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"How this country
thinks of older people and relates to older people,
and how older people think of themselves ... is directly affected by what is put on television." Jeff Sagansky CBS Entertainment Chief (1) INTRODUCTION REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE METHODOLOGY RESULTS DISCUSSION LIST OF REFERENCES FOOTNOTES |
Background of the Problem
"Where's the beef?" "Clap on! Clap off!" "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up."
Few phenomena penetrate the American social psyche quicker than television commercials. Ever since Wendy's Hamburgers' own Clara Peller complained about the competition's skimpy sandwiches, older people have established a memorable presence in American television commercials. However, one need look no further than the father of cultivation theory, George Gerbner, to confirm that a memorable presence in television may not always be an accurate one. Gerbner (1993) discusses the powerful impact that television makes on our culture: Mass media are the most ubiquitous wholesalers of social roles in industrial societies. Mass media, particularly television, form the common mainstream of contemporary culture. They present a steady, repetitive, and compelling system of images and messages. For the first time in human history, most of the stories are told to most of the children not by their parents, their school, or their church but by a group of distant corporations that have something to sell. This unprecedented condition has a profound effect on the way we are socialized into our roles, including age as a social role ... The world of aging (and nearly everything else) is constructed to the specifications of marketing strategies (p. 207).The world of aging portrayed in the mass media has not traditionally been an enjoyable or positive one. Dail (1988) states that elderly populations suffer from negative stereotyping more than any other identifiable social group. She argues that preconceived notions about cognition, physical ability, health, sociability, personality, and work capability perpetuate these negative stereotypes. Indeed, in American culture, increasing age seems to portend decreasing value as a human being. Mass media scholar Joshua Meyrowitz (1985) offers some insight into this devaluation. Old people today are generally not appreciated as experienced "elders" or possessors of special wisdom; they are simply seen as sometimes remaining competent enough to be included in the unitary role category of "active citizen." Old people are respected to the extent that they can behave like young people, that is, to the extent that they remain capable of working, enjoying sex, exercising and taking care of themselves (p. 153).
How did the American culture develop such blatant disregard and disrespect for the elderly? Gerontologists Butler, Lewis and Sunderland (1990) suggest the following causes:
A number of factors have had a negative influence on U.S. attitudes toward old age:
1. A history of mass immigration, still ongoing, mostly consisting of the young leaving the elderly behind in Europe and Asia.
2. A nation founded on principles of individualism, independence, and autonomy.
3. The development of technologies that demand rapid change and specialized skills.
4. A general devaluation of tradition.
5. Increased mobility of the population within a large continental space.
6. Medical advances that have relegated most deaths to later life, producing a tendency to associate death with old age.
All these have made it difficult to embrace old age itself as a valued and contributory phase of life (p. 30).
A medium like television, known for its emphasis on youth and beauty, fast motion and quick edits, condensed time and simplistic portrayals, is bound to exacerbate a potentially negative or even non-existent image of the elderly on television. According to the U.S. Bureau of Census (1990), the number of elderly Americans has grown measurably since 1970; in 1988, 12.7% of the U.S. population was 65 years old or older, up from 9.8% in 1970. Yet even as the wave of graying baby boomers swells, recent studies (Swayne and Greco, 1987; Dail, 1988; Vasil and Wass, 1993; Bailey, Harrell and Anderson, 1993) show that purveyors of mass media continue to misrepresent or underrepresent elders. Both Moore and Cadeau (1985) and Swayne and Greco (1987) examined the portrayals of elderly in television commercials, and both found underrepresentation of elderly persons and significant underrepresentation of elderly women in proportion to elderly men. Advertisers ignore older consumers or perpetuate negative stereotypes, thereby alienating a large market segment with powerful economic clout. According to Ken Dychtwald, author of Age Wave: The Challenges and Opportunities of an Aging America (1988), ignoring the elderly market is an expensive mistake. "Although they represent only 25 percent of the total U.S. population, Americans over 50 now have a combined annual personal income of over $800 billion and control 70 percent of the total net worth of U.S. households -- nearly $7 trillion of wealth" (p. 268).
Yet for all this power, Dychtwald points out that "Madison Avenue has constructed a smoke screen of myths about the older consumer that have kept most businesses away from this potentially powerful market. We have been led to believe that all older people are poor and cannot afford to purchase new products or services, even if they want to." Further, he states, "And we have been told over and over that older men and women are fanatically loyal to their brands and too set in their ways for advertisers to bother marketing to them" (p. 270). Clearly, to capture this market, both advertising strategy and portrayals of the elderly consumer will have to change. Beyond the realm of economics, however, lies a deeper concern: the social effect that such advertising stereotypes have on television viewers. Mass media effects theories provide ample cause for concern that repeated exposure to commercials which carry a negative subtext may lead to the overall devaluation of the elderly. By representing elders as feeble, absent-minded, stubborn, and helpless, or by simply not representing elders at all, the subtle effects may accumulate and add to the estranged social conditions many older Americans face today. Swayne and Greco state, "Television advertising, because of its ability to influence and shape attitudes, can play a major role in the socialization of the elderly and in influencing younger audiences' view of older persons. By featuring active elderly spokespersons, commercial messages should, over time, provide positive role models and cues to the elderly and also help to reduce the negative stereotypes of the aged" (p. 47).
