The Marketing of Retirement Communities and Retiree Lifestyles

Retirement communities not only reflect, reproduce and emplace very specific ideas about how and where to enjoy retirement Laws 1995; McHugh 2000), but they are implicated in and are the products of the commodification of later life. As commodities, the effectiveness and therefore the content of advertise¬ ments used to attract potential residents play a crit¬ ical role in promoting the amenities and lifestyle offered by retirement communities. This paper exam¬ ines the type of images used in the marketing litera¬ ture, essentially elaborate advertisements, produced by retirement communities in order to promote the lifestyle they offer. As idealized representations of reality these advertisements provide messages and information to older people about the most appropri¬ ate way to enjoy later life. The life described cham¬ pions successful ageing and agelessness while at the same refuting old age and agerelated illness. How¬ ever, as will be shown the representations of reality depicted are not uniform.

The Marketing of Retirement Communities and Retiree Lifestyles Susan Lucas, Edinboro 1 Introduction Retirement communities not only reflect, reproduce and emplace very specific ideas about how and where to enjoy retirement Laws 1995; McHugh 2000), but they are implicated in and are the products of the commodification of later life.As commodities, the effectiveness and therefore the content of advertise¬ ments used to attract potential residents play a crit¬ ical role in promoting the amenities and lifestyle offered by retirement communities.This paper exam¬ ines the type of images used in the marketing litera¬ ture, essentially elaborate advertisements, produced by retirement communities in order to promote the lifestyle they offer.As idealized representations of reality these advertisements provide messages and information to older people about the most appropri¬ ate way to enjoy later life.The life described cham¬ pions successful ageing and agelessness while at the same refuting old age and age-related illness.How¬ ever, as will be shown the representations of reality depicted are not uniform.
2 Advertisements, Images of Old Age and Retirement Communities Following Williamson 1978), Eyles 1987) defines advertisements as signs or representations of reality.Sack 1988: 643) agrees when he defines advertise¬ ments as « devices that [ enable] individuals to create their own contexts, their own worlds » Just as signs are representations of reality, the contexts depicted by advertisements are also idealized representations of reality.The message provided by the advertisement and understood by those who read it is that the ideal¬ ized representations of reality shown by the images or text are accessible only through the purchase of the specific commodity on sale Eyles 1987; Sack 1988).
Advertisements therefore link buying commodities to powerful ideas about how to live and identity forma¬ tion Eyles 1987).Others argue that advertisements are more than simple messages.Rather advertisements both change and reinforce individual and societal per¬ ceptions about social groups, places and the owner¬ ship and use of objects Belk & Pollay 1985; Gerb¬  ner et al. 1986; OGuinn et al. 1989; Leiss et al. 1990).
Thus advertisements can change the reality they rep¬ resent, the ideas they reproduce and the identities they create.
As representations of reality, as a means by which individual consumers are shown how to create their own worlds, advertisements for retirement communi¬ ties link very specific ideas about and the images used to describe retirement to the purchase of specific com¬ modities.Rather than being depicted as a time of inac¬ tivity, social isolation, destitution and illness, retire¬ ment is conceptualized as a time of opportunity, a time to enjoy leisure activities, the company of friends, accu¬ mulated wealth and good health Fitzgerald 1985;  Laws 1993, 1995; McHugh 2000).Ekerdt 1986) sug¬ gests that the re-conceptualization of later life as a time to enjoy leisure and social activities provides moral continuity between work and retirement.Adver¬ tisements for retirement communities indicate that in order to maintain that continuity it is necessary to move to a retirement community.The re-conceptual¬ ization of retirement is therefore emplaced in retire¬ ment communities.The re-conceptualized emplaced retirement lifestyle describes later life, mature adults and the age-segregated environments they inhabit with positive images that suggest vitality, activity and wealth.
