Aging & Social Change: Thirteenth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

Using a systematic literature review of empirical studies conducted during the past 10 years (2011-2021), we explore visual portrayals of older adults in advertising strategies for technological products. The data reveals the stereotypical visual representations of older adults in advertisements for technology products and the peripheral roles adults are playing when they engage with technology products. We also reveal how visual portrayals differ on various technological products: older adults tend to be more associated with older technologies, for example, cars, and watches, than with digital devices- computers, smartphones, etc. Also, we found evidence of gender bias: while men tend to be associated with crafting and old technologies, women are visually represented and dis-entangled with technological products. Our data shows also how older people with cognitive impairment are visually represented in such advertisements: more like targets or technological products, associated with tracking devices and lacking any type of agency. The current presentation opens the discussion on visual ageism in the case of technology products and how ageist visual representation interacts with other forms of prejudices: about older men and older women and about older people with different disabilities. Also, the current investigation shed the light on the importance to consider some contextual variables in further investigations about visual ageism in advertisements for technology: for example the type of technology product and the history of that technology in a specific country.

Presenters

Loredana Ivan
Professor, Communication Department, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucuresti, Romania

Denisa Adriana Oprea
Associate Professor, Communication Department, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucuresti, Romania