Statement of the Problem
Studies on portrayals of elderly in the mass media abound in academia. Some report a negative stereotype of the elderly (Aronoff, 1974; Northcott, 1975; Harris and Feinberg, 1977; Gerbner, Gross, Signorielli and Morgan, 1980; Bishop and Krause, 1984). Others report no specific negative images but a consistent underrepresentation of elderly in proportion to total population, and underrepresentation of elderly women in proportion to elderly men (Cassata, Anderson and Skill, 1980; Elliot, 1984; Swayne and Greco, 1987). Moore and Cadeau (1985) also examined the issue of race by measuring frequency of appearance of visible minorities, and found significant underrepresentation. To this end, Butler, Lewis and Sunderland (1990) point out some interesting statistics cited here for purposes of comparison. "Florida has the highest population of elderly, with 17.7% of its population comprised of older (60+) residents"(p. 15). "Elderly women outnumber elderly men three to two. In 1986, for every 100 women aged 65-69, there were only 83 men in that same age group. The ratio continues to widen with age, with only 40 men per 100 women in the 85-plus category" (p. 11). "Although they comprise more than 12% of the total population, African-Americans make up only 8% of the older age group" (p. 12). The authors go on to explain that African-Americans suffer a higher mortality rate during the beginning and middle of the life span, leaving fewer of them to include in the 65-plus population. "The Hispanic population totaled 19.4 million, accounting for 8.1% of the total population, by March 1988. By the year 2000 their numbers will reach 30 million, or 15% of the total population. Currently, 5% of the Hispanic population is 65 years or older" (p. 21). While Moore and Cadeau (1985) examined the image of the elderly in television commercials including the element of race, their study was limited to Canadian broadcast television. Swayne and Greco's 1987 study is the most recent one conducted in the U.S., but the authors did not code for racial or cultural differences.
This study will update previously published research regarding the image and representation of elderly in television commercials, and will examine the following research questions:
1. What is the percentage of elderly people in prime time television commercials compared to the percentage of elderly in the U.S. population?
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?
3. What is the percentage of elderly African-Americans presented in prime time television commercials?
4. What is the percentage of elderly Hispanics presented in prime time television commercials?
5. What is the percentage of visible non-Anglo minorities (such as Asians, American Indians, or Middle Easterners) presented in prime time television commercials?
6. What types of negative, unflattering or stereotypical images of elderly people (feeble, absent-minded, slow, stubborn, etc.) appear in prime time television commercials?
In the complex American society, the dissolution of the nuclear family leaves the elderly alone, abandoned and sometimes abused. As federal funding for Medicare and Social Security benefits is slashed to new lows, many older Americans have nowhere to turn for help, and society offers very few alternatives. Americans are not taught to respect, revere and care for the aged in our society; in fact, we are taught that age is something to ridicule, avoid and ignore whenever possible. Television advertising certainly plays a part in this learning process; Vasil and Wass note, "Negative stereotyping of the elderly circumscribes their potential by placing emphasis on the unproductive and unsuccessful older person and may become a self-fulfilling prophecy limiting capacities and experiences of aged persons. Negative stereotyping and ageism not only affect the elderly but also create negative expectations, fear, and dread of aging in the young" (p. 71).The images of elderly people on culturally-focused networks such as Telemundo, Univision, and BET (Black Entertainment Television) warrant further investigation regarding cultural differences in the portrayals and percentages. Due to language barriers and difficulties in drawing an appropriate sample, however, only ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox networks will be monitored during prime time weekday programming.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE A considerable amount of research has been published on the image of the elderly in mass media. These studies include content analyses of television programming and commercials, magazine advertisements, newspaper articles, children's magazines, books and basal readers, and even greeting cards. Of the studies involving television and magazine portrayals, samples were drawn from a variety of environments, such as prime time television programming, daytime dramas, and children's shows, or full page magazine ads, cartoons, and ads from culturally-focused publications like Ebony. Almost every study reported that the elderly are underrepresented in mass media, and those studies which examined gender found that elderly women were consistently misrepresented in proportion to their true percentage of the U.S. population. Negative portrayals of the elderly were revealed less often than one might expect, perhaps due, in part, to the difficulty of establishing objective criteria by which to judge negative, neutral and positive representations. One recent analysis (Bell, 1992) of prime time drama title sequences featuring elderly leading roles showed an improved overall image of the elderly portrayed by these leading characters; for the first time in American television prime time serial dramas, elders appeared "powerful, affluent, healthy, active, admired and sexy" (p. 305). Similarly, Dail (1988) found that characters appearing older than 55 years of age were portrayed more favorably than those who appeared to be in early old age, near age 55 or less. Cassata, Anderson and Skill (1980) examined images of the elderly in daytime serials and also reported a positive overall image. However, the older studies in this literature review (Aronoff, 1974; Northcott, 1975; Harris and Feinberg, 1977; Gerbner, Gross, Signorielli and Morgan, 1980; Bishop and Krause, 1984) show a markedly negative portrayal. Moore and Cadeau (1985) and Swayne and Greco (1987) found significantly fewer instances of unflattering or stereotypical images on television, but still reported underrepresentation, especially with regard to elderly women. Bailey, Harrell and Anderson's 1993 analysis of older women in print ads found that representations varied with publication, and reported an unfavorable portrayal of older women specifically in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This literature review focuses on content analyses of the elderly in a variety of mass media, emphasizing television commercial portrayals. As noted in Chapter Three, applicable methodologies are proposed for use in this study.
