The Portrayal of Older Adults in Advertising

From a multinational perspective, this article provides an overview of a number of research programs examining portrayals of older adults in advertising. The research described includes both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the place of older people in advertising and the ways this is associated with older adults’ place in society. This article is organized around three central themes: an overview of the major theoretical perspectives surrounding advertising and aging; an overview of research conducted in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, China, and India; and a final critique.