Elderly consumers existent or not?: Portrayal of consumers 65+ in print ads in Serbia

Abstract

The paper aims at opening a discussion on representation of elderly consumers in advertising messages in local markets. It builds upon previous studies in the US and Western Europe, tackling the issues of advertising addressed to elderly consumers. Theoretical background is rooted in socio-psychological theories of aging and advertising. In the empirical part, findings obtained from content analysis of 154 print ads portraying 280 models from different demographic cohorts are presented and discussed. The data indicate under-representation of ads featuring models over the age of 65, however drawing attention to new products and services offered to elderly consumers in Serbia. In consequence, we may conclude that the elderly market in Serbia has not been limited only to health care products and supplements, but they have also been offered financial services (bank loans) and telecommunications services (internet) through specially created advertising messages addressing retired population. In addition, where existent in advertising creative elderly models are mostly centrally presented with no difference between female and male models 65+.

Keywords

• elderly consumers
• advertising
• print media
• exploratory study
• content analysis