Television Portrayals of the Elderly in Programs
Peterson (1973) examined the portrayals of elderly people in prime time programming, looking specifically at frequency of appearance, image portrayed by use of contrasting pairs of attributes, and gender representation. The researcher concluded that the representation of the elderly is proportionate to population statistics at the time, but reported underrepresentation of older women. The image of men was considered "generally favorable," (p. 573) whereas no specific image of women was reported. The methodology seems questionable, as the researcher failed to establish firm criteria for identifying elderly people in the first place, and used relatively vague attribute pairs such as "nice/awful" to measure image.
Aronoff (1974) examined a total of 2741 characters in prime time television programming, and reported a negative image of the elderly, as well as underrepresentation of elders overall (4.9%) and also of elderly women. Only 40% of older characters were portrayed in a positive manner, described as successful, happy and good.
Northcott (1975) studied 464 characters appearing in prime time television programming, and found a negative image of aging and the elderly overall. A majority of the older characters appeared in minor roles. Of remarks and references to aging, negative comments were made more often than positive ones. Only 1.5% of the total population appeared to be elderly.
Bishop and Krause (1981) examined 378 characters on children's Saturday morning cartoons, finding that the elderly appeared to make up approximately 7% of the total cartoon population. No figures for the representation of older women are reported. An overall negative image is manifested mostly through comments referring to decline and deterioration in old age.
Wober and Gunter's 1982 project was intended to solicit public opinion in London regarding the image of elderly on British television programs. The authors mailed out questionnaires and viewing diaries to participants in the London ITV region, asking them to view one week's worth of programming, complete the dairies and questionnaires, and return them. Of the 339 respondents, categories were developed regarding age, gender, race, and socio-economic class. Results indicated that British viewers did not see misrepresentation nor negative imaging of the elderly in programming. The researchers did notice, however, that viewers felt the image of elderly in fictional programs (comedies and action/ adventure shows) was less respectful than that seen in news, documentaries and game shows. Overall, the authors stated that conclusions published by Gerbner and Aronoff in the U.S. were not supported in Britain.
Conducted in part due to methodological flaws in Cassata, Anderson and Skill's 1980 study, Elliot's 1984 work examined a population almost twice that of the previous study. From a sample of 723 characters, the author found that elderly characters constituted only 8% of the total population. Evidence was presented to show underrepresentation of elderly women in proportion to elderly men, and an overall neutral image of the elderly was described. The author also set forth more specific criteria for identifying elderly characters, and surveyed programming for a longer period of time than Cassata, et al.
Dail (1988) examined 193 older adult characters in 12 family-oriented prime time television programs, categorizing cognitive, physical and health status, social interaction and emotional behavior. The author did not present figures for the representation of the elderly in proportion to the total population, nor did she present figures on the representation of elderly women in proportion to elderly men. The author did, however, note the responses by other characters to verbalizations made by elderly characters. The emerging overall portrayal was seen as a positive one, which the author attributed to recent marketing research acknowledging the economic strength of the older American population.
Bell's 1992 content analysis of the opening credit sequences for five prime time television dramas featuring elderly central characters revealed an improving picture of the elderly on television. The author examined the title sequences (the opening montage of shots which accompany the credits in American television drama) of Murder, She Wrote, The Golden Girls, Matlock, Jake and the Fatman, and In the Heat of the Night, during the 1989 season. The author brings to light an interesting fact heretofore unmentioned: A. C. Neilsen (the media research company responsible for gathering TV ratings data for marketing use) does not collect specific data for viewing habits of audiences 65 years old and up, despite the fact that adults over 55 watch more television than any other audience segment. The author supports the assertion that elderly women are still underrepresented in television programming.
Television Portrayals of the Elderly in Commercials
Francher (1973) examined popular television commercials and the messages contained or implied in the subtext. From a total sample of 100 commercials, the author reported that only 2% of the commercials showed any elderly characters at all. The author addressed the fact that age is indeed accelerated in these advertising campaigns, implying that once a person has reached a non-telegenic age, he or she might be considered elderly even before reaching a similar chronological milestone.
