Seniors and technology: can cognitive age and life events explain the gaps?

Purpose of the paper: this paper aims to identify good descriptors of the differences among the elderly, particularly suitable for technology use. Specifically, cognitive age and life events are compared to demographic age. Methodology: a survey was conducted, and three cluster analyses were performed to reach three different segmentations: cohort, cognitive-age and life-event-based segmentations. Findings: the conducted cluster analysis highlights multifaceted consumption trends also in relation to technology, both in the case of using cognitive age as a segmentation criterion and in the case of appealing to events actually lived. Research limits: although alternative segmentation parameters to the chronological age were examined to test their validity, these criteria were used separately, while the analysis of a complex group like Seniors would require a multidimensional approach. Practical implications: our study provides important operational indications to managers who need to understand the different consumption trends and dynamics of the use of technology by elderly consumers in order to define tailor-made offers of products and/or services. Facilitating the use of technology by the elderly has interesting implications in terms of social and economic impact, too. Originality of the paper: although many have highlighted the need to identify effective criteria for the segmentation of such a heterogeneous target in terms of expressed needs, there are currently few studies in this field, especially concerning the use of technology.