According to Nussbaum et al. 1989) the use of posi¬ tive imagery in advertisements that sell goods to the older population communicates positive ideas about later life; thus encouraging among other things suc¬ cessful adaptation to old age.Activity Theory suggests that successful ageing involves the maintenance of « activity patterns and values typical of middle age » Atchley 1980: 239), including levels of physical activ¬ ity, the preservation of family and social roles and con¬ sumption levels.Cole 1992) argues that through the popularization of successful ageing the ageing indus¬ try has been able to convince older and younger pop¬ ulations alike that successful ageing can be achieved through the attainment of material possessions.Rec¬ ognition of the mature population as a substantial and relatively under-exploited market segment in turn has lead to the use of an ever increasing number of pos¬ itive images to portray old-age in order that a wide range of goods and services can be sold to that popu¬ lation Featherstone & Hepworth 1995;    1998).
Retirement communities are very much part of the ageing industry Laws 1995; McHugh 2000).Retire¬ ment communities are not only residential landscapes created in response to changing demand, but are also the deliberate creations of developers and marketers.
According to Zukin 1998: 825) the construction and marking of specific, multiple identities and the growth and increased visibility of specific groups including the elderly has produced a number of highly visible, highly differentiated « spaces of consumption » Indi¬ vidually and collectively spaces of consumption reflect new patterns of leisure, consumption and cultural pro¬ duction that disguise the ultimate purpose of generat¬ ing profit through the consumption of space and the creation and promotion of certain identities and life¬ styles.As spaces of consumption, retirement commu¬ nities of all sizes reflect to some degree the association of successful ageing with consumption.
As deliberate creations of the ageing industry, as spaces of consumption produced with the intention of encouraging consumption through the provision of a retirement lifestyle and a space in which to enjoy it, the success of retirement communities rests partially on the promotion of this emplaced lifestyle.The images employed to sell this lifestyle and the space in which it is emplaced are therefore crucial.The purpose of this study is to present a preliminary analysis of the images that are used to sell retirement communities and the lifestyle they offer mature adults.The data for this study consists of marketing and pro¬ motional literature describing a self-selecting sample of eight retirement communities currently located in and around Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario Fig. 1).It is argued that the marketing literature provided by retirement communities is equivalent to an advertise¬ ment in that it describes a product that is for sale.The only differences between the brochures analyzed and traditional advertisements are length and complexity.
Retirement communities are defined as « aggregations of housing units with at least a minimum level of services planned for older people who are pre¬ dominately healthy and retired » Hunt et al. 1983: 4).
Based on the number and variety of services provided for residents Hunt et al. 1983) subdivides retirement communities into three groups: retirement new towns, retirement villages and retirement subdivisions.The study sample includes six retirement villages, one sub¬ division and one continuing care facility.Retirement villages offer residents a wide range of recreational facilities, whereas the assortment of recre¬ ational amenities provided by retirement subdivisions is often restricted to a clubhouse Hunt et al. 1983).
Housing options are greatest in retirement villages and may include both owned and rented dwellings, single-family homes and apartments; they are consid¬ erably more limited in subdivisions where it is usual to find only one type of dwelling.Support or medical services are not usually provided in either retirement villages or subdivisions.Continuing care communities are defined as facilities that are designed to provide different levels of care and support in one location.
Care options available range from help with house¬ keeping and medication administration to complete Fig. 2: An example of a non-profit retirement commu¬ nity Beispiel einer gemeinnützigen Rentnersiedlung Un exemple de communauté de retraite sans but lucra¬ tif Photo: S. Lucas institutionalized care in a nursing home.Four of the retirement villages in the sample are owned and oper¬ ated by faith-based nonprofit consortia Fig. 2).The mandate of these communities is to provide reason¬ ably priced accommodation and limited care services.The two remaining retirement villages, the continuing care facility and retirement subdivision are managed by for-profit companies Fig. 3).
The information analyzed includes packages describ¬ ing the layout of each community, nearby facilities and amenities and community newsletters.Also included in the analysis are newspaper articles contained in com¬ munity information packages.The content of dwelling floor plans, dwelling and lot price lists and future con¬ struction blueprints are not analyzed.The average number of words contained in the promotional pam¬ phlets is 864.

Analysis
Unlike most studies Peterson 1992; Zhou & Chen 1992; Langmeyer 1993; Roberts & Zhou 1997) of the images used to represent older adults in advertise¬ ments, descriptive content analysis is used to code the text of the retirement community marketing literature.
