behaviour, focusing on involvement and future time perspective. Furthermore, we propose recommendations for customer approaches in the context of colon cancer prevention, as older consumers increasingly face new challenges in the realm of medical decision-making

Björn S Ivens

Friedrich-Alexander

Martina Steul-Fischer

Stefanie Scholz

Yvonne Illich

CiteSeerX

 
 
 
 
 
ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER RESEARCH 
 
Labovitz School of Business & Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, 11 E. Superior Street, Suite 210, Duluth, MN 55802 
 
 
Influence of Future Time Perspective on Involvement: an Approach With Two Studies
Stefanie Scholz, Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg, Germany 
Yvonne Illich, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany 
Björn S. Ivens, Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg, Germany 
Martina Steul-Fischer, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany 
 
The aim of this research is to extend current knowledge of older consumers’ behaviour, focusing on involvement and future time
perspective. Furthermore, we propose recommendations for customer approaches in the context of colon cancer prevention, as older
consumers increasingly face new challenges in the realm of medical decision-making.
 
 
[to cite]:
Stefanie Scholz, Yvonne Illich, Björn S. Ivens, and Martina Steul-Fischer (2012) ,"Influence of Future Time Perspective on
Involvement: an Approach With Two Studies", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 40, eds. Zeynep Gürhan-Canli,
Cele Otnes, and Rui (Juliet) Zhu, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 646-648.
 
[url]:
http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/1011652/volumes/v40/NA-40
 