Gerbner, Gross, Morgan and Signorielli (1981) stated that the underrepresentation of elderly on television is no accident; it mirrors the income distribution of the U.S. economic strata. In short: "Women may do most of the buying and older Americans may have significant purchasing and investment clout, but men earn and the middle-aged groups spend most of the money in this country." (p. 208) The average age of characters in primetime television commercials was approximately 30-35 years old. The elderly fared even worse, predictably, in weekend daytime programming, as the average age of characters in commercials then peaked at between five and ten years old, falling sharply during teen years, peaking slightly for parent-figures at 35-40 and tapering to almost none, even for grandparent-figures. Further, women appear to age faster than men in commercials, and women disappear into old age invisibility between 40-45 years of age, as opposed to men, who fade slowly to less than 5% of all characters by age 55 and over. Personality profiles showed that elderly women were both more repulsive and peaceful than younger females. Elderly men were seen as less fair, rational, and happy than those of younger age groups.
Moore and Cadeau (1985) analyzed 1733 television commercials on three Toronto TV stations over 8 weeks in 1983. This study paid special attention to the gender of the voice-over talent, stating that the off-camera, disembodied nature of the voice lends it an authority or expertise, oftentimes literally having the last word in commercials. 88% of all voice-overs were male, implying that women are not authoritative, and that even when women appear on-screen, they cannot think for themselves, in their own voices. Only 2% of all commercials featured elderly characters, and even then, elderly males outnumbered elderly females two to one. Less than 4% of all commercials featured visible minorities, and less than 1% showed elderly minorities.
Swayne and Greco's 1987 study examined 36 hours of prime time programming from three U.S. networks for a total sample of 814 commercials. The authors coded the total number of people in each ad, the number of elderly people in each ad, the role (major, minor, or background) of the elderly people in each ad, the type of character portrayed by the elderly (advisor, information receiver, comical /humorous, or feeble/ confused), the positioning of the elderly with other age groups (appearing alone, with other elderly, with children only, or with various age groups), the setting of the commercial (home, outdoor, business or other), and the intended audience (elderly alone, caretakers, or general appeal). Of all ads monitored, only 6.9% had elderly characters at all; in proportion to the total TV commercial population, only 3.2% were elderly characters. Women appeared more frequently than men by a slight margin, about 4%. Elderly were most likely to appear in food commercials (36%), and least likely to appear in ads for security items (2%). They appeared 56% of the time in home settings, and only 8% of the time in outdoor settings. Of note, this study did not examine the issue of race, which the proposed study would examine.
Portrayals of the Elderly in Children's and Adolescent Literature
Of all the young reader studies presented in this literature review, Peterson and Karnes' 1976 work was the only one that found elderly characters presented in true proportion to their percentage of the population. Fifty three books were analyzed, showing the elderly in mostly minor, underdeveloped roles (only 15% were considered major, and only 4.6 pieces of information were available on each elderly character) with no reported negative slant to the portrayals. Elderly women were underrepresented.
Ansello (1977) examined 656 picture books and children's starter books. A disproportionately high percentage (16.5%) of the characters were portrayed as elderly, despite continued underrepresentation of elderly female characters. Most were relegated to minor roles cast in an unfavorable light; the terms little, old, and ancient constituted 85% of all physical descriptions of the elderly characters.
In a survey of 100 children's books, Barnum (1977) found only 3.3% of the characters were elderly. Older women were underrepresented. Elderly characters appeared in mostly minor roles, and the overall image of the elderly characters appeared to be underdeveloped and negative.
Robin (1977) analyzed four series of children's basal readers for a total of 80 books. Only 5.6% of the characters were classified as elderly, and elderly women were underrepresented. However, the author did find elderly characters in major roles, and no evidence of negative stereotyping was found. Character development was judged to be poor.
Kingston and Drotter (1981) coded a series of six basal readers and found a total of 188 elderly characters in mostly positive portrayals. The roles were primarily minor ones, and elderly women were underrepresented. Some stereotypical characterization ("Granny" type characters) was noted.
Serra and Lamb (1984) reviewed four series of basal readers for a total of 1036 stories. Only 6.8% of the stories contained any elderly characters at all; however, those that did appear were portrayed in a positive light. Elderly women were underrepresented. Characters played mostly minor roles and were judged to be underdeveloped.
In their comparison study, Meadows and Fillmer (1987) examined basal readers from two generations, five series each. The 1960's readers contained only 5.1% of elderly characters; twenty years made only one percent difference as the 1980's contained only 6.1% of elderly characters. There was no report of underrepresentation of elderly women, nor of character development, nor of negative stereotyping.
In a review of 73 children's books, Janelli (1988) found that the majority of elderly characters appeared in minor roles, with little character development. Depictions of the elderly were not specifically negative but showed little variety, as most were shown with gray hair, wearing glasses, and carrying canes or walking sticks. No figures were noted as to representation of elderly women, and no overall elderly population ratios were stated.
