The aim of this paper is to determine the effect of the perceived age of the model shown in an ad on different variables pertaining to the advertisement's effectiveness, namely attitudes, beliefs and purchase intention. This effect has been examined on two populations – young adults and seniors – taking into account the chronological age of the respondents as well as the subjective age of the seniors. The results show that the model's age plays a crucial role in advertising effectiveness, and that its impact varies according to the respondent's chronological and subjective age. In addition, the closeness of the perceived age of the model to the respondent's actual or subjective age also plays a key role.
BalabanisG.DiamantopoulosA. (2011), Gains and losses from the misperception of brand origin: The role of brand strength and country-of-origin image, Journal of International Marketing, 19, 2, 95–116.
2.
BarakB.SchiffmanL.G. (1981), Cognitive age: A non-chronological age variable, Advances in Consumer Research, 8, 1, 602–606.
3.
BarakB.SternB. (1985), Fantastic at forty! The new young woman consumer, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 2, 2, 41–54.
4.
BatraR.RayM.L. (1986a), Affective responses mediating acceptance of advertising, Journal of Consumer Research, 13, 1, 234–249.
5.
BatraR.RayM.L. (1986b), Situational effects of advertising repetition: The moderating influence of motivation, ability, and opportunity to respond, Journal of Consumer Research, 12, 4, 432–445.
6.
BezesC. (2010), Tout ce qui est congruent est-il similaire ? Propositions de définitions du concept de congruence en marketing, Proceedings of the 26th International Congress of the French Marketing Association, Le Mans.
7.
BristolT. (1996), Persuading senior adults: The influence of endorser age on brand attitudes, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 18, 2, 59–67.
8.
BurkeM.C.EdellJ.A. (1989), The impact of feelings on ad-based affect and cognition, Journal of Marketing Research, 26, 1, 69–83.
9.
ChangC. (2008), Chronological age versus cognitive age for younger consumers, Journal of Advertising, 37, 3, 19–32.
10.
ColeC.LaurentG.DroletA.EbertJ.GutchessA.Lambert-PandraudR.MulletE.NortonM.I.PetersE. (2008), Decision making and brand choice by older consumers, Marketing Letters, 19, 3–4, 355–365.
11.
DebevecK.IyerE. (1986), The influence of spokespersons in altering a product's gender image: Implications for advertising effectiveness, Journal of Advertising, 15, 4, 12–20.
12.
FleckN.MailleV. (2010), Trente ans de travaux contradictoires sur l'influence de la congruence perçue par le consommateur: Synthèse, limites et voies de recherche, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 25, 4, 69–92.
13.
ForehandM.R.DeshpandéR. (2001), What we see makes us who we are: Priming ethnic self-awareness and advertising response, Journal of Marketing Research, 38, 3, 336–348.
14.
FornellC.LarckerD.F. (1981), Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error, Journal of Marketing Research, 18, 3, 39–50.
15.
FreidenJ.B. (1984), Advertising spokesperson effects: An examination of endorser type and gender on two audiences, Journal of Advertising Research, 24, 5, 33–41.
16.
FrenchW.A.FoxR. (1985), Segmenting the senior citizen market, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 2, 1, 61–73.
17.
FreudS. (1894) [1973], Les psychonévroses de défense, Névrose, psychose et perversion, Paris, PUF.
18.
GardnerM.P. (1985), Does attitude toward the ad affect brand attitude under a brand evaluation set?, Journal of Marketing Research, 22, 192–198.
19.
Gavard-PerretM.L. (1993), La présence humaine dans l'image: Facteur d'efficacité de la communication publicitaire ? Une expérimentation dans le domaine du tourisme, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 8, 2, 1–22.
20.
Gavard-PerretM.L.Helme-GuizonA. (2003), L'imagerie mentale: Un concept à (re)découvrir pour ses apports en marketing, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 18, 4, 59–79.
21.
GrecoA.J. (1989), Representation of the elderly in advertising: Crisis or inconsequence?, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 6, 1, 37–44.
22.
GrecoA.J.SwayneL.E. (1992), Sales response of elderly consumers to point-of-purchase advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, 32, 5, 43–53.
23.
