Senior citizens in spanish advertising: Tensions between research, planning and representation of the elderly in advertisements

Abstract

The article analyzes the continuities and descontinuities that occur between research, media planning and the construction of representations of senior citizens in Spanish advertising. The study, centered on advertisements about aging, senior citizens and health, employed a methodological triangulation that included techniques like discourse analysis, research, and a literature review on segmentation in advertising. The conclusions point to a limitation of the representations called into play in advertisements regarding the diversity established by professionals and in the scientific literature. It is necessary to face the challenge of overcoming the excessively individualistic views of the elderly and of the management of their health. At the same time, the conception of health as a symbolic space of conflict and negotiation emerges as an alternative.