[copyright notice]:
This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in
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646 
Advances in Consumer Research
Volume 40, ©2012
Influence of Future Time Perspective on Involvement: 
An Approach with two studies
Stefanie Scholz, Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg, Germany
Yvonne Illich, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
Björn S. Ivens, Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg, Germany
Martina Steul-Fischer, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
ExTEndEd AbsTrACT
Both marketers and scholars have recognized the growing eco-
nomic relevance of older consumers (Yoon, 1997; Yoon et al., 2005). 
While demographic change alone cannot justify research on older 
individuals’ consumer behaviour, this field is nevertheless important 
as there is a great deal of evidence regarding age differences in con-
sumer behaviour (see e.g. Yoon & Cole, 2008). The aim of this re-
search is to extend current knowledge of older consumers’ behaviour, 
focusing on involvement and future time perspective (FTP). Further-
more, older consumers face new challenges in daily life, for instance 
in the realm of medical decision-making (Wood, Shinogle, & Mc-
Innes, 2010). We propose recommendations for the development of 
customer approaches in the context of colon cancer prevention. 
InVOLVEMEnT
Involvement is defined as “a person’s perceived relevance of the 
object based on inherent needs, values and interests” (Zaichkowsky, 
1985, p. 342), and has an affective and a cognitive dimension (Zaich-
kowsky, 1985, 1987, 1994). It affects the cognitive effort people put 
into decision-making processes (Bienstock & Stafford, 2006; Mittal, 
1995). Research mostly focuses on product involvement (Laurent 
& Kapferer, 1985; Michaelidou & Dibb, 2006, 2008; Mittal, 1995). 
This paper extends research in the area of services (Bienstock & 
Stafford, 2006; Varki & Wong, 2003) and health services in particu-
lar (Shaffer & Sherrell, 1997). 
FTP
FTP, a construct embedded in the socioemotional selectivity 
theory (SST), describes a person’s subjective perception of time left 
to live. FTP can vary depending on life situation (Bouffard, Lens, & 
Nuttin, 1983; Carstensen & Fredrickson, 1998) and lifestyle (Lang 
& Carstensen, 2002), and can be influenced through framing in ad-
vertisements (Fung & Carstensen, 2003; Fung, Carstensen, & Lutz, 
1999; Williams & Drolet, 2005). 
SST provides a comprehensive approach to explaining age 
related differences in consumer behaviour (Drolet, Lau-Gesk, Wil-
liams, & Jeong, 2010). For example, consumers with a more lim-
ited FTP prefer more positive information in a health context, and 
avoid negative information (Löckenhoff & Carstensen, 2007). Yet, 
ignoring information is an important issue in the health care context 
(Löckenhoff & Carstensen, 2004). Furthermore, older adults’ focus 
on emotions has been identified in many different studies (for a com-
mentary see Drolet, Lau-Gesk, Williams, & Jeong, 2010). SST holds 
that this focus on emotions is due to older individuals’ limited FTP 
(Carstensen, 2006).
HYPOTHEsEs 
Health is of emotional relevance, especially for older adults. Ac-
cording to SST, emotionally relevant goals are prioritized by adults 
with a limited FTP. We therefore derive the following hypothesis: 
Hypothesis 1: Adults with a limited (vs. expansive) FTP have a 
high (vs. low) affective/ cognitive involvement in 
colon cancer prevention. 
In order to prove that the FTP-involvement link is not mainly 
based on a cohort effect, we hypothesize that FTP manipulation in-
fluences involvement as follows:
Hypothesis 2:  Affective/ cognitive involvement can be in-
creased (vs. reduced) through limited (vs. expan-
sive) FTP framing.
METHOd
To test H1, study 1 was carried out among 538 younger (mean 
age: 25.03) and 482 older adults (mean age: 57.89). After reading a 
text containing information about colon cancer prevention, partici-
pants answered a questionnaire including an involvement (Hagen-
dorfer, 1992; Zaichkowsky, 1994) and an FTP scale (Carstensen & 
Lang, 1996; Lang & Carstensen, 2002). Cronbach’s alphas were 
good for involvement (.913) and FTP (.905).
In  Zaichkowsky’s involvement concept and in SST, the emo-
tional component is a substantial part (Zaichkowsky, 1987). There-
fore we checked for the influence of emotions. Furthermore we in-
cluded questions regarding lifestyle (cf. Reitzler, 2001; Hess, 2001). 
In order to test H2, for study 2 we added an FTP frame (based 
on Williams & Drolet, 2005) in the text about colon cancer preven-
tion. A 2 (older vs. younger adults) x 3 (limited vs. expansive vs. con-
trol condition) between-subjects design resulted. 160 younger (mean 
age: 23.58) and 127 older adults (mean age: 64.38) participated in 
this experimental study.
sTUdY 1
Our results confirm that FTP influences involvement. Analyses 
relied on structural equation modeling using AMOS 19. The fit in-
dices show the acceptable model fit (χ²/d.f.=7.439, RMSEA=.079, 
IFI=.852, CFI=.851). The paths from FTP to affective involvement 
(–.17, p<.001) and cognitive involvement (–.26, p<.001) were sig-
nificant. Thus, H1 is supported. The results (see figure 1) show that 
the path from FTP to lifestyle is significant (.55, p<.001). Further-
more, lifestyle is related to cognitive involvement (.10, p<.001). As 
expected, emotions have an impact both on affective (.87, p<.001) 
and cognitive (.84, p<.001) involvement. Findings are consistent 
with the assumptions of SST and earlier research on involvement. 
sTUdY 2
A 2 x 3 ANOVA on the FTP index found a significant effect for 
framing group (F(5, 280)=28.582; p<.000). Although this effect is 
attributed to differences between age groups rather than framing (see 
table 1), data encourages the view that FTP framing can influence 
involvement. Two 2 x 3 ANOVAs on the affective involvement (F(5, 
268)=6.539; p<.000) and cognitive involvement (F(5, 278)=8.491; 
p<.000) indices found significant effects. Differences exist between 
age groups: younger participants have a more expansive FTP and are 
less involved than older participants. Thus, we again find support for 
H1. Furthermore, older individuals are less involved in the limited 
frame than in the expansive frame and in the control condition. For 
the young, the results do not show clear framing effects (see table 1). 
Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 40) / 647
Figure 1
The relationship between FTP and Involvement: structural Equation Model results
Table 1
study 2 results
Younger adults
Frame Expansive Limited Control
FTP 2.35 (.69) 2.19 (.63) 2.31 (.66)
Affective involvement 4.02 (1.35) 4.04 (1.09) 4.22 (1.17)
Cognitive involvement 2.98 (1.28) 3.13 (1.07) 3.24 (1.30)
Older adults
Frame Expansive Limited Control
FTP 3.63 (1.17) 3.63 (1.38) 3.73 (1.16)
Affective involvement 3.06 (1.59) 3.62 (1.22) 3.05 (1.37)
Cognitive involvement 2.10 (1.52) 2.51 (1.55) 1.77 (1.21)
Results imply that older and younger adults react differently to 
FTP framing. While a limited FTP frame seems to alienate the el-
derly from screenings, merely mentioning life time seems to provoke 
positive reactions towards prevention among the young. Although 
H2 is not supported, results indicate that the FTP-involvement link 
is independent from cohort effects. 
COnTrIbUTIOns
FTP affects involvement in the context of health care services. 
Furthermore, involvement can be influenced through FTP manipula-
tion. These findings provide players in the health care sector with 
the possibility of adopting FTP-based approaches for successfully 
addressing older customers. Concerning the participation in medi-
cal screenings, consumers could be activated more efficiently. Future 
research should verify if the relationship between FTP and involve-
ment exists for other services.
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Influence of Future Time Perspective on Involvement: an Approach With Two Studies

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