Healthy Skepticism Library item: 11764

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Lee O, Kim BC, Han S.
The portrayal of older people in television advertisements: a cross-cultural content analysis of the United States and South Korea.
Int J Aging Hum Dev 2006; 63:(4):279-97
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=PubMed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17191435

Abstract:

A cross-cultural content analysis of 2295 prime-time television ads—859 ads from the United States and 1436 ads from South Korea-was conducted to examine the differences in the portrayal of older people between U.S. and Korean ads. In two countries, the underrepresentation of older people in ads was found in terms of proportions of the actual population. The findings also showed that older people are more likely to play major roles in Korean television ads than in U.S. ads. In terms of the attributes of older people depicted in ads, differences between U.S. and Korean ads were also found. The results showed that Korean television ads are likely to more positively depict older people than American television ads are. These findings supported the basic assumption of cross-cultural advertising, in which the differences in cultural values between the two cultures are related to the differences in the contents of their advertisements. However, the problems of underrepresentation and stereotypes in the portrayal of older people were still identified both in Korean and U.S. prime-time television ads.

Keywords:
Publication Types: Comparative Study Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH Terms: Advertising* Aged Culture* Humans Korea Television* United States