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COPYRIGHT 1989 M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
The Elderly Audience: Correlates of Television Orientation
For some time researchers have suggested that elderly individuals are, as a group, heavier viewers of television than other age segments of the population. However, there have been few efforts to explore the segment itself relative to television orientation. Using data generated from two samples of elderly individuals (n1 = 788, n2 = 752), this research explores the elderly's social-psychological and demographic correlates of television orientation. Results from both studies suggest a negative relationship between television orientation and morale, outside home activity, perceived respect for the elderly, income, and education; and a positive relationship between television orientation and concern for one's personal and financial well-being. These findings are explained using social disengagement theory, consumer socialization, the cultivation hypothesis, and activity theory. Implications for advertisers and future research are also discussed.
In the United States, the expected growth rate for the over-65 cohort through 1989 is 2.52 percent, while the expected growth rate for the entire population is only 1.16 percent (Linden 1986). The continued growth of the elderly market has spawned a rush by marketers to develop products and services that will meet the needs of this expanding segment. In this rush, questions about this segment's lifestyles and its perceptions of various products/services and appeals have drawn increasing interest from advertising and related disciplines (Swayne and Greco 1987). One particular area of interest is the elderly orientation toward media--the initial point of contact for many marketing influence attempts. One approach that may aid marketers and advertisers in understanding this media/segment interface is the development of media orientation correlates. Through such an approach, factors which appear to correlate with a media orientation can be examined and used in media/creative strategy development.
Research in marketing communication has demonstrated that the elderly market watches TV more frequently than other age segments (Comstock, Chaffee, Katzman, McCombs, and Roberts 1978; Graney and Graney 1974; Real, Anderson, and Harrington 1980; Ross 1982; Samli 1967; Schramm 1969; Stephens 1981). Related research has concentrated on describing differences between the elderly and other age segments on a variety of marketing-related variables (French and Fox 1985; Lumpkin and Darden 1982; Meadow, Cosmas, and Plotkin 1981; Ross 1982). However, few efforts, if any, in marketing communication research have focused on studying the antecedents and consequences of TV viewing within the elderly market (Rahtz, Sirgy, and Kosenko 1988). This study, involving two large samples of elderly individuals, will address possible relationships between an elderly television orientation and a variety of demographic and social psychological variables.
Background and Hypotheses This paper will argue that a television orientation among the elderly may be related to age, unemployment, income, education, morale, concerns for one's personal and financial well-being, perception of respect for the elderly, and limited activity. Television orientation is defined as a disposition to use (or rely on) television for entertainment and information-gathering purposes. These contentions can be explained from the conceptual bases of disengagement theory, activity theory, socialization theory, and the cultivation hypothesis.
Smith, Moschis and Moore (1985) hypothesized that "one would expect use and reliance on mass media" to increase with age. Disengagement theory (Cumming and Henry 1961) posits that society and the elderly enter a process of mutual withdrawal from one another as a consequence of aging, leading to a reduction of social interaction and an increase in personal isolation. Once the social withdrawal is complete, a new social equilibrium, which society and the elderly find mutually satisfying, is established. The reliance on mass media is one way to combat total social disengagement and to help the elderly establish a new social equilibrium of disengagement and mutual satisfaction (Schramm 1969).
Activity theory (Lemon, Bengston, and Peterson 1972) suggests that the elderly are forced to disengage from society through social imposition. When faced with this contraction of life space, the elderly attempt to locate alternative activities to fill the gap created by the forced loss of previous social roles. The elderly who successfully find alternative activities adjust more readily to the disengagement experience. Alternative activities may include TV viewing.
Socialization theory (Dowd, Sisson and Kern 1981; Smith and Moschis 1984; Smith, Moschis and Moore 1982, 1984, 1985) posits that older people, "like their younger counterparts can be socialized" (Smith and Moschis 1984, p. 549). Therefore, socialization is a continuous-lifespan learning process, which allows a person to adapt to ever-changing life conditions and life experiences through acquisition of requisite social skills, and the creation of ever-changing personal cognitions, attitudes, and behavior. Regardless of whether social disengagement is voluntary or involuntary, with aging, the elderly face increasingly contracted life spaces. Thus, one would expect that in order to adapt to the loss of interpersonal social-influencing contacts, many elderly turn to the impersonal learning gained from mass media sources as attention paid to mass media provides the major source for learning substitution (Graney and Graney 1974).
We know that the elderly market views TV more than other age segment (Aiken 1978; Cowgill and Baulch 1962;...
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