Our thanks to Pilsik Choi, Chirag Jethwani, Kyoungmi Lee, and Kathleen McNicholas for their assistance with the data gathering and coding. We extend our appreciation to AC Nielsen EDI for providing the proprietary data used in this study. The authors thank Tony di Benedetto, JPIM editor, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript. Finally, seminar participants at the University of Oklahoma provided substantive feedback.
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Original Article
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Grumpier Old Men: Age and Sex Differences in the Evaluation of New Services†
Article first published online: 13 OCT 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5885.2011.00880.x
© 2012 Product Development & Management Association
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How to Cite
Schmidt, J. B., Zayer, L. T. and Calantone, R. J. (2012), Grumpier Old Men: Age and Sex Differences in the Evaluation of New Services. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 29: 88–99. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5885.2011.00880.x
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Publication History
- Issue published online: 16 NOV 2011
- Article first published online: 13 OCT 2011
- Abstract
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Little research attention has centered on how age and sex affect consumers' evaluations of new products and services. In this study an individual's age and sex are associated with his or her evaluation of new services, that is, newly released motion pictures. Using data acquired from publicly available and proprietary sources, nearly 2,100 motion pictures released in the United States from 1982 through 2000 were analyzed. The results show that older consumers are more critical of new services and rate them lower after consuming them relative to younger ones. The results also show that women evaluate new services significantly more favorably than men. Interestingly, these results appear robust because women did not rate products that are normally developed and targeted to men (e.g., action/adventure and science-fiction movies) lower than men evaluated them; no evidence to support the notion of a “chick flick” was found. Implications for conducting marketing research when developing new products and services are offered.