Almerico and Fillmer (1988) analyzed 2186 stories from 101 children's magazines, and found that 5.6% of the stories contained elderly characters or references to the elderly. Older women were again noted to be underrepresented, and a majority of the elderly were found in minor roles, but the overall portrayal was a positive one.
Portrayals of the Elderly in Magazine Advertisements
Smith (1976) examined two medical journals, analyzing elderly characters in prescription drug advertisements. Arguably, all characters in drug ads would be likely to appear in a negative light, as preventing or curing the negative situation is the point of the ad. As anticipated, most characters were portrayed negatively, regardless of age; however, the elderly appeared perhaps even worse than they already did in print media at this time.
Gantz, Gartenberg and Rainbow (1980) examined seven popular magazines, ranging across a variety of subjects, for a total of 6785 advertisements. The elderly were represented in only 3.1% of the ads, and elderly women were underrepresented, with only 26% of elderly characters being female. No note was made of quality of the overall portrayal; no overt stereotyping was mentioned.
England, Kuhn and Gardner's 1981 longitudinal study surveyed magazines published between 1960 and 1979. A total of 2200 ads were analyzed, with only 2% of all characters portrayed as elderly. The authors noted a sexist double standard, in that women appeared far less frequently than men.
Kvasnicka, Beymer and Perloff (1982) compared the portrayal of elderly characters in popular magazines to portrayals of elderly characters in magazine appealing specifically to older readers. Predictably, the magazines aimed at an elderly market segment showed a more positive image of aging, while the major popular magazines continued with misrepresentation of elderly in percentages similar to those already seen.
In Hollenshead and Ingersoll's 1982 review of 3482 magazine ads from Good Housekeeping, Time, and JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association), the authors found that only 2.6% of all ads contained elderly characters. Elderly women were again underrepresented, except in JAMA, where their portrayal was considerably more negative than those of Time and Good Housekeeping.
Ursic, Ursic and Ursic's 1986 comprehensive study examined thirty years of magazine ads, (1950 - 1980) for a total of 5195 ads. In 9% of these, elderly characters appeared in an overall neutral portrayal. Although the elderly appeared in percentages close to those of real life, elderly women were still underrepresented.
Bramlett-Solomon and Wilson (1989) focused on the portrayal of elderly in both general interest and black cultural interest magazines. Predictably, elderly blacks appeared more often in Ebony than in Life, and neither publication portrayed elderly characters prominently.
Bailey, Harrell and Anderson's 1993 study was performed as a follow-up to Hollenshead and Ingersoll's 1982 research. Using 18 issues of the same titles from 1987, the authors found that JAMA now showed fewer women (36.5%) overall, but more of the women shown were elderly (39.5%). Good Housekeeping showed 71.6% of all characters in ads as women, but only 5% of those were elderly. Similarly, Time showed 43.4% of all characters were women, but of those, only 7.1% were elderly. JAMA's characterizations were the least flattering, but again, this is probably due to the nature of the products being advertised in a medical journal.
Newspaper Portrayals of the Elderly
Broussard, Blackmon, Blackwell, Smith and Hunt (1980) dispelled the myth that newspapers create or harbor negative images of the elderly. Most of the stories were neutral in nature, as one might expect from a source of journalism (objectivity) rather than entertainment. The authors did find positive images in stories as well. The elderly were still not shown in true proportion to their percentages in the U.S. population at that time.
Buchholz and Bynum (1982) surveyed a total of 120 issues from two newspapers, and found that only 3% of stories regarding the elderly covered topics of significance such as health, retirement, housing, crime, employment, income, public transportation and demographic shifts. The overall image of this coverage, however, remained neutral.
In an analysis covering 11 different Sunday papers for a total of 263 issues, Wass, Hawkins, Kelly, Magners and McMorrow (1985) found that the image of the elderly in journalism had changed little in the twenty years that passed. Elderly women were still underrepresented, and less than 1% of the total space was devoted to any coverage of the elderly at all.
Cartoon Portrayals of the Elderly
Smith's 1979 content analysis of magazine cartoons yielded interesting data. Elderly characters did not appear frequently in cartoons, and when they did, they were most likely to appear in a negative light. Out of 2217 cartoons analyzed, only 4.3% of the characters were elderly, and the characters were portrayed as either extreme conservatives or as sexually dysfunctional.
Greeting Card Portrayals of the Elderly
Demos and Jache (1981) reviewed a total of 496 greeting cards from a variety of companies; all had humorous attitudes toward birthdays. As one might expect, 39% dealt with the theme of aging, and all 39% portrayed aging in a negative, albeit humorous, light.
