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The elderly and the media
The elderly as a group
• Treated as a minority in US, western world
• Only minority that the ‘majority’ are likely to become members of
• Media have been said to ignore seniors, treat them with disdain
Longevity Revolution
• Increasing life expectancy
• Decreasing birth rate– Baby boomer generation
• Countervailing force: immigration
• Overall: Aging of the population
• Significant social and economic change as a result
Myths of Aging – Spurious Correlations
• The topic of aging is durably encapsulated in a layer of myths in our society. And, like most myths, the ones about aging include a confusing blend of truth and fancy. We have compressed a few of the most familiar of the aging myths into single sentence assertions – frequently heard, usually with some link to reality, but always (thankfully) in significant conflict with recent scientific data.
•
• Myth #1: You get old; you get sick• Myth #2: You get old; you lose interest in
intimacy• Myth #3: You get old; you are unwilling to
try anything new• Myth #4: You get old; you lose control of
bodily functions• Myth #5: You get old; you can’t function in
the work place• Myth #6: You get old; you can’t understand
technology
• Myth #7: You get old; you have no social life
• Myth #8: You get old; you cannot fully participate or pull you own weight
• Myth #9: You get old; you need help to make decisions
Population
• Fifty-plus adults now comprise 38 percent of the U.S. population and this number jumps to 47 percent by 2020. (Census Bureau)
• Fifty-plus adults account for approximately 80 percent of personal wealth in U.S. banks and financial institutions, and have 50 percent of all discretionary income. (Age Wave Report, 2001)
• Approximately 6,000 Americans each day celebrate their 65th birthday. (Selling to Seniors, 2001)
• A person who turned 65 in 1998 can expect to live an additional 17.8 years. (Research Alert, 2001)
• An analysis by the U.S. Bureau of Labor says 17.5 percent of men 65-plus were still in the workforce in 2000 (up from 16.4 percent in 1990), as were 9.4 percent of women 65 plus (up from 8.7 percent in 1990).
• Median household net worth in 1999, according to age of household head: 55-64, $145,000; 65-74, $190,000; 75 plus, $132,900. (Administration on Aging, 2001)
• Fifty-plus adults own almost 50 percent of the credit cards in the U.S. (Age Wave Report, 2001)
• Distribution of sources of income for Americans 65-plus based on a study in 2000 by the Employee Benefit Research Institute: Social Security, 41 percent; earnings from work, 20 percent; asset income, 18 percent; pensions and annuities, 19 percent; other, 2 percent.
• Percentage who owned their own homes in 1999: 50-54, 77.8 percent; 55-59, 80.7 percent;
• 60-64, 81.3 percent.
Spending
Fifty-plus adults buy 41 percent of all new cars, and 48 percent of all luxury automobiles. Consumers in the 60-69 age bracket have more than doubled their new-vehicle purchases since the early 1970s. (Age Wave Report, 2001)
• Today’s 50-plus adults represent 80 percent of all luxury travel, and spend 74 percent more on a typical vacation than 18-49-year-olds. According to an Age Wave report in 2001, they spend 40 percent more time vacationing in their 50s than they did in their 40s.
Portrayal of the elderly on television
• Elderly are greatly underrepresented on television• Often shown as feeble, in need of care by younger
people• Situation has improved somewhat, though• Early 1990s saw increase in programming targeting
elderly– Murder She Wrote, Matlock, Golden Girls, Jake and the Fat
Man, In the Heat of the Night– Seems to have declined as older-skewing shows have been
canceled with equivalent or larger audiences compared to younger-skewing shows
Portrayal of the elderly on television
• Elderly women treated more negatively than men
• Older men paired with younger women is considered more acceptable than older women paired with younger men
Economic imperative
• Advertisers are most interested in younger audiences
• Less income per show when audience is dominated by elderly/aged
• TV shows that draw from older audience dropped even if their numbers are better than younger-skewing shows
• New networks have successively gone for younger audiences
Trends in the Portrayal of the Elderly
Greenberg, Bradley S., Korzenny, Felipe, and Atkin, Charles K. (1980)
Ch. 3 in Life on Television
Three season distribution of character ages
Age 1975-76
(N=1212)
1976-77
(N=1120)
1977-78
(N=1217)
1970 Census
0-12 4% 4% 5% 29%* (0-14)
13-19 8 10 15 9* (15-19)
20-34 31 33 32 20
35-49 37 39 32 17
50-64 17 11 14 15
65+ 4 3 2 10