GrecoA.J.SwayneL.E.JohnsonE.B. (1997), Will older models turn off shoppers?, International Journal of Advertising, 16, 1, 27–36.
24.
GreenC.L. (1999), Ethnic evaluations of advertising: Interaction effects of strength of ethnic identification, media placement, and degree of racial composition, Journal of Advertising, 28, 1, 49–64.
25.
GrucaT.S.ScheweC.D. (1992), Researching older consumers, Marketing Research: A Magazine of Management and Applications, 4, 3, 18–24.
26.
GuiotD. (2001), Tendance d'âge subjectif: Quelle validité prédictive ?, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 16, 1, 25–43.
27.
GuiotD. (2007), Comment la presse magazine peut-elle cibler les 15–24 ans qui se perçoivent plus jeunes ou plus âgés ?, Décisions Marketing, 45, 21–34.
28.
HolbrookM.B.BatraR. (1987), Assessing the role of emotions as mediators of consumer responses to advertising, Journal of Consumer Research, 14, 3, 404–420.
29.
HoltR.R. (1964), Imagery: The return of the ostracized, American Psychologist, 19, 4, 254–264.
30.
JoharJ.S.SirgyM.J. (1991), Value-expressive versus utilitarian advertising appeals: When and why to use which appeal, Journal of Advertising, 20, 3, 23.
31.
JonesV. (2010), It's not black and white: Advertising and race in cultural context, Journal of Global Marketing, 23, 1, 45–64.
32.
JöreskogK.G. (1971), Statistical analysis of sets of congeneric tests, Psychometrika, 36, 2, 109–133.
33.
JusterF.T. (1966), Consumer buying intentions and purchase probability: An experiment in survey design, American Statistical Association Journal, 61, September, 658–696.
34.
KanungoR.N.PangS. (1973), Effects of human models on perceived product quality, Journal of Applied Psychology, 57, 2, 172–178.
35.
KelmanH.C. (1961), Process of opinion change, Public Opinion Quarterly, 25, Spring, 57–78.
36.
LangmeyerL. (1984), Senior citizens and television advertisements: A research note, Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 7, 1, 167–178.
37.
Le SerreD. (2008), Who is the senior consumer for the tourism industry?Amfiteatru Economic, Special issue, 195–206.
38.
MacKenzieS.B.LutzR.J. (1989), An empirical examination of the structural antecedents of attitude toward the ad in an advertising pretesting context, Journal of Marketing, 53, 2, 48–65.
39.
MacKenzieS.B.SprengR.A. (1992), How does motivation moderate the impact of central and peripheral processing on brand attitudes and intentions?, Journal of Consumer Research, 18, 4, 519–529.
40.
MailleV.FleckN. (2011), Congruence perçue par le consommateur: Vers une clarification du concept, de sa formation et de sa mesure, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 26, 2, 77–111.
41.
MandlerG. (1982), The structure of value: Accounting for taste, in ClarkM.C.FiskeS.T. (eds.), Proceedings of the 17th Annual Carnegie Symposium on Cognition, Hillsdales, NJ, Erlbaum, 3–36.
42.
MazisM.B.RingoldD.J.PerryE.S.DenmanD.W. (1992), Perceived age and attractiveness of models in cigarette advertisements, Journal of Marketing, 56, 1, 22–37.
43.
MillimanR.E.ErffmeyerR.C. (1989–1990), Improving advertising aimed at seniors, Journal of Advertising Research, 29, 6, 31–36.
44.
MiniardP.W.BhatlaS.RoseR.L. (1990), On the formation and relationship of ad and brand attitudes: An experimental and causal analysis, Journal of Marketing Research, 27, 3, 290–303.
45.
MitchellA.A. (1986), The effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brand attitudes and attitude toward the advertisement, Journal of Consumer Research, 13, 1, 12–24.
46.
MittalB. (1990), The relative roles of brand beliefs and attitude toward the ad as mediators of brand attitude: A second look, Journal of Marketing Research, 27, 2, 209–219.
47.
MorimotoM.La FerleC. (2008), Examining the influence of culture on perceived source credibility of Asian Americans and the mediating role of similarity, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 30, 1, 49–60.
48.
MoschisG.P.MathurA. (2006), Older consumer responses to marketing stimuli: The power of subjective age, Journal of Advertising Research, 46, 3, 339–346.
