The usage and portrayal of older models in contemporary consumer advertising

Abstract

IntroductionAs the population of North America, Europe and Australia continues to mature, marketers in these countries have started to recognise that there is a need to move attention towards this potentially lucrative group of consumers. To date, most of the consumer research into the over-50s market has taken place in the USA, with few studies being carried out to investigate the UK mature market. Given the current and potential importance of this affluent and discriminating group of consumers, one would expect advertisers in the UK to make substantial use of older people as models in order to present relevant and attractive appeals to this segment of the market (Festervand and Lumpkin, 1984;Peterson, 1992). However, arguments have been made to the effect that younger models dominate advertisements, even for products which are targeted specifically at older consumers (Smith and Moschis, 1985); for example, models aged under thirty advertising anti-wrinkle products such as Oil of Ulay, or orthopaedic chairs and "comfort" clothing such as Daxon. This suggests that advertisers believe that older people hold a less attractive appeal. It is also argued that when older people are used in advertisements, they tend to be depicted in ways which suggest infirmity, helplessness or some other negative stereotype of old age (Peterson, 1992). This is not only insulting to the large number of fit, competent and active over-50s, but it is potentially dysfunctional in society, since it reinforces negative beliefs among the general population, and perpetuates ageism. The purpose of our study was to assess the extent to which 50+ adults are used as models in a sample of advertisements, and the manner in which they are portrayed. The findings are used to assess the validity of the argument that the over-50s are ignored by advertisers, and that they are depicted unfavourably. The demographics of the older marketIt is well known that the UK, in common with most of Western Europe and the USA, has an ageing population; it is estimated that by 2021 33 per cent of the UK population will be 55 or over (Social Trends, 1997). This increase is partly due to past fluctuations in births, such as the post-World War II "baby boom" and current issues such as low fertility rates (Tinker, 1994), but probably most

Aging and masculinity: Portrayals in men's magazines

“…At the same time, and again consistent with the extant research (Carrigan & Szmigin, 1998;Lumme-Sandt, 2011;McConatha et al, 1999;Zhang et al, 2006), we also found that when older men were present, they were depicted almost exclusively in a favorable light and in similar ways across the six magazines irrespective of the target readerships or frequency of the portrayals. Specifically, our visual thematic analysis revealed two primary ways that older men were depicted, namely, as experienced and powerful or as healthy and happy.…”

“…In line with previous research (Carrigan & Szmigin, 1998;Gantz et al, 1980;Harwood & Roy, 1999;Kvasnicka et al, 1982;Peterson, 1992;Roberts & Zhou, 1997;Williams et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2006;Zhou & Chen, 1992), our content analysis revealed that older adults were largely absent from men's magazines, with the exception of Zoomer. Indeed, older individuals comprised the following percentages of the images of people within the six magazines we analyzed: 27% in Esquire, 14% in GQ, 10% in Maxim, 6% in Men's Health, 18% in Men's Journal, and 71% in Zoomer.…”

Consumption Patterns of Chinese Elders: Evidence from A Survey in Wuhan, China

“…Therefore, business marketing teams in China focused their attention on younger consumers and children but ignored older consumers of age 50 and above (Carrigan & Szmigin, 1998;Guo & Yu, 1999;Long, 1998). Chinese researchers also focused their studies on children's consumption patterns (Guan, 2003;Sun, 2003).…”

Constructions of sexuality in later life: Analyses of Canadian magazine and newspaper portrayals of online dating

“…A wealth of research has examined how various media, including advertising, films, print media, and television portray older adults and reinforce cultural assumptions about later life (see for example, Carrigan & Szmigin, 1998;Lumme-Sandt, 2011;Powell, 2013;Zhang et al, 2006). While older adults continue to be underrepresented in magazine and newspaper advertising and television commercials (Carrigan & Szmigin, 1998;Zhang et al, 2006), collectively the various media entrench youth-based, heteronormative standards of sexuality (de Luce, 2001;Lewis, Medvedev, & Seponski, 2011). Print media, television advertisements, contemporary romance novels, and films primarily feature thin, physically attractive, able-bodied, young women who are held up as the epitome of feminine beauty and sexual desirability (de Luce, 2001;Lewis et al, 2011;Ménard & Cabrera, 2011).…”