Visual Perception Changes in the Aging Eye: The Elderly May Not See What You Want Them to See‪.‬

INTRODUCTION A current major marketing mistake is an ineffective effort to market to the elderly (Flanagan, 1994). Even though the increasing size and economic power of the elderly population have been noted in published research (e.g. Day, Davis, Dove, & French, 1987/1988; Henderson, 1998; Long, 1998), marketing errors of commission and omission have occurred. Older adults have been negatively stereotyped (Sherman, 1987; Moore, 1988) and underrepresented in advertising (Milliman & Erffmeyer, 1989/1990), poorly segmented, and sometimes - ignored (Long, 1998; Moore, 1988). These mistakes are due, in part, to the fact that many marketers have looked at subjective rather than objective information regarding the elderly and, at times, have viewed elderly consumers as old young consumers. In reality, there are many differences between young and old consumers, some of which include differences in physical mobility (Rosendahl, 1992), cognitive processing abilities (Stephens, 1991), and sensory abilities (Long, 1998).