Staying in “the works of living”: How older adults employ marketplace resources to age successfully

Despite being a large and rapidly growing consumer population, limited marketing research examines how older adult consumers pursue marketplace well-being in the face of the challenges posed by aging. Using depth interviews and drawing on literatures from both marketing and gerontology, we develop a model that bridges disparate perspectives of older adults in the marketing literature, exploring how older consumers navigate the tensions between successful aging and vulnerability as they seek to maximize their quality of life in the marketplace. From this analysis, we present a more nuanced portrait of how older adults pursue well-being across consumption domains to fulfill their aspirations and maintain their independence, as well as identify ways that marketers and public policymakers can assist in those pursuits.