In this literature review, elderly women were seen to be consistently underrepresented, which, in and of itself, does not appear to be a negative portrayal but rather a nonexistent one. This study will compare the percentage of elderly occurring in the U. S. population versus the percentage of elderly occurring in the prime-time television commercial population. The consideration of true percentage is a vital one when the issue at hand is representation; as George Gerbner states, "Those underrepresented in the world of television are necessarily more stereotyped and limited. Visibility is privilege in the symbolic world."(2)
A content analysis was designed and conducted for this study to determine the representation and overall role of elderly people in prime time television commercials. The sample was drawn from one week of nightly broadcasts from 8:00 PM until 11:00 PM, taken from four major networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, yielding a total of 60 hours of programming. This pool was recorded during the November 1994 sweeps, in the three week window between the end of political ad campaigns and Thanksgiving, which signals the start of Christmas advertising. From this population, a sample was drawn by randomly choosing a broadcast date, then coding the programming shown on each network for the given time slots. Swayne and Greco (1987) coded 36 hours of network programming for a total of 814 commercials; a smaller study of approximately 300 commercials was used here.
The unit of analysis was the individual character or actor appearing in each ad. As suggested by Swayne and Greco, body parts or bodies without faces were not counted; however, close-up shots of faces with incomplete bodies were counted. Each individual with a discernible face was coded for gender, race and age group categories. Elderly characters were coded for role emphasis, and the type of product being advertised and locale of the commercial was noted. Ads containing discernible faces were then analyzed for presence of elderly characters. "Elderly" was defined as appearing age 65 or older. Following subjective criteria established by Swayne and Greco (1987), among others, characters were defined as elderly if they appeared within a context suggesting retirement, if their hair color was primarily gray or white, if they had skin wrinkles apparent in the face and hands, if they used ambulatory aids (canes, walkers or wheelchairs), hearing aids or obvious bifocal glasses, and if they appeared with or displayed evidence of middle-aged children or grandchildren. Gender categories were defined as male and female.
Age group categories were defined as follows:
1. 0 - 17 years = young (child, adolescent or late teen years).
2. 18 - 64 years = adult (parent, homeowner, position of authority).
3. 65 and up = elderly (as above).
When examining the broad category of race, it becomes next to impossible to assign such a wide variety of social identifiers to one overarching term. For example, those who initially fall into the African-American category may actually be of South American or Caribbean origin. Similarly, those classified as Hispanics may be from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, South America, Portugal, Spain, or even Italy. In the researcher's limited observation capacity, it is not possible to question the subjects appearing in the ads, which prevents precise definition in almost every case. In view of these difficulties, the term culture group was chosen, in order to sort subjects into generalized but more socially accurate descriptions, for the purposes of data analysis.Culture group categories were defined as:
1. White = Anglo/European, fair-skinned.
2. African American = distinguished by dark skin color.
3. Hispanic = distinguished by medium/olive skin tone, audible accent or Hispanic surname.
4. Other visible minority = (Asian, Native American, etc.) distinguished by accent, dress, skin color, facial features
Role emphasis was defined as:
1. Major role = elderly person functions as main character or spokesperson, appears on camera throughout the ad and has a speaking role.
2. Minor role = elderly person speaks seldom or not at all, remains on screen for less than half the duration of the ad, or appears in a supporting role to the major characters.
3. Background role = one in which the elderly person appears more or less as scenery, with no speaking part and a fleeting appearance on camera, such as in a sweeping camera pan or wide shot of scene.
Negative stereotypes of the elderly frequently place them in home settings, or in hospitals, doctors offices and retirement facilities. By examining the locale of the commercial, one can determine whether the elderly appear in stereotypical settings, or whether they are shown with economic clout in retail or business scenes, for example. Similarly, one can determine whether elders are seen as reclusive or sedentary by observing appearances in recreational/social settings.Locale was coded by determining the apparent location for the ad:
1. Home setting = a room in a house, domestic scenery.
2. Recreational/social setting = indoor locations include parties, sporting events, movies or theater, restaurants or lounges, health clubs, K of C or Elks lodges, and the like. Outdoor locations include parks, yards, natural outside settings or any outside location featuring grass, trees, or water.
3. Professional/corporate setting = indoor locations would include retail stores, factories or service-oriented businesses, offices or boardrooms, airports, anyplace involving meetings, charts, briefcases and business suits. Outdoor locations include any downtown/exterior office building setting, inside a limousine or airplane, construction site, or any outdoor business ventures.
4. Health care setting = this very specific category includes any setting in which the elderly appear as patients or as receivers of health care, advise, or information, or where an elderly character is voicing a complaint. Scenes portraying elderly characters as doctors, nurses or any health care provider would be coded as professional. This is intended to examine the previously-reported image of elderly as sickly or frail.
5. Other setting = any other location not described here.
As suggested by Moore and Cadeau (1985), the product types were broken down into five broad categories: food items, major purchases, household goods, hygiene and health aids, and beauty/appearance enhancing products. These category divisions yielded some interesting data regarding negative stereotypes of aging, including subtext messages equdtitigage with ugliness, illness, poverty, and sedentary lifestyles.The product categories were defined as follows:
1. Food items = including grocery items, candy, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
2. Major purchases = including furniture, cars, vacations, homes, insurance, computers, audio/video equipment, recreational vehicles, investment products (stocks, CD's) and other big ticket items. (ex: diamond anniversary jewelry).