It was not possible to assess the content of the picto¬ rial images used for the following reasons: 1) some brochures contained only text, 2) many of the images used were drawings of future facilities, and 3) some of the images used were generic and did not depict dwellings or facilities available in a specific community.Although unusual it should be remembered that any analysis of the textual descriptions used in retirement community brochures should yield similar results to an analysis of the pictorial images used because both express the same society-wide sentiments about later life and retirement.
In order to analyze the types of images used to pro¬ mote retirement community living, each sentence or phrase is classified into one of three categories: suc¬ cessful ageing, the physical aspects of community and age-related decline.A sentence or phrase that implies successful ageing is classified under the first heading: successful ageing.Successful ageing is suggested by sentences that refer to family and social roles, as well as activities that conjure up images in keeping with the idea of forestalling old age.Text depicting residents participating in group fitness activities, playing golf or tennis or shopping are examples.Sentences describ¬ ing the location of the dwellings for sale and available on-site amenities are classified in a second category: physical aspects of the community.Images that indi¬ cate that the physical deterioration associated with increasing age cannot be avoided are classified under the heading « age-related decline » References to the availability of on-site medical services, intercom sys- Fig. 3: Examples of the housing typically available in for-profit communities Typische kommerzielle Rentnersiedlung Exemples de logements disponibles dans les communautés à but lucratif Photo: S. Lucas tems designed to summon help, wheelchair accessible bathrooms and the provision of secure nursing facili¬ ties are included in this category.If the impression cre¬ ated by the sentence is unclear or irrelevant the sen¬ tence is classified in a final category: ambiguous.
In order that conclusions can be reached regarding the importance of each image, the number of phrases clas¬ sified in each category is calculated Krippendorf 1980; Riffe et al. 1998).The relative frequency of phrases describing each image is then calculated for three types of retirement communities: nonprofit, for-profit and continuing care facilities.To meet the requirements of objectivity suggested by Berelson 1952) and system¬ atization stipulated by Kassarjian 1977) the text was coded by four different coders on four separate occa¬ sions.To ensure that the descriptions of the coding categories were applied consistently all four coders were asked to analyze one pamphlet.The classifica¬ tion results were discussed and any inconsistencies resolved.The results of this sample content analysis were not included in the reported results.All four indi¬ vidual content analyses were then added together and the total results reported. 4

Results
The results of the content analysis are shown in Table 1.The number of communities in each category is given in brackets.Of the three categories used to clas¬ sify the text, Table 1 shows that descriptions of the physical features of retirement communities, the dwell¬ ings for sale, recreational facilities offered and the layout of the community account for nearly half of all the enumerated sentences.Images that epitomize suc¬ cessful ageing i. e., maintaining the values and activity levels of middle age, are the second most numerous Table 1).Finally, images that indicate that the physi¬ cal decline associated with increasing age cannot be avoided occur with a frequency of ten percent.
When the results are broken down by type of commu¬ nity, Table 1 shows that in all three types of communi¬ ties phrases that describe the physical features of the community comprise the greatest proportion of enu¬ merated sentences.Textual descriptions that suggest retirement community residents are physically active, socially integrated, busy and healthy, or have success¬ fully aged, are the next most frequently enumerated Successful Aging Physical Aspects of the Community in for-profit and nonprofit communities.Only a very small proportion of the sentences found in the bro¬ chures describing for-profit and nonprofit communi¬ ties refer to the physical and mental decline that often accompanies increasing age.In the continuing care community, references to age-related decline outnum¬ ber references to successful ageing, but not references to descriptions of the physical characteristics of the community.

Discussion
If as suggested Eyles 1987; Sack 1988) advertise¬ ments are idealized representations of reality that show consumers which clothes to wear, which cars to drive and which houses to buy in order that they can live the ideal life depicted; then the advertisements used to sell retirement communities depict an ideal¬ ized world for retirees characterized by the promo¬ tion of successful ageing and the denial of old age and age-related chronic illness; described by an abundance of positive imagery.However, the representations of reality depicted vary.This variation produces differ¬ ent idealized worlds that reflect, to a greater or lesser extent, the denial of old age and age-related illness as well as the promotion of successful ageing.
