The Incidence and Portrayal of the Elderly in Television Advertising

Past research has found elderly persons to be underrepresented and/or negatively stereotyped in advertising. The present study briefly reviews the literature pertaining to the elderly and television viewing, the results of content analysis based studies of the portrayal of the elderly, and the findings of empirical investigations of the elderly’s views of how they are portrayed. Next, the results of a content analysis of 464 television commercials aired in 1990 is presented. Compared to the results of a 1985 study, it was found that more ads containing elderly persons are being used. However, a majority of the elderly continue to be cast in minor or background roles, and frequently appear in ads with members of other age groups present.