Physical Activity, Educational and Dance: A Study of Elderly Consumers Personal Values

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to identify personal values of aged consumers that participate in physical, educational, and dance activities, analyzing them by the hedonic and utilitarian motivational aspects. The Means-End Chain Theory of Gutman (1982) has been chosen for this thesis, which uses the technique of laddering in interviews and content analysis of three segments with ten aged consumers duly engaged in the activities above. Based on the Hierarchy Value Map (HVM), it was possible to observe that the values and benefits associated with the participation in each activity are both of individual and collective interests and both have hedonic and utilitarian natures. The final result revealed the existence of convergent and divergent values, demonstrating the heterogeneous profile of the elderly consumers. This established that culture, life experiences, and current realities enhance the manifestation of a personal value on them. It was also observed in this research that during the acquisition and use of services, the aged demonstrated that what they really want, as a purpose, was to gain new friendships and new moments of their lives.