49.
NelsonS.L.SmithR.B. (1988), The influence of model age or older consumers' reactions to print advertising, Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 11, 1, 189–212.
50.
NewmanE.StemD.SprollD. (2004), Banner advertisement and Web site congruity effects on consumer Web site perceptions, Industrial Management and Data Systems, 104, 3, 273–281.
51.
NunnallyJ.C. (1978), Psychometric theory (2nd edition), New York, McGraw-Hill.
52.
OstroffJ. (1989), Successful marketing to the 50+ consumer: How to capture one of the biggest and fastest growing markets in America, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
53.
ParkC.W.LessigV.P. (1977), Students and housewives: Differences insusceptibility to reference group influence, Journal of Consumer Research, 4, 2, 102–110.
54.
PetersonR.T.RossD.T. (1997), A content analysis of the portrayal of mature individuals in television commercials, Journal of Business Ethics, 16, 4, 425–433.
55.
RokeachM.RothmanG. (1965), The principle of belief congruence and the congruity principle as models of cognitive interaction, Psychological Review, 72, 2, 128–142.
56.
RotfeldH.J.ReidL.N.WilcoxG.B. (1982), Effect of age of models in print ads on evaluation of product and sponsor, Journalism Quarterly, 59, 3, 374–381.
57.
SchlingerM.J.PlummerJ.T. (1972), Advertising in black and white, Journal of Marketing Research, 9, 2, 149–153.
58.
SchreiberE.S.BoydD.A. (1980), How the elderly perceive television commercials, Journal of Communication, 30, 1, 61–70.
59.
SierraJ.J.HymanM.R.TorresI.M. (2009), Using a model's apparent ethnicity to influence viewer responses to print ads: A social identity theory perspective, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 31, 2, 41–66.
60.
SirgyJ. (1982), Self-concept in consumer behavior: A critical review, Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 3, 287–300.
61.
SukK.YoonS.O.LichtensteinD.R.SongS.Y. (2010), The effect of reference point diagnosticity on attractiveness and intentions ratings, Journal of Marketing Research, 47, 5, 983–995.
62.
SwayneL.E.GrecoA.J. (1987), The portrayal of older Americans in television commercials, Journal of Advertising, 16, 1, 47–54.
63.
ThorsonE.ChiA.LeavittC. (1992), Attention, memory, attitude and conation: A test of the advertising hierarchy, in SherryJohn F.Jr.SternthalBrian (eds.), Advances in Consumer Research, 19, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 366–379.
64.
TolleyB.S.GoettJ.J. (1971), Reactions to blacks in newspaper ads, Journal of Advertising Research, 11, 2, 11–17.
65.
TréguerJ.-P. (1998), Le senior marketing (2nd edition), Paris, Dunod.
66.
UnderhillL.CadwellF. (1983), What age do you feel. Age perception study, The Journal of Consumer Marketing, 1, 1, 18–27.
67.
VallerandR.J. (1989), Vers une méthodologie de validation transculturelle de questionnaires psychologiques: Implications pour la recherche en langue française, Psychologie Canadienne, 30, 4, 662–680.
68.
WhittlerT.E. (1989), Viewers' processing of source and message cues in advertising stimuli, Psychology & Marketing, 6, 4, 287–309.
69.
WhittlerT.E.DiMeoJ. (1991), Viewers' reactions to racial cues in advertising stimuli, Journal of Advertising Research, 31, 6, 37–46.
70.
WhittlerT.E.SpiraJ.S. (2002), Model's race: A peripheral cue in advertising messages?, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 12, 4, 291–301.
71.
YoonC.LaurentG.FungH.H.GonzalezR.GutchessA.H.HeddenT.Lambert-PandraudR.MatherM.ParkD.C.PetersE.SkurnikI. (2005), Cognition, persuasion and decision making in older consumers, Marketing Letters, 16, 3–4, 429–441.
72.
ZinkhanG.M.HongJ.W. (1991), Self concept and advertising effectiveness: A conceptual model of congruency conspicuousness, and response mode, in HolmanR.H.SolomonM.R. (eds.), Advances in Consumer Research, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 18, 348–354.
