With the aging market growing fast now, creators of commercials have to come up with innovative techniques to entice older consumers into buying goods and services promoted through media advertisements. Unlike younger adults who tend to focus on the actual product features when making a purchase, the elderly seek an emotional component or a compelling narrative associated with a commodity. In the commercial of “Merci” and “Dry Cooker Pan,” advertisements creators effectively appeal to older adults by associating their products with happy grandchildren and a healthier lifestyle.
Like a bridge between a buyer and a seller, a relatable narrative connects a customer’s emotions and needs with the good displayed in a commercial. Creating a believable, easy-to-follow story is especially important in the case of targeting the aging market since, according to LaBouvie-View and Blanchard-Fields, older consumers have a higher motivation to perceive emotional rather than factual information (as cited in Pragya & Sangeeta, 2016). Williams and Drolet also suggested that the elderly respond better to the commercials, including an emotional component, showing “higher liking and recall of emotional appeals” (as cited in Pragya & Sangeeta, 2016, p.72). Furthermore, as explained by Pragya and Sangeeta (2016), emotional advertisements may lead to a customer’s higher level of readiness to purchase by provoking a more intense, impulsive behavior. Such alternations in consumer behavior may be achieved by a variety of different techniques, including, but not limited to, humor, promises of better living conditions, and manipulation (Pragya & Sangeeta, 2016). While advertisement creators frequently use stereotypical images in their commercials, customers continue subconsciously associating the advertised product with a positive story, willing to buy it.
One of the narrative plots, often incorporated in the media advertisements to attract the interest of the older customers, is a family relationship. According to Emandi (2014), by depicting a grandson presenting his grandmother a box of chocolate for the newly sown T-shirt, “Merci” tried to associate their product with genuine gratitude and appreciation. Accompanied by a subjective description of the quality of sweets and pleasant background music, visuals gain a verbal confirmation of their emotional significance for the older. Additionally, the red color on the chocolate packaging and actors’ clothing encourages the elderly to connect “Merci” with love and faithfulness, as well as “extremely good food product” (Emandi, 2014, p. 349). Consequently, chosen to appeal to the older adults’ warm feelings toward their family, “Merci” managed to create a profitable commercial, which both effectively presents the product and makes the story behind it memorable.
Apart from family relationships, another substantial area of the older consumers’ interests is a healthy lifestyle, successfully incorporated in the “Dry Cooker Pan” commercial. Emandi (2014) argued that the advertisement’s goal is to associate the product with the proper physical condition by highlighting its main advantages, for instance, little time cooking and “a small quantity of oil needed” (p. 349). Since consuming fatty dishes is highly unrecommended for the elderly, advertising the pan’s capacity of frying without much oil needed may contribute to the favorable perception of the product by the elderly.
Ultimately, using emotionally appealing advertisements to promote goods and services for older customers appears more suitable than sticking to a traditional approach of describing the product. Intense emotions caused by compelling narratives tend to result in the higher motivation of the buyer to make a purchase, either in the short or long term. After including an emotional component, along with a promise for better living conditions, “Merci” and “Dry Cooker Pan,” in particular, successfully targeted the aging market, creating positive stories to associate with their products.
References
Emandi, M. E. (2014). Seniors in commercials – A semio-stylistic approach. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 142(2014), 346 – 351. Web.
Pragya, K., & Sangeeta, J. (2016). Effect of age and gender on consumer response to advertising appeals. Paradigm, 20(1), 69 – 82. Web.