The first element of the idealized worlds created by the retirement community marketing brochures is the physical settings of each community.In general, retire¬ ment communities are depicted as problemfree insu¬ lated landscapes that provide mature adults with the opportunity to reflect on life: « Imagine yourself in the centre of a traditional European town square a clock tower with a fountain at the base faces the elegant buildings Waterloo Square is not a Age-related Decline Ambiguous place to meet friends but also a place for quiet relaxation and mediation it is a place to celebrate life » Waterloo Vil¬ lage Retirement Community).
Furthermore the landscapes of retirement communi¬ ties are landscapes of leisure and consumption, not of production.Just as the pursuit of a leisure-filled retirement represents the continuation of what Ekerdt 1986: 240) calls the « busy ethic » the creation of spe¬ cific landscapes in which to pursue that lifestyle and associated consumption mirrors the construction and continual adaptation of landscapes that support pro¬ duction.Thus detailed lists about on-site and nearby leisure facilities are provided in all the marketing pam¬ phlets analyzed.The information provided about on¬ site leisure amenities is particularly detailed for for¬ profit communities located in rural areas: « there is an indoor swimming pool, a sauna, whirlpool, exercise gym, a crafts studio, a library as well as meeting and party rooms there is a lake on the property for fish¬ ing and boating and avid hikers will certainly enjoy the wooded trails if golf is your passion, then you only need to walk next door » pamphlet from Village on the Green Adult Lifestyle Community).
In comparison details about on-site recreational facili¬ ties in the nonprofit communities and the retirement subdivision included in the sample are limited: « pamper yourself in the heated indoor barrierfree swirl pool or exercise in the fitness area » pamphlet from Water¬ loo Village Retirement Community).
As well as providing potential residents with useful information, constant references to the physical fea¬ tures of a community also emplace notions of success¬ ful ageing and agelessness in retirement communities by associating specific behaviors and attitudes with well-defined spaces.T he names of all the retirement communities who provided information have been changed.Further details are available from the author.) Tab. 1: The use of images for selling retirement communities Der Gebrauch von Bildern als Verkaufsanreiz für Rentnersiedlungen Lutilisation des images pour la vente de communautés de retraite process and retirement communities are distinct iden¬ tifiable spaces, one of the most frequently discussed physical aspects of community is location.Discussions of location in general emphasize accessibility, ruralness and separateness.However variation exists between rural and urban communities in the exact locational attributes discussed.Descriptions of communities con¬ structed in the countryside emphasize ruralness and proximity to, but separateness from nearby towns.For example the text describing the location of one com¬ munity declares that it « is nestled in an area which the Mennonite settlers referred to as little paradise [ that] still consists of rolling fields, fertile plains, majestic trees » pamphlet from Village on the Green Adult Lifestyle Community).The proximity, but separateness, of another commu¬ nity from nearby urban areas is described thus: « Summerside is just minutes from downtown New Ham¬ burg.It is also a short drive to Kitchener-Waterloo » pam¬ phlet from Summerside Retirement Community).In contrast, descriptions of the locations of urban retirement communities emphasize accessibility: « in the heart of Uptown Waterloo, Waterloo Village pro¬ vides you easy access to all amenities a shopping mall a world class recreation centre a 125 acre park with walking trails and tennis courts convenient bus service allows access to fine restaurants, shopping opportunities and hospitals » pamphlet from Waterloo Village Retire¬ ment Village).
While describing the physical aspects of an individual community serves to attract potential residents, the same text also simultaneously helps promote success¬ ful ageing and the concomitant denial of old age and age-related illness.By combining basic information about onsite swimming pools, fitness facilities, hiking trails and various games with descriptions of residents participating in these activities, successful ageing is subtly suggested.For example the following quote indicates older adults are healthy, active, have friends and are involved in the community: « you can also relax on the large outdoor patio, take a refreshing dip in the heated pool, workout in the exercise room or enjoy a friendly game of billiards, darts or shuffle¬ board » pamphlet from Summerside Retirement Commu¬ nity).