Program time by Age of TV character for two seasonsSaturday morning (%)
8-9 PM
(%)
9-11 PM
(%)
Age 75-76 76-77 75-76 76-77 75-76 76-77
<20 40 54 44 30 15 16
20-34 11 9 37 33 52 59
35-49 18 14 32 29 49 57
50-59 11 20 35 18 54 62
60+ 16 20 43 27 41 53
Major program types by age of TV characters
Situation Comedies
Crime Shows Cartoons
Age 75-76 %
76-77 %
75-76 76-77 75-76 76-77
<20 26 27 20 3 25 19
20-34 28 28 47 41 8 4
35-49 21 25 50 41 15 10
50-59 21 24 52 37 8 7
60+ 36 33 44 29 7 10
Selected attributes of characters by age
<20 20-34 35-49 50-59 60+
White 74/68 79/81 84/81 90/89 88/82
Female 34/39 41/43 22/19 14/19 17/29
Regular role
70/68 43/42 34/33 29/38 30/39
Lawbreaker 5/5 11/16 12/14 8/8 6/6
Upper class ** 44/31 31/34 39/32 36/25
Lower class ** 18/15 20/10 15/9 19/21
Prosocial behavior
<20 20-34 35-49 50-59 60+
Altruism rate
.8/.8 .8/.6 .7/.5 .6/.5 .8/.5
% doing none
58/61 63/69 62/70 69/72 61/65
Affection rate
.3/.3 .5/.4 .5/.3 .4/.5 .2/.4
% doing none
82/82 77/76 81/84 83/78 81/74
Target of prosocial behavior
<20 20-34 35-49 50-59 60+
Altruism rate
.7/.7 .7/.5 .7/.4 .6/.3 .8/.6
% doing none
72/72 71/73 75/79 79/86 69/71
Affection rate
.5/.4 .5/.5 .4/.3 .4/.4 .4/.4
% doing none
70/80 77/76 84/86 82/83 77/82
Antisocial behavior
<20 20-34 35-49 50-59 60+
Physical aggression rate
.6/.5 .6/.7 .7/.7 .6/.3 .2/.3
% doing none
74/75 76/72 74/73 81/84 86/88
Verbal aggression rate
1.3/.8 1.0/.9 1.4/1.1 1.9/1.3 1.7/1.3
% doing none
51/64 58/64 51/65 57/71 56/63
Target of antisocial behavior
<20 20-34 35-49 50-59 60+
Physical aggression rate
.7/.4 .5/.6 .6/.4 .4/.3 .4/.3
% receiving none
69/78 78/72 75/80 85/82 78/80
Affection rate
1.2/.8 1.2/.9 1.3/.9 1.5/1.1 1.2/.9
% doing none
52/60 56/64 53/68 54/69 61/59
Summary
• “The portrayal of the elderly as fictional television characters, during the 1975-76 and 1976-77 seasons, had these primary attributes:
• . . . A very small number of characters in the 65-and-over group, averaging about 3 percent of all characters, with no trend of increase;
• . . . An increasing distribution of older characters into Saturday morning and late evening programs;
• . . . A disproportionately high placement of older characters in situation comedies;
• . . . A distinctly male bias in portrayal of the elderly;
• . . . Increased casting into regular, rather than guest roles;
• . . . Increasing representation of the elderly in lower-class portrayals;
• . . . The giving and getting of acts of altruism and affection at rates equivalent to other age groups;
• . . . The commission of acts of physical aggression at lower rates, while equally likely to be the targets of such acts,
• . . . The commission of acts of verbal aggression at higher rates than other age groups.”
The invisible generation: Portrayals of the elderly on
prime-time television• Robinson, James D. and Skill, Thomas,
Communication Reports, 8(2) 111-120, Summer 1995.
• Content analysis of primetime, 1990 season.
Age distribution of speaking characters by gender, 1990 primetime television season (%)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Male Female
20-4950-6465+
Comparison of character age among males, 1975 and 1990 primetime television seasons (%)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1975 1990
20-4950-6465+
Age distribution of female characters, primetime TV 1975 and 1990 (%)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1975 1990
20-4950-6465+
Major v. minor roles by character age, primetime TV, 1990
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
20-54 50-64 65+
MajorMinor
Age distribution in primetime, 1994-1997 (Gerbner, 1998)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Child YoungAdult
SettledAdult
Old
Major CharactersMinor Characters
Age distribution in daytime, 1994-1997 (Gerbner, 1998)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Child YoungAdult
SettledAdult
Old
Major CharactersMinor Characters
Age by gender, primetime characters 1994-97 (Gerbner, 1998)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Child Young Adult SettledAdult
Old
MaleFemale
Age by gender, daytime characters 1994-97 (Gerbner, 1998)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Child Young Adult SettledAdult
Old
MaleFemale
Even so, elderly are heavy media users
• Heavy users of nearly all media
• Heaviest users of television of any group
• Heaviest readers of newspapers
• Loyal magazine readers
• Main exception is out-of-home media– Movies
Portrayal of elderly in advertising
• Elderly not considered as important in terms of consumption as young are– “Radio stations, ad agencies and even
advertisers were amazingly indifferent, if not outrightly negative on the subject of aging.”
