An Analysis of Magazine Advertising Language and the Portrayals of Aging in Cosmetics Advertisements

Abstract

The following research examines how aging is portrayed in advertising targeting different age groups of women, by analyzing the specific language in beauty product advertisements. These advertisements were selected from three different magazines, each targeted toward a specific age group of women (median ages readership for each magazine: 30.3, 46, and 55 years old) The language in the beauty product advertisements was analyzed by looking at five unique factors. The five elements that determine how strongly the advertisement portrays aging are: implicitness, explicitness, implication of correcting/erasing, and the use of scientific explanation. The analysis of the magazine advertisements also includes an overall prominence of age-related language score, a score determining the level of creative marketing used in the advertisement, and a score determining whether an age-related image was present in the advertisement. The focus of this study is to identify how beauty product advertisements convey aging in a negative way, particularly to adult women. This research looks at how mass media portrays aging negatively, the effects of these portrayals, and society's negative attitudes toward aging and older adults.