ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B
主办:中国心理学会
   中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理学报 ›› 2026, Vol. 58 ›› Issue (1): 151-165.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2026.0151 cstr: 32110.14.2026.0151

• 研究报告 • 上一篇    下一篇

经验获益还是时间损失?老化心态对时尚消费的影响机制

王静1, 王雪华2, 范秀成3()   

  1. 1 上海工程技术大学管理学院, 上海 201620
    2 同济大学经济与管理学院, 上海 200092
    3 复旦大学管理学院, 上海 200433
  • 收稿日期:2024-06-18 发布日期:2025-10-28 出版日期:2026-01-25
  • 通讯作者: 范秀成, E-mail: xcfan@fudan.edu.cn
  • 作者简介:王静和王雪华为本文的共同第一作者。
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金重点项目(71832002);国家自然科学基金面上项目(72272052);国家自然科学基金面上项目(72572040)

Experience-gained vs. time-elapsed: How different types of aging mindset affect fashion consumption?

WANG Jing1, WANG Xuehua2, FAN Xiucheng3()   

  1. 1 School of Management, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China
    2 School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
    3 School of Management, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • Received:2024-06-18 Online:2025-10-28 Published:2026-01-25

摘要:

人口老龄化已成为全球性现象, 积极应对老龄化的有效举措之一是大力发展银发经济。为充分释放老年人口消费潜力, 需洞察不同老化心态对老年消费行为的影响。本研究通过1个调查和4个实验, 检验了老年人看待过去时“经验获益” (vs.“时间损失”)心态对时尚消费的作用机制和边界条件。研究表明:相比“时间损失”心态, “经验获益”心态将提升时尚消费意愿, 老化威胁感知在老化心态与时尚消费的关系中起中介作用。同时, 死亡凸显调节不同老化心态对时尚消费的影响。低死亡凸显情况下, 持“经验获益” (vs.“时间损失”)老化心态的个体更偏好时尚消费; 而高死亡凸显情况下, 两者之间差异消失。本文从“经验获益”与“时间损失”视角, 剖析老化心态及其对时尚消费的作用, 丰富了老年消费、时尚消费和年老身份建构方面的文献。

关键词: 老化心态, 时尚消费, 老化威胁感知, 时间损失, 经验获益

Abstract:

Population aging is a defining global trend of our time. People are living longer, and the proportion of older adults is rising worldwide. Developing the silver economy has therefore become an important initiative to address this demographic shift. To fully unlock the consumption potential of older adults, it is essentially to understand whether, and how, different types of aging mindset influence consumer behaviour.

This research compares two important and prevalent types of aging mindset: experience-gained and time-elapsed. Across five studies employing diverse research designs (correlational and experimental), samples (from the U.S. and China), and measures of fashion consumption (fashion involvement, fashion consumption preference, fashion product purchase intention), we investigate the effect of an experience-gained (vs. time-elapsed) aging mindset on fashion consumption, examining both its underlying mechanism and boundary condition among respondents aged 55 and above. Specifically, we conducted pilot study using a survey to examine the correlational relationship between attitudes towards aging and fashion consumption. Four subsequent intervention experiments established the causal link between aging mindset and fashion consumption. In these experiments, aging mindset was manipulated using verbal and recall tasks: participants in the time-elapsed (vs. experience-gained) condition wrote about personal experiences in which they felt “aging means time-elapsed (vs. experience-gained).” Studies 1-3 used one-factor (aging mindset: time-elapsed vs. experience-gained) between-subjects design. Study 1 tested the influence of aging mindset on preference for fashionable products. Study 2 examined whether aging mindset influenced fashion consumption when product stimuli differed in fashionability but were similar in uniqueness, and ruled out alternative explanation such as subjective age and perceived control. Study 3 investigated the mediating role of perceived aging-related threat in the relationship between aging mindset and fashion consumption intention, while also testing other competing alternative explanations (e.g., present-focus and meaning in life). Finally, Study 4 employed a 2 (aging mindset: time-elapsed vs. experience-gained) × 2 (mortality salience: high vs. low) experimental design to test the moderating role of mortality salience.

The results reveal that individuals with an experience-gained aging mindset are more likely to engage in fashion consumption than those with a time-elapsed mindset. Perception of aging-related threat mediates this focal relationship: an experience-gained aging mindset reduces perceived aging-related threat, which in turn increases fashion consumption. Moreover, mortality salience moderates the effect of aging mindset on fashion consumption intention, such that the positive effect of an experience-gained (vs. time-elapsed) mindset on preference for fashion products disappears when mortality salience is high (vs. low).

This paper contributes new insights into how older adults perceive their past experiences and the aging process. It shows that those with an experience-gained (vs. time-elapsed) mindset demonstrate stronger intentions to engage in fashion consumption. These findings extend the literature on older consumers by establishing aging mindset as a novel psychological antecedent of fashion consumption. Furthermore, by identifying perception of aging-related threat as a key underlying mechanism and mortality salience as a boundary condition, this article advances research on subjective views of aging, mortality salience, and older adults’ self-concept and identity. It also provides theoretical guidance for marketers in developing more targeted marketing strategies based on different aging mindsets.

Key words: aging mindset, fashion consumption, perception of aging-related threat, time-elapsed, experience-gained

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