Abstract:

Population aging has become a major concern in China. By sampling urban residents in Kunming, this paper empirically examines individual’s decision-making process for elderly care from the perspective of need for cognitive closure. Through the Logistic regression analysis, the study finds that the individuals with high level of need for cognitive closure are more likely to refer to others’ points of view when making elderly care decisions. According to the results of the OLS regression, this study also confirms that urban residents’ need for cognitive closure is positively related to the consistency between their elderly care intentions and the care conditions of their parents. The findings of this study can promote the interdisciplinary research on elderly care for Chinese urban residents. In practice, they can help business for elderly care to implement the precise marketing, and provide the government with cognitive evidences to propose policies related to the elderly care.

Key words: Elderly care decision-making, Elderly care models, Need for cognitive closure, Population aging, Chinese urban residents