Facial Trustworthiness Influences Age Differences in Visual Attention Toward Credible Versus Non-credible Messages

Abstract Background and Objectives The literature on consumer decision-making and aging suggests that older adults make less optimal buying decisions than younger adults do, partly because older adults tend to perceive salespersons’ faces as more trustworthy. This study aims to directly test the difference in the effect of perceived facial trustworthiness on buying intention between younger and older adults. It also aims to reveal the underlying mechanisms of this age-related difference by testing whether a more trustworthy face disrupts older adults’ attention toward credible (vs. non-credible) information to a higher degree compared with younger adults. Research Design and Methods A sample of 92 younger (aged 18–37 years) and 83 older (aged 60–82 years) adults viewed advertisements for 32 products while their eye movements were captured by an eye tracker to measure their fixation duration (as an indicator of attention). The advertisements varied in terms of the credibility of the content and the trustworthiness of the salesperson’s face. Results Both age groups showed higher buying intentions for products featured in advertisements with higher credibility and facial trustworthiness. When facial trustworthiness was lower, both age groups showed greater attentional preferences for credible over non-credible content. However, this distinction in attention disappeared in older but not younger adults with an increase in facial trustworthiness. Discussion and Implications Our findings suggest that although facial trustworthiness generally increases buying intention of both younger and older adults, it only reduces older (but not younger) adults’ attentional discrimination between credible and non-credible content. This paper offers a novel and promising mechanism for the increase in fraud vulnerability in late adulthood.