Preparing for retirement? How consumption distance, message framing, and message appeal influence retirement planning

Saving for retirement is critical and while many people struggle, research on how to engage consumers to better prepare is scant. This research uses a life stage lens and examines distant verses proximal consumption in the context of retirement planning. Findings show an interplay of message framing and social distance. Whereby, increased consumption distance significantly increased key outcomes when consumers were exposed to a message framed as a gain and focused on a family member or framed as a loss and focused on a close friend. However, for consumers near to consumption (retirement) the effect was the opposite.