Advertising Challenges in the Ageing Society: The Preferences of the Regular Gym-goers towards Age Portrayals in Advertising

Research studies from various disciplines including sociology, psychology, social psychology, marketing, advertising and media research have analyzed the representation of old-aged people in advertising, as well as the consumers’ habits of a targeted population aged 50 and over. Despite the availability of data on inappropriate depiction of seniors in media (including advertising), little research has been done so far to understand which are the seniors’ preferences regarding their portrayal in certain advertising campaigns. The aim of the current study was to explore the preferences of middle-aged adults toward the representation of old age in advertising. Specifically, we tested whether there is a relationship between the preferences of Romanians gym-goers (45-60 years) on age-related advertising and their body image. The results showed that the middle-aged adults prefer models that do not necessary match their age, that is the young older model. Our data also revealed that the choices for age representations in advertising were not associated with respondents’ body image emotions in certain contexts or situations. No significant relationship between body image and preference towards age-related representations in advertising was obtained. Additionally, the analysis of the data also revealed that compared to men, women are more likely to express displeasure with their body weights, and they believe the body image strongly impacts their self-esteem during life