It should not be a surprise that as we age our vision declines, making it more difficult to read. Yet, time and again, creators of advertising to elderly consumers does not take these vision changes into consideration – often because the ad creator is younger and does not have or recognize those vision barriers. As a result, senior advertising is often hard for that target audience to read and is ultimately ineffective.
Some of the manifestations of vision decline include:
In short, words and backgrounds tend to blend together visually.
Communicating with Clarity
Guidelines for making it easier for an older audience to read an advertising message include:
While these rules are suggested for advertising to elderly consumers, they are generally consistent with good advertising technique, whether you are advertising to seniors or their grandchildren.
Advertising Online
These same rules are also applicable for online advertising. Furthermore, it is a good idea to limit the number of points made on a page, when displaying text on a website. Keep the copy in bite-sized chunks, as too much text makes the messaging more difficult to read, whether on a monitor, tablet of smartphone.
Another change that impacts the way we communicate to older adults online is physical. Declining dexterity makes it more difficult for older adults to manipulate a mouse – which consequently impairs their ability to navigate a website. There are a couple of easy fixes to address this barrier:
Touchscreens can also pose a problem for seniors, whose fingers are often too dry to operate the screen properly. When you think about it, there is little downside to making your marketing message easier to access, whether the target is seniors, Millennials, or anyone in between.