3. Household goods = including home or car cleaning products, videos, compact discs or tapes, clothing, personal accessories (beepers, radar detectors, Walkman-type personal tape players) small sporting goods, (golf balls, tennis shoes), or entertainment purchases such as Nintendo-type video games, home video rentals or movie theater tickets.
4. Hygiene/health aids = including soap, personal cleansers, denture care items, laxative, vitamins, nutritional or diet supplements (such as Ensure or Susta-Cal), cold remedies, over-the-counter pain relievers, prescription drugs, hearing aids (like Whisper 2000 or Beltone) eye care including bifocals, radial-keratotomy or laser cataract surgery ads, ambulatory aids including canes, walkers, wheelchairs, Craftmatic beds and lift-chairs, digestive aids (Mylanta, Turns), bladder control products and any other personal care products not related to superficial or appearance needs.
5. Beauty/appearance enhancing products = including perfumes, creams, moisturizers, hair removers or replacements, hair care products including shampoos and hair colors.
Therefore, the proposed categories of analysis were listed as follows:
1. Total number of characters in commercial (up to 10).
2. Number of elderly characters in commercial.
3. Age group of each character in commercial.
4. Culture group of each character in commercial.
5. Role emphasis of elderly characters in commercial.
6. Locale or setting of commercial.
7. Type of product being advertised.Coders received instruction with regard to the coding process, observation, and completing the coding sheet. A pilot study drawn from one hour of programming was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the coding process and to check coding form definitions. The reliability coefficient was found to be .91 based on the completed coding forms from the pilot study. Having tested the coding procedure and form, the actual study did commence with two initial coders. The researcher attempted to ensure reliability by carefully and clearly defining category boundaries and instructing the coders accordingly.
This chapter will examine the results in two separate sections; first, results will by analyzed by specific category, and the second section will frame the results within the context of the research questions presented in Chapter One. A total of 278 commercials were coded by two independent coders simultaneously. In case of a split decision, a third coder viewed the spot for tie-breaking purposes only. The number of spots coded per network did vary somewhat, as Fox tends to cater to a younger audience and, as such, broadcasts ten and fifteen second spots more often than ABC or CBS. The pace of programming and production on Fox is significantly more frenetic than on the other networks, which allows them to air more commercials within the prime-time window than their competitors.Forty two of the 278 spots (15%) contained elderly characters. Only 68 of the 829 characters fit this study' definition of 'elderly.' One hundred and seventy four characters appeared as adults, and 100 were coded as young characters. Of the 42 commercials with elderly characters, 15 featured the elders alone; 21 showed elderly characters with adults and youth, and only 6 showed elders interacting directly with youth minus any adult characters.Table 1: Spots Coded Per Network
FOX 77
CBS 64
NBC 74
ABC 63Gender
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 non-speaking roles.Locale
The setting of a commercial lends much power to its subtext, including messages about the health, intelligence and income level of the characters. Although commercials typically feature a wide variety of settings, it is possible to categorize this information in such a way as to determine potential patterns of stereotypical or negative portrayals. For example, if elderly characters are seen only in hospitals and doctors' offices, this implies that all old people in TV commercials suffer poor health. If elderly appear only in nursing homes, or sitting in living room rocking chairs, this implies that all old people in TV commercials are feeble and unable to care for themselves.Unfortunately, old people are not conspicuous in their absence. If crowd shots of a fast food restaurant reveal no elders, the viewer assumes that old people do not eat at fast food restaurants. If car commercials show only young people driving new cars, the viewer assumes that old people do not buy or drive new cars.
Locale coding was broken into five categories: home setting; recreational or social setting such as a party, picnic, sports event or outdoor activity; professional/corporate setting in which the elder appears as an authority (executive, doctor) or as a customer (diner, shopper). Such a category implies that the elder enjoys a position of power or economic clout. The health care category includes hospitals, doctors' offices, nursing homes or any other setting (such as the interior of an ambulance) that implies the elder suffers poor health. The final category covers any spots shot in an empty studio or blank set, or those of indeterminate location.
