Previous research has shown that both age
and generational cohort membership affect shopping orientation and store choice
criteria, although the results are mixed. This study applied a longitudinal
research setting to investigate the choice orientations of six generational
cohorts and seven age groups, respectively, in the context of non-grocery
shopping trips. The study was based on data collected through four household surveys
conducted in the Turku area, Finland, over 17 years. An exploratory factor
analysis was used to identify six choice orientation dimensions that appeared
as sufficiently similar in all four cross-sectional surveys. The results show
that although both age and generation, if used as sole independents in a model,
only explain 0.1 to 13 per cent of the variation between the categories
(one-way ANOVA), in most cases, the differences are statistically significant.
Age performed slightly better when the models were run for each year
separately. However, in line with the underlying assumption of the generational
theory, the relative importance attached to each of the choice orientation
dimensions in early adulthood remained somewhat stable when the generational
cohorts aged.