Since 2024, Taiwanese travel agencies have increasingly promoted travel packages tailored for older tourists, with websites featuring abundant visual and textual marketing messages aimed at this growing segment of the silver economy. While such campaigns highlight the economic importance of older consumers, existing literature cautions that social ageism may be subtly embedded in silver marketing, reinforcing narrow and stereotypical views of aging. This study investigated how such stereotypes are reproduced in Taiwanese silver tourism websites and examined how older adults themselves (aged 50 and above) perceive the messages. Using survey data, the analysis found that participants expressed low appreciation for textual content that foregrounded age or suggested physical decline as a defining feature of older adulthood. Similarly, visual portrayals of older people in animated form or aligned with images of severe impairment were evaluated negatively. By contrast, depictions of coupledom and active companionship were viewed as more respectful and appropriate. These findings suggest that older consumers in Taiwan prefer marketing communication that avoids overt age salience and resists deficit-oriented portrayals. Instead, they favor representations that reflect vitality, social connection, and autonomy. The study contributes to ongoing discussions of ageism in marketing communication by demonstrating how promotional messages may either reinforce or challenge stereotypes of later life. It also offers practical implications for the development of more inclusive, appealing, and socially responsible marketing strategies in the expanding silver tourism sector.

Authors:
Chin-Hui Chen, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Jie-Yu Rong, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Ruei-Jong Ouyaang, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Chin-Hui Chen is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan

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