How do older characters featured in short videos influence the communication effects? An experimental study among Chinese older consumers

Background
The growing older consumer market has attracted increasing global attention, with spending power projected to reach 106 trillion RMB by 2050 (Horizon, 2021). However, how to effectively engage older consumers remains under study. Digitalization has changed the media usage pattern in China. TikTok (Douyin) are found popular with older users, who use it for information, including purchase decisions (Horizon, 2021). Embedding the advertising messages in mini-drama (短剧) short videos or engaging online influencers to review and recommend certain brands were therefore popular among advertisers for reaching older consumers. However, some argued that these strategies were not always effective. There is a need to explore how featuring older characters in TikTok videos will influence older consumers’ perceptions and engagement with short videos.

Existing literature on TikTok ads with older people has primarily explored their self-representations and motivations to be online influencers, often using a content analysis approach. A significant gap is identified in examining how featuring older characters, particularly their media portrayals, affects the communication effects of TikTok short videos. Previous studies highlighted the crucial role of age stereotypes in understanding the effects of older characters’ media portrayals while often being examined using a bi-dimensional approach (Eisend, 2022). Inconsistent findings have emerged. Positive and negative age stereotypes can lead to various communication outcomes. Some studies explained these inconsistencies with the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) (Fiske et al., 2002). They suggested that age stereotypes in media portrayals were often in a mixed format, consisting of positive and negative perspectives (i.e., the traditional age stereotype is warmth but incompetence) (Fiske et al., 2002). It is insufficient to examine the age stereotypes in media using a bidimensional approach.

Therefore, age-based stereotype threat (ABST) was adopted to indicate the possible negative effects resulting from mixed-format age stereotypes. ABST was defined as the apprehension caused in older people’s minds, leading to disidentification and disengagement in the stereotyped domain (Shapiro & Neuberg, 2007). In the context of TikTok videos, ABST might be aroused due to older consumers’ negative evaluations of older characters. The tendency to distance themselves from characters results in negative communication outcomes. Meanwhile, the narrative nature of such content could also affect older consumers’ perceptions and responses to TikTok videos featuring older characters. They could be involved in the experience of narrative transportation because of the storytelling nature of TikTok videos. Empathy could be aroused towards older characters, leading to older consumers’ higher levels of engagement with the short videos (Escalas, 2004). The arousal of ABST and empathy could be two psychological responses simultaneously elicited after older consumers are exposed to TikTok videos featuring older characters.

This study proposed that the effects of older characters’ media portrayals on older characters unfold in two stages: first, they varied older consumers’ evaluations of older characters, and subsequently, they affected engagement with TikTok videos through two psychological responses, ABST and empathy. Narrative transportation theory (Green & Brock, 2003) and SCM (Fiske et al., 2002) were adopted as the theoretical framework for study design.

Hypotheses
The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) (Fiske et al., 2002) suggested that although the contents of stereotypes changed over time, they always originated from people’s perceptions of the social structure. These social cognitions could be categorized into two dimensions, warmth and competence (Fiske et al., 2002). Although they were often presented in a mixed format, there is a significant gap about whether these two stereotype dimensions in media portrayals affect older consumers independently or interactively. Six hypotheses were proposed based on the literature review to unravel how age stereotypes in older characters’ media portrayals affected older consumers’ engagement with TikTok videos.

H1. The level of ABST will be lower among older consumers exposed to videos with warm older characters than those exposed to videos with cold characters.
H2. The level of empathy will be higher among older consumers exposed to videos with warm older characters than those exposed to videos with cold characters.
H3. The level of ABST will be lower among older consumers exposed to videos with competent older characters than those exposed to videos with incompetent characters.
H4. The level of empathy will be higher among older consumers exposed to videos with competent older characters than those exposed to videos with incompetent characters.
H5. The arousal of ABST is negatively associated with older consumers’ a) narrative engagement, b) attitude to the video, and c) behavioral engagement with the video.
H6. The arousal of empathy is positively associated with older consumers’ a) narrative engagement, b) attitude to the video c) behavioral engagement with the video.

Methodology
This study adopted a 2X2 (warmth vs. coldness X competence vs. incompetence) factorial experimental design. Altogether, 480 Chinese consumers aged 55 to 69 with TikTok experience were recruited through a third-party sampling company (Tencent Wenjuan). Quota sampling was adopted to ensure gender balance. Data collections were conducted through an online experiment randomly assigning respondents to one of the four conditions. The stimulus videos used in this study were produced by the author based on the results of an exploratory study. They have identical characters and settings but vary in the media portrayals of older characters regarding warmth and competence.

Findings
Type _{warmth/coldness} and type _{competence/incompetence} were first coded in the dummy. Competent portrayal was coded as 0, while incompetent portrayal was coded as 1. Similar coding proceeded for warm and cold portrayals (warm portrayal = 0, cold portrayal = 1). Two-way ANCOVA initially explored the relationship between media portrayals and perceived ABST and empathy after adjusting the older consumers’ attitudes towards the TikTok platform. The results revealed that Leven’s test of homogeneity was significant (p < .05). Therefore, a Generalized Linear Model with a normal distribution and an identity link function was used to model perceived ABST and perceived empathy based on Type _{warmth/coldness} and type _{competence/incompetence}. Respondents’ attitude towards the TikTok platform was entered as a covariate. The results found that Only type _{competence/incompetence} was a significant predictor of perceived ABST towards older characters. Older characters with incompetent portrayals elicited higher levels of ABST than those with competent portrayals. H3 was supported, while H1 was not supported. Both type _{competence/incompetence} and Type _{warmth/coldness} were significant predictors of perceived empathy. Older characters with competent or warm portrayals elicited higher levels of empathy than those with incompetent or cold portrayals. Therefore, H2 and H4 were supported. However, there is no significant interaction effect between type _{competence/incompetence} and Type _{warmth/coldness} on the two psychological response variables.

The structural equation model (SEM) was adopted, with attitude towards the TikTok platform as a covariate. The results indicated a satisfactory structural model fit. The chi-square value was significant at .001 level, χ2 = 1012.71, df = 319 (χ2/df = 3.17). The incremental fit measures reached an acceptable level, namely TLI equal to .92, CFI equal to .93, and RMSEA equal to .067. Both ABST and empathy were found to be positive predictors of the communication effects of short videos. Therefore, H5 was not supported, while H6 was supported. The SEM analysis also identified the roles of ABST and empathy as mediators. The results supported the proposed influencing process that older characters’ media portrayals initially varied older consumers’ evaluations of older characters, then affected their engagement with TikTok videos through ABST and empathy.