The usage and portrayal of older models in contemporary consumer advertising

Abstract

As the population of North America and Europe continues to mature, marketers have started to recognise the consumer opportunity this represents. Given the current and potential importance of this affluent and discriminating group of consumers, one would expect advertisers to make substantial use of older people as models in order to present relevant and attractive appeals to this segment of the market. However, research in North America has found a significant under‐representation of older models in advertising. Assesses the extent to which 50+ adults are used as models in a sample of UK advertisements, and the manner in which they are portrayed. The results confirm the findings of previous US and Canadian studies supporting the view that the over‐50s are ignored by advertisers, although this study found that in the small sample of advertisements where older models are used, they are depicted favourably. Concludes by discussing the relevance of these findings and areas of future research.