Why Casting Older Female Models Is Good for Advertising

Older people-particularly women-continue to be underrepresented in advertising. Some companies, however, have recently begun featuring more older women as decorative models in their advertisements. That practice goes against earlier research dating back to the late 1980s, which recommended that advertisers should avoid featuring older women in advertisements. The purpose of this article is to examine consumer responses to advertising featuring older female decorative models. In four experiments, the effects of advertisements of mostly female-gendered products, featuring older and younger female decorative models, are compared. The findings indicate positive effects of advertisements featuring older female decorative models for both younger and older female consumers, and that these effects can be explained by increased social connectedness with the decorative models.

Automated summary

Older people, especially women, are still not well represented in advertising, although some companies have recently started featuring more older women as decorative models. This contradicts earlier research from the late 1980s, which advised against featuring older women in advertisements. The purpose of this article is to investigate how consumers respond to advertising featuring older female decorative models. Four experiments compare the effects of advertisements featuring older and younger female decorative models for mostly female-gendered products. The findings suggest that advertisements featuring older female decorative models have positive effects on both younger and older female consumers, which can be attributed to increased social connectedness with the models.