Image-building Strategies in Marketing Messages for a Senior Segment

Abstract Book of the 3rd Global Conference on Aging and Gerontology

Year: 2025

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Image-building Strategies in Marketing Messages for a Senior Segment

Kinga Kowalewska

ABSTRACT:

The aim of the paper is to present how institution-designed messages available in the public space, and outdoor advertising in particular, derive from communicology to create marketing messages directed at the silver segment of the market. The theoretical framework underpinning this research is that age is socially and culturally constructed and its representation varies among European countries. The portrayal of old age in this context depends on the choices made on the basis of multiple factors such as, among others, collective experiences, academic knowledge, cultural conditions, tradition, market needs, characteristics of the target audience as well as the demographic situation. The research material consists of over 600 messages visually presenting the elderly, which are analysed against the following criteria: advertised products, the depicted place, the activity performed, the presence of others, gender, health status, eye-contact, the presence of smile, and the celebrity status. The research method is content analysis, which is based on the original matrix that enables objectivized examination of visual content. The research results may prove useful not only for communication researcher but also for marketing specialists, geriatricians, sociologists, and anthropologists.

Keywords: Seniors, Image, Communication, Marketing