The main objective of this study was to understand the concerns and
problems faced by older people in an industrializing middle-income
country, Malaysia, in their process of acquiring products to meet their
everyday needs. Respondents aged 55 and over were interviewed in eight
states throughout Peninsular Malaysia providing 1356 usable questionnaires;
two-thirds from urban and one-third from rural areas. Education,
health status, and life satisfaction were recorded. Service patronage
behaviour was examined for four main categories of commonly-sought
consumer goods: groceries, health supplements, apparel, eating outlets,
plus selected services (public transport, vacation packages and financial
services). The findings showed that older adults in Malaysia are rather
discerning consumers. Many respondents are price conscious and have
developed consumer attitudes with regard to attitude of staff and assistance
rendered. Many display a good ability to discriminate and to select,
especially on the basis of price and durability of products and many
appear to be acting as effectively as consumers in any other age group.