Biological Age and its Value to Marketing Theory and Practice

Abstract

Aging has profound effects on how we consume, yet, marketers often simplify aging to the mere passage of time (chronological age; ChronAge). This simplification overlooks fundamental biological and psychological aspects of the aging process, and neglects meaningful variation within ChronAge segments. This paper highlights the need for multi-dimensional approaches to studying aging consumers and pioneers a framework that integrates biological aging into consumer behavior theory. We introduce a measure of biological age (BioAge), derived from epigenetic data, to the field. Using Health and Retirement Study data, we empirically demonstrate that BioAge captures distinct aspects of aging, not reflected in ChronAge, and improves prediction of consumer activities and spending. BioAge is most useful for predicting technology use, social engagement, physical activity, and discretionary spending on entertainment-even when marketers have access to rich demographic, psychosocial, lifestyle, and financial information. Further, we show that BioAge mediates the impact of time on consumer behavior, and operates through objective physiological pathways, like chronic disease, cognitive functioning, and physical vitality, rather than subjective perceptions of health. We conclude with implications and best practices, including how BioAge can improve segmentation and customer lifetime value optimization, along with the ethical and legal challenges of its use in research and practice.

Keywords: aging, biological age, consumer behavior, marketing strategy, epigenetics, epigenetic clocks, chronological age, perceived age, feel age