My research question is: How is the portrayal of happiness being used in pharmaceutical advertisements to target the elderly?
This project examines the correlation between medical advertising and the approaches used to influence target markets. Pharmaceutical companies use advertising tactics like facial expressions, visuals and sound to create a mood that illicits an emotional response in the viewer, potentially influencing a consumer to learn more about the product. By analyzing a sample of pharmaceutical advertisements, common patterns emerged revealing language and visuals that create an upbeat mood that represents happiness. This project will examine how happiness is portrayed in medical advertisements through the use of language; how the elderly are depicted or stereotyped throughout the advertisements; how the medical advertisements reflect their target audience; how possible realistic interpretations and false realities are represented throughout the advertisements; and how cultural variety is shown throughout the advertisements. Through data analysis and research, a deeper understanding of the images and lifestyle portrayal of characters in pharmaceutical commercials indicate that advertisers are creating a visual formula that uses happiness to market the drug for their intended market.
The independent variable for this project is the age of the characters in the pharmaceutical commercials. My research revealed a deviation in the age of the actors portraying the patient depending on the type of disease the advertised medication targeted. For example, medications for conditions like Type 2 diabetes and Osteoporosis used middle aged actors between the ages of approximately 40 and 60, while medications used to treat conditions like Alzheimer’s disease used actors over 60 years old.
The dependent variable for this project is the portrayal of happiness. Advertisements involving Alzheimer’s disease and cancer often included music that was slow and somber, creating an empathetic mood. Illnesses like Type 2 diabetes featured faster, up beat music, and bright colors which created a sense of happiness.