Consumer Insights and Journeys for Healthcare Products and Elderly Living Solutions

Abstract

This qualitative research aimed to study consumer insights, purchasing decisions and consumer journey for health products and housing solutions for the elderly. The data were collected by means of in-depth interviews with six people who had bought healthcare products for the older people or those who had experienced buying such products. The six interviewees were divided into three for each group, i.e. a group of the elderly themselves and the caregiver.

The research results revealed that the health products were perceived by both groups, the elderly and the elderly caregivers, but with different behaviors. The elderly were exposed to offline and online media, mostly influenced by doctors and friends, though. As for the elderly caregivers, they bought such products from observing and discussing with the elderly whom they were taking care of Purchasing health products, both the elderly and the elderly caregivers made their own purchasing decisions. Mostly, if it was an offline channel, the elderly went to buy the products by themselves. If it was an online channel, in contrast, it tended to be that the elderly caregivers or grandchildren would be told to purchase. The decision-making factors to buy the products online were predominantly due to price and convenience of buying. As for the housing solutions, most decision makers were the elderly care givers because they had income. If it was a small-size product, however, the elderly would make their own purchase. And the female elderly tended to have more discussions on the housing solutions with their children than the male counterparts. Purchasing behavior and decision making should be rather shared by both the elderly and the elderly caregivers than decided by the latter alone because easier acceptance for the use of the housing solutions among the elderly could be the expected result.