Abstract:
This study investigated the perceived ages of actors in print advertisements for alcohol and the target audience. Participants were separated into two groups of advertisement conditions and asked to estimate the age of the actor(s). A gender effect was found to be statistically significant for three of the four advertisements in both conditions. Overall, women rated the actors significantly younger than men did. The third advertisement in the experimentally manipulated soda condition had a significantly younger perceived age than the original alcohol advertisement condition; producing the only condition effect. Perceived minimum target age for the advertisements in both conditions were below the age of 21, with advertisements containing soda cues having significantly lower ages.
