Population aging is increasing worldwide and is one of the greatest global challenges. Currently, one in ten of the population in developing countries is over 60 years old and it is predicted that by 2050, seniors will account for one in five of the population. In 2017, the ASEAN population over the age of 60 is estimated at 59 million, or 9 percent of the total population.
The Republic of Korea's elderly population is projected to increase from 18.5 percent to 31.4 percent in 2030. Thailand's elderly population is projected to increase by 26.9 percent in 2030; therefore, one of the fourth population will be a senior citizen. While the smallest amount of the population are children, which is in the range under 15 years old at 17.1 percent.
The United Nations reports that the growth of the aging population is relatively high at over 3 percent per year. The proportion of the aging population increases substantially from 5 percent (1 million people) in 1950 to 17 percent (11.7 million people) in 2017. With the growth rate of 3-3.6 percent per year, the size of the aging population has doubled in 19 - 23 years.
Past consequences show that the high fertility level and the decline in mortality result in the rapid increase of the elderly population aged 60 years and over (World Population Review, 2019).
Objectives
The possibilities for a longer life are affected by healthy aging-related behavior in the form of good nutrition and active freedom. Many companies find the opportunities to create innovation as well as to maintain and develop the markets and all stakeholders (Paul . & Arille, 2018).
Research Question
LITERATURE REVIEW
- Purchase Intention
- Perceived Benefit
- Health Consciousness
- Word of Mouth
- Environmental Consciousness
Attractive packaging of the product is the important factors that influence consumer's purchase intention and persuade consumers to buy (Ann, 2008). There are five models explained by the researchers about the performance of health behaviors related to the perceived benefit. First, Becker (1974) defines that perceived benefit is one of the main factors that can predict health behavior.
Second, Prochaska & DiClemente (1986) describe that the Transtheoretical Model is the progress of change depends on the weighted between perceived benefits and barriers. Third, the protection of motivation theory by Rogers (1983) defines that intention to protect depends on four cognitions that include the perceived effectiveness benefit. The perceived benefit provides value to the products and involves consumer's information search to guide the decision making to avoid uncertainty.
Sedighi & Lukosch (2017) define perceived benefit as an individual expected outcome, influenced by personal value and social value. In this context, perceived benefit plays an important role in decision making and can be measured by the level of satisfaction with the products. Divne & Lepisto (2005) define health-consciousness as the individual behavior in consuming food and performing physical activities.
Moreover, Mergman (2004) mentions that it is the way people take care of their health condition through implementation. Health consciousness has often been investigated as an antecedent of health behavior (Wen & Li, 2013). According to the studies of Gretzel & KH Yoo (2008), WOM is the written information and the recommendation of the products from the consumer perception. 2001) state that WOM of customers has a strong influence on the decision-making process.
Using Internet technologies, Kudeshia & Kumar (2017) define WOM as the content generated by users to offer product information and consumption-related recommendation through social networks. In this context, word of mouth as the tool to build the awareness, interest and trust of the customer. Stern (1992) identifies four different environmental orientations as the indicator of environmental concern, the first dimension being the new environmental paradigm (Dunlap et al., 1978).
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- Methodological Approach
- Sample and Data Collection
- Population
- Data Analysis
An empirical study conducts the purchase intention of complementary foods among senior citizens in Thailand. The scope of the target population in this study focused on Thai elderly men and women aged 60 years or older. The population for this research is the elderly in Thailand around people according to Mahidol Population Gazette, 2019.
The sample size of this study is 127, including both males and females who are Thai citizens and currently live in Thailand. First, the collected data is descriptively analyzed to explore the frequency of gender, age, education and monthly income. The top ten mean factors are calculated to identify the factors from the most important to the least important that influence the behavior of the elderly when choosing the complementary food.
Next, the factor analysis is to cut the cross-loading of questions and explore new variable. Finally, regression analysis is performed on the data to identify the factor influencing the intention to buy and understand the important factors. There is a strong significant relationship with the intention to buy at 95% confidence level or significance value is less than 0.05.
DATA ANALYSIS
According to the perceived benefit, the factor most consistent with the use of complementary foods is the highest mean score: “the use of complementary foods would improve health” (2.7874). On the other hand, the table shows that the lowest average score is: “Using complementary foods would enjoy life more” (2.5039). Referring to health consciousness, the highest score of the mean shows that “I worry that there are harmful chemicals in my food” (3.2205) is the highest score in this section.
On the other hand, the lowest mean score is “I am concerned about the quality of my drinking water” (2.9213). According to the result, the elderly are more concerned about harmful chemicals in food, which is related to the environmental awareness factor, as "Reduce the use of artificial fertilizers in agriculture" is also the highest mean score. See word of mouth, the highest mean score indicated that "I would find a review before making a purchase decision" (2.8976).
On the other hand, the lowest score is for the mean "I would decide to buy if my friend has already bought" (2.2205). Reduce the use of artificial fertilizers in agriculture” (3.3071), which has the greatest influence on the intention to buy. The following factor is "It is important to me that the products I use do not harm the environment" (3.0630).
On the other hand, the lowest score for the average is "I tend to buy and use the product that can be recycled" (2.8740). The result showed that older people are concerned about the environment in terms of reducing the use of artificial fertilizers in agriculture and not harming the environment. Using complementary foods would improve my health 2.79 0.60 Using complementary foods would stay healthy longer 2.62 0.64 Using complementary foods would reduce the risk of.
Reduce the use of artificial fertilizers in agriculture 3.31 0.66 It is important to me that the products I use do not cause harm. The second component has 4 variables; Using a complementary food will stay healthy longer, using a complementary food will improve my health, using a complementary food will reduce the risk of disease and using a complementary food will enjoy life more as Perceived Benefit. The third component has 4 variables; Reduce the use of artificial fertilizers in agriculture, it is important to me that the products I use do not harm the environment, People have the right to adapt the natural environment to suit their needs and I tend to use the product to buy and use what is recycled as Environmental Awareness.
Based on the standardized beta coefficients, perceived benefit is the most important factor affecting purchase intention, as the beta is the highest among others at 0.42. Word of mouth is the second influence on purchase intention with a beta of 0.25.
RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
Conclusions
On the other hand, referring to the top ten factors on average is about environmental awareness and health awareness, which means that the customer is more interested in the environmental content in terms of marketing strategy to attract the customer.
Recommendations
Limitations and Future Research
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Questionnaire
Screening Question
Information on the factors that affect behavior of elderly people on selecting the supplementary food
Demographic Information 1. What is your gender?
