Fighting Aging With Creation: The Sense of Feeling Old Enhances Young Consumers' Desire for Experiential Creation Consumption

Abstract

Extensive research has examined the implications of the Sense of Feeling Old (SOFO) among older adults, revealing that it often diminishes their consumption of innovative or novel products. However, recent studies indicate that SOFO is not exclusive to the elderly; young people also encounter this phenomenon when exposed to aging-related cues. Despite this, the influence of SOFO on young people's consumption behavior remains underexplored. This paper addresses this gap by investigating how SOFO influences young people's experiential creation consumption. Through five experimental studies across diverse cultural settings, we demonstrate that SOFO heightens young people's openness to learning, which subsequently enhances their preference for experiential creation. However, these effects are moderated by contingent self-worth of youthfulness and perceived attainability of youthfulness, with individuals exhibiting low levels in these dimensions showing attenuated responses. Beyond contributing to the literature on SOFO and experiential creation consumption, this research offers practical insights for marketers, suggesting that inducing SOFO can be an effective strategy for promoting experiential creation consumption among young people.