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Older consumers and celebrity advertising

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2011

HYUNSUN YOON  and
HELEN POWELL
HYUNSUN YOON*
Affiliation:
School of Arts and Digital Industries, University of East London, UK.
HELEN POWELL
Affiliation:
School of Arts and Digital Industries, University of East London, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Hyunsun Yoon, School of Arts and Digital Industries, University of East London, 4–6 University Way, London E16 2RD, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Older consumers have long been the ‘invisible majority’ in advertising despite the rapid increase in an ageing population. A significant proportion of this population have high levels of disposable income, even in times of recession, but advertisers are not encouraging them to part with it. This paper intends to find out why advertisers have been slow or struggle to target older consumers effectively. The aims of this study are two-fold. First, it explores the portrayal and representation of older consumers in Tesco's ‘Dotty’ campaign and Marks & Spencer's (M&S) ‘Twiggy’ campaign, with special reference to the use of celebrities. The second aim is to demonstrate how the focus has shifted from the more traditional, negative stereotyping (Tesco campaign) to a more progressive approach, presenting aspirational images that older consumers can identify with (M&S campaign). Although both campaigns were effective in terms of increasing profits, this paper suggests that the ongoing M&S example of using older celebrities in advertising campaigns demonstrates a more effective creative strategy that is in tune not only with a growing population of older consumers but is also especially applicable in times of economic uncertainty.

Keywords

ageingolder consumersadvertisingcreative strategycelebrity advertising
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 32 , Issue 8 , November 2012 , pp. 1319 - 1336
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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