Why casting older female models Is good for advertising: The positive effects of challenging the underrepresentation of older women in ads

Hanna Berg and Karina T. Liljedal

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.
Berg and Liljedal

Keywords

Older people in advertising; older women in advertising; underrepresentation, decorative models; social effects of advertising

Management Slant

  • The findings in this article suggest that advertisers could benefit from considering older women as decorative models in advertisements.
  • Advertisements featuring older female decorative models have positive effects on attitudes toward the advertisements in both younger and older female consumers.
  • For male consumers, responses do not differ between advertisements featuring older and younger female decorative models.
  • Advertisements featuring older female decorative models also have positive effects on social connectedness, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions.

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