Ethnic elderlyTable 2: Spots coded by locale
Home setting 15 Spots 36%
Recreational/social 6 spots 14%
Prof/corp/retail 17 spots 40%
Health care setting 2 spots 5%
Other/indeterminate 2 spots 5%
The total population of the 42 commercials featuring elderly characters came to 299 characters. Of these, 252 (84%) fell into the Anglo or Caucasian/non-visible minority category. 31 (11%) were coded as African-American or black characters; only 7 (2%) appeared to be of Hispanic origin. Nine (3%) characters rounded out the visible minority category. 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.Product
The product categories were intended to examine certain stereotypes. The major purchase category included any 'big ticket' items or any purchase over $300 of goods, services or investments, or purchases with long term ramifications. This included buying decisions such as long distance telephone carriers, on-line computer services, and insurance purchases. Seventy four of the 278 commercials, or 26.6% of the total, were devoted to major purchase products and services. Only food ads were seen more frequently (29.1%). Advertisers included PrimeStar satellite TV service, RCA and Magnavox, Universal Studios theme park, Microsoft, AT&T long distance service, and Cadillac cars. This would indicate that major purchase advertisers do not shy away from elderly consumers, and in fact, actively pursue and portray them in their ad campaigns. The household goods category yielded a total of 63 ads, or 22.7% of all ads coded. Advertisers in this category included Walmart, Sears, Alpo dog food and fams pet foods. The Sears ad featured an older man helping a younger woman (father-daughter) paint the exterior of a house, while the Walmart ad featured an elderly clerk standing near fishing gear. Hygiene and health ads were separated from beauty products to examine two different concepts: the correlation between age and health; and the correlation between age and beauty. Thirty six of the 278 coded ads qualified in the health and hygiene category, which amounts to 12.9% of the total. Advertisers included Ensure nutritional supplement, Extra Strength Tylenol pain reliever, Efidac 24 hour cold medicine, and Advil Cold and Sinus formula decongestant. Surprisingly, the ads for such typically 'old age' products such as Preparation H did not feature elderly characters. No ads appeared for ambulatory aids such as lift chairs or adjustable beds; nor did ads appear for products such as Ben-Gay or Therapeutic Mineral Ice pain reliever. This would suggest the notion that while the elderly may not need assistance in getting around, they are not physically active, either. In summary, it appears that the predominant health concerns facing elderly consumers are malnutrition, headaches and colds. Only 24 of the 278 commercials fell into the beauty/appearance-enhancing category, just 8.6% of the total. Calvin Klein CKOne fragrance and Vidal Sassoon Styling System were the only two advertisers. Vidal Sassoon himself counted as the lone elder is his commercials, whereas Calvin Klein showed an older woman in a fleeting montage of people who presumably might wear his fragrance.Research Questions
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 as outlined in Chapter 1.
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 African-Americans presented in prime time television commercials?
In the sample population, only 0.12% of the total population appeared to fit the definition of elderly African-American as outlined in Chapter 1. Interestingly, the U.S. Census states that almost 1% (0.995%) of the African-American U.S. population was aged 65 or older in 1990;
4. What is the percentage of elderly Hispanics presented in prime time television commercials?
Within the sample population, the percentage of characters who fit the elderly Hispanic criteria was only 0.12%. In contrast, the U.S. Census states that 8.99% of the country's population in 1990 belonged with the Hispanic culture group.
5. What is the percentage of visible non-Anglo minorities (such as Asians, American Indians, or Middle Easterners) presented in prime time television commercials?
Other visible minorities constituted 0.24% of the total TV character population. The 1990 U.S. Census counted five major cultural group populations: Asian/Pacific Islander, Black or African-American, Hispanic, Native American, and White or Anglo. Subtracting the 2.92% of Americans who claim Asian/Pacific Islander descent, and the 0.79% of Americans who claim Native American descent, and the total of non-Anglo visible minorities (other than Hispanic and African-American) adds up to a total of 3.71% of the U.S. population. If 12% of these individuals are age 65 and older, then the resulting negligible percentage again points to poor representation of ethnic elderly on prime time television.
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.
It appears that the image of elderly people in prime time television commercials is less negative than previously thought. Advertisers may have taken the cue from published research and made an obvious effort to avoid perpetuating the sick, weak old person stereotype. However, the effect of this has been to reduce the overall opportunities for visibility of elderly characters.
For instance, Madison Avenue won't break the stereotype by routinely showing older characters in positive situations, but it will make certain that older characters do not appear in negative, stereotyped situations, either. As illustrated in the data from this and other studies, elders are still significantly underrepresented in proportion to their true occurrence within the U.S. population.
ConclusionDo advertisers have an obligation to represent ethnic Americans in true proportions? After all, the main purpose of advertising is to sell products, not to foster cultural diversity and social harmony. Indeed, every advertiser in America has a right to free speech as defined and protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. However, the federal government requires licensure or supervision of newspapers, magazines, radio and television broadcasters, cable companies, and most predominant forms of mass media. Even the Internet is coming under government scrutiny. This would imply that the government recognizes the power and effect of mass media, at least to some degree. In order to receive an official broadcast frequency, applicants must promise and prove that they perform some kind of service to the community in their programming. Along with the rights of handling a mass media outlet come the responsibilities, and while broadcasters have to answer for perpetuating negative stereotypes, gratuitous violence, graphic sexual situations, and sociopathic behavior in prime time programming, advertisers might be made to answer for promoting the same values in commercial content. Outlining such rights and responsibilities is the work of Constitutional scholars, however, and is not the purpose of this study. The main purpose of the study was to examine and follow elderly underrepresentation trends identified in previous mass media research, adding to the existing body of knowledge on the topic. Further research might include a cross cultural mass media effects study, to determine if deeply held cultural beliefs can be positively or negatively affected by mass media exposure. Producers and programmers may want to examine context and content in light of such results, which may change the existing low profile that the elderly currently face.
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