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 youngerskewing 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)
0-12
4%
4%
5%
1970
Census
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 seasons
Saturday
morning (%)
Age
8-9 PM
9-11 PM
(%)
(%)
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
Age
<20
Situation
Crime Shows Cartoons
Comedies
75-76 76-77 75-76 76-77 75-76 76-77
%
%
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
Affection
rate
58/61
63/69
62/70
69/72
61/65
.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
Affection
rate
72/72
71/73
75/79
79/86
69/71
.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
Verbal
aggression
rate
% doing
none
74/75
76/72
74/73
81/84
86/88
1.3/.8
1.0/.9
1.4/1.1
1.9/1.3
1.7/1.3
51/64
58/64
51/65
57/71
56/63
Target of antisocial behavior
<20
20-34
35-49
50-59
60+
Physical
aggressio
n rate
.7/.4
.5/.6
.6/.4
.4/.3
.4/.3
%
receiving
none
Affection
rate
69/78
78/72
75/80
85/82
78/80
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 65and-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 (%)
90
80
70
60
20-49
50-64
65+
50
40
30
20
10
0
Male
Female
Comparison of character age among males, 1975
and 1990 primetime television seasons (%)
80
70
60
50
20-49
50-64
65+
40
30
20
10
0
1975
1990
Age distribution of female characters,
primetime TV 1975 and 1990 (%)
90
80
70
60
20-49
50-64
65+
50
40
30
20
10
0
1975
1990
Major v. minor roles by character
age, primetime TV, 1990
90
80
70
60
50
Major
Minor
40
30
20
10
0
20-54
50-64
65+
Age distribution in primetime,
1994-1997 (Gerbner, 1998)
60
50
40
30
Major Characters
Minor Characters
20
10
0
Child
Young
Adult
Settled
Adult
Old
Age distribution in daytime,
1994-1997 (Gerbner, 1998)
70
60
50
40
Major Characters
Minor Characters
30
20
10
0
Child
Young
Adult
Settled
Adult
Old
Age by gender, primetime
characters 1994-97 (Gerbner, 1998)
60
50
40
30
Male
Female
20
10
0
Child
Young Adult
Settled
Adult
Old
Age by gender, daytime
characters 1994-97 (Gerbner, 1998)
70
60
50
40
Male
Female
30
20
10
0
Child
Young Adult
Settled
Adult
Old
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
Elders alone
15
Elders with adults
and youth
21
Elders with youth
6
Total # characters
829
Elderly characters
68
%
15%
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 nonspeaking roles.
• Table 2: Spots coded by locale
Home setting
15 Spots
Recreational/social 6 spots
Prof/corp/retail
17 spots
Health care setting 2 spots
Other/indeterminate 2 spots
36%
14%
40%
5%
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 AfricanAmericans 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 nonAnglo 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)
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
Male
Female
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Mental
Physical
Portrayal of disabilities, daytime
1994-97 (Gerbner)
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
Male
Female
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Mental
Physical