A study of delayed purchases of enabling products in the United States: the case of hearings aids

Abstract

Although hearing loss afflicts millions of adults globally, most of them elderly, a relatively small percentage of them purchase hearing aids, and buyers regularly delay purchase for years. This study provides explanations for the likelihood and timing of the purchase of hearing aids. Data from a large-scale national mail survey of 507 hearingimpaired persons in the United States reveal that consumers do not make decisions in a time vacuum or in isolation from previous life experiences. Rather, their hearing aid purchase decision is time dependent, and time exerts different effects on consumers depending on their stage in life. Because hearing impairment is a condition experienced by consumers globally, the study findings have implications for theory and practice worldwide.

Factors affecting the diffusion of mobile social network services in an aging society: value of informative, hedonic and ubiquitous services

“…divorce, marriage of children, retirement, etc.) (Moschis et al , 2015). Amid these processes of aging, they gain plenty of spare time and thus may develop a fascination for using interactive hedonic technology in the form of m-SNS (Kim and Kim, 2019a, 2019b; Huang, 2018).…”

“…divorce, marriage of children, retirement, etc.) (Moschis et al , 2015). With aging, mature consumers tend to have different levels of motivation and points of view as informed by their aging experience (Peters, 2011; Scheibe and Carstensen, 2010).…”

The life course paradigm and consumer behavior: Research frontiers and future directions

“…A study by Moschis et al (2015) attempts to explain the relatively small percentage of the hearing impaired who purchase hearing aids and the reasons many hearing impaired regularly delay purchase for years.…”

Individual life events and blood giving

“…The life course paradigm “provides a framework for integrating diverse perspectives into a multi-theoretical conceptual framework” (Benmoyal-Bouzaglo and Moschis, 2009, p. 50), which emphasizes that changes in behaviors and cognitions are imbedded in individuals’ prior lives and should be studied holistically (Thyroff et al , 2018). The life course paradigm assumes that life events experiences “create physical, social and emotional demands and circumstances to which a person must adapt.” (Moschis et al , 2015, p. 381). Three theoretical perspectives guide this research: normative, stress and human capital.…”

“…The human capital perspective encompasses “resources, qualifications, skills and knowledge that people acquire” over their life course, which influence their behavior (Moschis et al , 2015, p. 381). By enacting new roles such as finishing education and leaving the workforce requires individuals to learn new skills, gain knowledge and resources.…”