AARP and Getty Images challenge marketers to move beyond ageist stereotyping

Geoffrey Precourt

Research from the non-profit American Association of Retired Persons and the image and video provider Getty Images has demonstrated that marketers should be depicting older consumers in different ways from in the past.

When it comes to depictions of older consumers, many advertisers are stuck in their ways.

That was the main insight from a survey by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), a non-profit organization focused on empowering consumers aged 50 and above, and an analysis of senior imagery conducted by Getty Images, a supplier of photos, video and music for business and consumer use.

“There are realities about aging that a lot of people maybe are not catching up to,” Barbara Shipley, senior vice president, brand integration at AARP, explained during an Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) “Shifting the Perception of...

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