The representation of older people in television advertisements and social change: the case of Japan

Abstract

The representation of social groups in advertising has been a major concern in academia. However, research focusing on older people has been scant and mainly conducted in Western countries. In Japan, the country that has been most affected by demographic change, this research area has received little attention. Through a content analysis of a systematic sample of 2,972 television advertisements broadcast on the five major commercial television stations in Japan in 1997 and 2007, this paper tries to fill this research gap, examining changes in the representation of older people in Japanese television advertising. When comparing 2007 to 1997, we found that older people appeared more often, were increasingly alone and in major roles, and were portrayed in more favourable ways, which suggests that their status changed. These changes appear to be related to the fact that older people have become more important within Japanese society. However, some aspects have remained unchanged; older people continue to be under-represented, which does not reflect demographic reality, and are used in advertisements for foods and beverages, confirming findings from previous studies. Our findings indicate that the representation of older people in Japanese television advertising has changed but remains unrealistic.

Advertising Challenges in the Ageing Society: The Preferences of the Regular Gym-goers towards Age Portrayals in Advertising

“…The same pattern of under-representation has also been observed in relatively recent studies (Prieler et al, 2015;Kay & Furnham 2013;Furnham & Paltzer, 2010), especially older females being absent from mainstream advertising, compared to senior males. The worldwide magnitude of the standardized portrayal of seniors in advertising -mainly younger than their chronological age; as grandfather/grandmother, as housewife or as consumer of health services -has proved to be at higher level since the phenomenon have been reported in many cultural areas: in the USA (Miller et al, 2004), UK (Williams, Ylänne, Wadleigh & Cheng, 2010), Germany (Zhang et al, 2006), Malaysia and South Korea (Ong & Chang, 2009), Australia (Higgs & Milner, 2005), Japan (Prieler et al, 2015), India (Harwood & Roy, 1999), Hong Kong, South Africa and New Zealand (Furnham & Paltzer, 2010). Intercultural data have also revealed that young women tend to be twice more distributed in commercials than older ones (in Austria, Turkey, Poland, Sweden and Bulgaria), while in Russia and Serbia, neither a woman, nor a man aged 55+ appears in commercials.…”

“…Since the early 90s and onwards, the reasons for the limited presence of seniors in advertising has been largely investigated in marketing studies (Ong, Kitchen & Jama;2008;Carrigan & Szmigin, 1999;Greco 1988), consumer psychology Guido & Amatuli, 2014), advertising research (Prieler et al, 2015;Panic, Cauberghe & Verhoye, 2011) and sociology of ageing (Gilleard & Higgs, 2011;Settersten & Angel, 2011;Wassel, 2011). There is much empirical data to argue that, in general, seniors preferred to be depicted ten years younger than their real chronological age (Yoon & Powell, 2012, p. 1324Prieler et al, 2011, p. 244;Robinson et al, 2008, p. 236).…”

“…In this context, over the past five decades, the accurate portrayal of people aged 50 to centenaries has been of major concern for the academic research, especially in the media and ageing studies, marketing, advertising and consumer research. Grounded on the ethnolinguistic vitality theory (Giles, Bourghis & Taylor, 1977), social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) and cultivation paradigm (Gerbner, Gross, Signorielli & Morgan, 1980), most of the previous research have used mainly quantitative methodologies (Prieler, Kohlbacher, Hagiwara & Arima, 2015;Kay & Furnham 2013;Kohlbacher & Chéron, 2012;Furnham & Paltzer, 2010;Prieler, Kohlbacher, Hagiwara & Arima, 2009;Zhang et al, 2006;Miller, Leyell & Mazachek, 2004), considering the content of advertising a reflection of generalized social attitudes on certain issues or social groups (in this case, the seniors). Further, the qualitative approach (Chen 2015;Marshall & Rahman, 2015;Loose & Ekström, 2014;Flatt, Settersten, Ponsaran & Fishman, 2013;Brooks, 2010;Calasanti, 2007;Calasanti & King, 2007) has explored how advertising content suggests the salient appearance ideals at old age and how the cultural idea of modifying or controlling ageing has spread through advertising claims.…”

Generációk a marketingben. A hazai Jones-generáció és jelenléte reklámfilmekben

“…Összehasonlításul, Prieler és szerzőtársai (2015) japán mintájában 70% volt a főszereplők aránya, Chen (2014) brit és tajvani mintájában 36,1% illetve 43,3%. Bár nyilvánvaló a kulturális különbség is, a szerepkörök minősége utalhat az adott generáció tiszteletére is az adott társadalomban (Prieler et al 2015).…”

Baby Boomers of different nations

“…Yet, despite the importance of Baby Boomers, marketing's focus on youth and neglect of older adults is well documented (Niemela-Nyrhinen, 2007;Thompson and Thompson, 2009). Even with their relatively large share of spending, Nielsen (2012) estimates that less than 10% of advertising is geared towards them, an assertion supported by advertising content analyses across different media and nations (Kessler et al, 2009;Prieler et al, 2011Prieler et al, , 2014Simcock and Sudbury, 2006).…”