Pianorak
Whether a prospective customer is attracted to modern aircraft would depend on why they are learning to fly, and also on their own lifestyle.
If someone is learning to fly with a long term view, they will go round with their eyes open, will talk to others, and will unavoidably notice the difference between modern planes and ancient ones. They will not immediately notice the difference between a 1980 C172 and a 2004 C172 – because there isn’t any unless you either know your planes or get inside and notice the leather seats and a GPS in the panel (which is why it’s pointless buying new Cessnas or Pipers to impress customers).
If our hypothetical business is to attract people who have enough liquidity to easily pay for a PPL, extra training after that, and continue flying with reasonable currency (perhaps through the purchase of a share in something nice) afterwards, one is looking at customers who have already acquired a range of good quality gadgets, from nice PDAs to nice cars and houses. People like that are generally pretty fussy about who they go around with and what sort of contraption they will climb into.
One is also looking for customers who are generally switched on – unless one is a conman, they are the best kind to have. I am not an instructor but would hope that switched on students are the best sort too. And nowadays most of those with a decent income are pretty well switched on. One can’t get away with charging them £120/hour in a piece of 20 year old wreckage – they will not get as far as the front door and this is has been happening for years… most people who end up doing a PPL today can barely afford it. One will have to tell them that they will have to learn navigation with a slide rule and a stopwatch in order to get the PPL, but afterwards there are much better ways…