TY - JOUR
T1 - Capitalising on ageing anxieties
T2 - Promissory discourse and the creation of an ‘anti-ageing treatment’ market
AU - Petersen, Alan
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Long portrayed as a potential economic burden, population ageing is increasingly viewed as offering new marketing opportunities. This is perhaps nowhere more evident than in the market of ‘anti-ageing treatments’ (AATs). Over the last two decades, this market has rapidly expanded to encompass a vast variety of products that are advertised for their promise to prevent, delay, reverse or mask the effects of ageing. Drawing on ideas from economic sociology and science and technology studies, this article explores the character, foundations and operations of the promissory discourse that underpins the AAT market. It is argued that this discourse rests upon assumptions about the operations of markets and about how consumer products are ascribed value that are problematic and exploit the anxieties that surround ageing and self-responsibility for health. It is a discourse that serves to reinforce the commodification of ageing and ageism. The article concludes by suggesting that, while the promissory discourse of AATs will be difficult to sustain over the longer term, since what is promised mostly cannot be delivered, its personal and societal impacts over the short to medium term are likely to be profound.
AB - Long portrayed as a potential economic burden, population ageing is increasingly viewed as offering new marketing opportunities. This is perhaps nowhere more evident than in the market of ‘anti-ageing treatments’ (AATs). Over the last two decades, this market has rapidly expanded to encompass a vast variety of products that are advertised for their promise to prevent, delay, reverse or mask the effects of ageing. Drawing on ideas from economic sociology and science and technology studies, this article explores the character, foundations and operations of the promissory discourse that underpins the AAT market. It is argued that this discourse rests upon assumptions about the operations of markets and about how consumer products are ascribed value that are problematic and exploit the anxieties that surround ageing and self-responsibility for health. It is a discourse that serves to reinforce the commodification of ageing and ageism. The article concludes by suggesting that, while the promissory discourse of AATs will be difficult to sustain over the longer term, since what is promised mostly cannot be delivered, its personal and societal impacts over the short to medium term are likely to be profound.
KW - ageing
KW - anti-ageing
KW - baby boomer
KW - promissory
KW - treatment market
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044972412&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1440783318766165
DO - 10.1177/1440783318766165
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85044972412
SN - 1440-7833
VL - 54
SP - 191
EP - 202
JO - Journal of Sociology
JF - Journal of Sociology
IS - 2
ER -