• (Starr, 2000)
– “underlying assumption that older people are not real consumers except for health care and financial products”
1.Perfect grandparent; 2.Golden ager 3.John Wayne conservative 4.Liberal matriarch/patriarch 5.Activist 6.Small–town neighbour.
The negative stereotypes were the:1.Despondent 2.Vulnerable 3.Severely impaired 4.Shrew/curmudgeon 5.Recluse 6.Mildly impaired 7.Self–centred 8.Elitist
The Representation of Elderly Persons in Prime Time Television Advertising Masters Thesis -Meredith Tupper-November 1995
Findings
N %Total # spots 278
Contain elderly characters
42 15%
Elders alone 15
Elders with adults
and youth
21
Elders with youth 6
Total # characters 829
Elderly characters 68 8%
• Gender Of the 68 elderly characters, 39 were male and 29 were female. In contrast, females aged 65-74 outnumbered males in the same age group four to three in the 1990 U. S. Census (U.S. Bureau of Census, 1990).
• Role prominence A total of 135 elderly characters were coded. Of these, 49 (36% of total) appeared in major roles; 42 (31% of total) appeared in minor or 'single dialog line' roles, and 44 (33%) appeared in background or non-speaking roles.
• Table 2: Spots coded by locale Home setting 15 Spots 36% Recreational/social 6 spots 14% Prof/corp/retail 17 spots 40% Health care setting 2 spots 5% Other/indeterminate 2 spots 5%
• Ethnic elderly Of the 68 elderly characters, one was coded as African-American, one was coded as being of Hispanic origin, and two fell into the other visible minority category.
Findings
1. What is the percentage of elderly people in prime time television commercials compared to the percentage of elderly in the U.S. population?
• According to the 1990 U. S. Census, 12.6% of the U.S. population was aged 65 years or older. In the television commercial population examined, 8.14% of the characters met the definition of elderly.
2. What is the ratio of elderly females to elderly males in prime time television commercials as compared to previously cited ratios of elderly females to elderly males in the U.S. population?
• According to the 1990 U.S. Census, for ages 65 and up, the ratio of males to females is 67.3 males for every 100 females, and for ages 85 and up, the ratio dwindles to 46 males for every 100 females. In the study population, the ratio of elderly males to females was 133:100.
3. What is the percentage of elderly African-Americans presented in prime time television commercials?
• 1.5% of the elderly were African-American.
• 4. What is the percentage of elderly Hispanics presented in prime time television commercials?
• 1.5% of the elderly were Hispanic.
• 5. What is the percentage of visible non-Anglo minorities (such as Asians, American Indians, or Middle Easterners) presented in prime time television commercials?
• Other visible minorities constituted 3% of the total elderly character population.
• 6. Do any negative, unflattering or stereotypical images of elderly people appear in prime time television commercials?
• No clear cut, definitive negative stereotypes of elderly people emerged from this study; in fact, elderly characters did not appear in the anticipated commercial categories. For example, elderly characters did not appear in roles for products such as arthritis medication, denture care products, or skin wrinkle creams, nor did they appear in sick, weak, fragile, or absent-minded roles.
Marketing to seniors
• www.jwtmmg.com
Drugs and Health Care
• Of the 50 drugs used most frequently by seniors, the average annual cost per prescription as of early 2001 was $956. (AARP) The average number of prescriptions per older American increased from 19.6 in 1992 to 28.5 in 2000. (Families USA, 2000)
• Consumers 50-plus purchase 77 percent of all prescription drugs and 61 percent of over-the counter drugs. (Advertising Age, 2000)
• Seniors spend anywhere from 12 percent to 19 percent of their income on out-of-pocket health expenses. (AARP, 2001)
Technology• Half of 50-plus consumers have personal
computers at home, and 70 percent of this group has Internet access. (Advertising Age, 2000)
• Ninety-two percent of those computer owners age 55-plus have shopped online, and 78 percent have made purchases. (Age Light Institute, 2000)
• Most popular on-line activities for senior Internet users according to a Pew Research Center study in 2000: e-mail, 93 percent; search for health info, 53 percent; get financial information, 44 percent; read political news, 36 percent; play a game, 32 percent; buy/sell stocks, 12 percent.
Portrayal of disabilities, primetime 1994-97 (Gerbner)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
Mental Physical
MaleFemale
Portrayal of disabilities, daytime 1994-97 (Gerbner)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
Mental Physical
MaleFemale
