Ethnography in action! Investigating the experience of silver shoppers

Date

2012-03-07

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Publisher

Inclusive Design Research Group, Brunel University

Type

Technical Report

Peer reviewed

No

Abstract

Ageing has been closely linked to loss of agility and strength that makes shopping a challenge for senior citizens. The pilot study investigated current difficulties associated with food shopping among consumers above 65 years old in the United Kingdom. The authors argued that questionnaire surveys may provide unreliable results due to memory loss; and proposed direct observations to record natural behaviour in a non-intrusive way. Subsequently, the findings were confirmed through face-to-face interviews. For this study, 14 senior citizens were invited as participants and each visited 2 different retailers.

From this study, the key difficulties include poor access to products where items were placed too high (67%); portions of food that were too large (54%); items placed too low (38%); and poor signage (33%). The problem of reaching high and low shelves is not unique to senior shoppers in the United Kingdom and is in line among older consumers in other developed countries. The size of packaging or multi-purchase products is a major concern where senior citizens find it difficult to transport large and heavy products and the big portions would be substantial for them. Another major difficulty concerns store layout where signage was a key issue as the elderly are more prone to eye ailments and poor posture. It was found that ceiling mounted signs were less effective, leaving elderly shoppers feeling disorientated when navigating around the store. At the end of the data collection, two focus groups in a moderated setting was arranged to elicit further feedback from the participants and retail representatives. A product designer was also invited to offer possible solutions to those problems.

The results from this study have several significant implications. This study has built greater awareness and provided a more focused area of research of the elderly shopper in the United Kingdom, allowing for inclusive design to take place. The use of observations and interviews has provided a more accurate, comprehensive and objective representation of the study. By combining a qualitative and quantitative approach, the result is a study that has greater rigour and richness.

Description

Keywords

ageing, elderly shoppers, retail experience, experience research

Citation

Pei, E. (2012) Ethnography in Action! Investigating the Experience of Silver Shoppers. IDR Inclusive Design Research Newsletter, 7 March 2012 issue 29

Rights

Research Institute