As these quotes from nonprofit communities show: « settle down with a good book in the library tend your garden watch children at the day-care centre » pam¬ phlet from Waterloo Village Retirement Community) and « with opportunities to socialize with like minded friends and the assurance of personal support services when needed » pamphlet from River View Retirement Community), subtle, yet distinct differences exist in how successful ageing is promoted in nonprofit compared to for-profit communities.Although older adults are still seen as active and involved with their families, the text con¬ tained in brochures depicting nonprofit communities suggests that residents participate in more sedate activ¬ ities.In the second quote one aspect of successful ageing, socializing, is linked, through residence in a specific retirement community, to the need for support services.This suggests that while the residents may be ageing successfully this will not always be the case.
In keeping with the promotion of successful ageing, the physical and mental decline that usually accompa¬ nies old age is almost totally denied in the text describ¬ ing for-profit communities and only indirectly referred to in the brochures describing the nonprofit commu¬ nities.In the for-profit communities the only acknowl¬ edgement of old age-related illness occurs through references to nearby health care facilities.In non¬ profit communities references to illness are framed in the context of « ageing-in-place and the availability of housekeeping and medical support services that allow residents to maintain their independence « with the assurance of personal support services if needed in-suite nursing support and 24 hour emergency assis¬ tance are available » pamphlet from Waterloo Village Retirement Community).
As illustrated by this quote from a nonprofit com¬ munity references to age-related illness and the loss of physical capabilities is also manifest through refer¬ ences to home design « all homes are designed to be barrier free, with wide door¬ ways lower counters and cabinets, roll-out drawers bathrooms feature one-piece tubs and showers safety grab bars and showers are oversize to include seats » pamphlet from River View Retirement Community).
However, while frequent in the marketing material describing nonprofit communities and the continuing care facility, such references are totally absent from pamphlets produced by for-profit communities.Only in the continuing care facility are direct references made to old age-related illnesses, particularly degen¬ erative mental disorders.
The way to achieve successful ageing is through con¬ sumption.Consumption in retirement is represented most directly by home ownership and the ability to afford a dwelling in a retirement community.In the marketing literature for nonprofit communities con¬ siderable emphasis is placed on describing the type of home ownership offered and the guarantees it pro¬ vides residents in terms of access to care services and preventing loss of equity: « River View makes [ selling your current home] easy by providing a high quality of life with no loss of indepen¬ dence plus future support services while preserving the equity people have worked a lifetime to build up » pam¬ phlet from River View Retirement Community).
In contrast, home ownership and consumption in for¬ profit communities are linked to the ability to afford a new dwelling at retirement and participation in the community: « Homes at Village on the Green are freehold condomini¬ ums, which means you own your house and lot while the common areas are managed by a condominium corpo¬ ration in which every homeowner will have a say » pam¬ phlet from Village on the Green Adult Lifestyle Commu¬ nity).
Access to services is again a concern but unlike in non¬ profit communities the emphasis is on access to main¬ tenance services: « this unique residential community offers [ the] quiet advantage of lawn maintenance and snow removal » pam¬ phlet from Meadow Lane Retirement Community).
More indirect references to consumption are made through descriptions of nearby shopping malls, fine dining establishments and entertainment facilities as well as trips residents can take.For example: « Kitchener has a world renowned symphony and a won¬ derful arts facility the Waterloo and Princess cinemas preview everything from current releases and foreign films to an award winning commercial festival Waterloo offers diners a great choice in fine dining Janet Lynns Bistro or Krebs » pamphlet from Village on the Green Adult Lifestyle Community).
Underlying such descriptions is the assumption that retirement community residents can afford fine dining, the symphony and other forms of entertainment.

Conclusions
The purpose of this study was to present an explor¬ atory examination of the promotional brochures used to sell retirement communities.As examples of adver¬ tisements the retirement community marketing bro¬ chures construct an ideal reality that is available only to residents.As products of the ageing industry this material promotes specific views about later life and appropriate spaces in which to spend it.While qual¬ itative research Laws 1995; McHugh 2000) based on interviews, participant observation and landscape interpretation has clearly established that notions of successful ageing and agelessness underpin and are reproduced by retirement communities, the analysis of the advertisements presented in this paper examines how ideas about successful ageing and the concomi¬ tant denial of old age are packaged in order to sell a product: retirement communities.
The results show that the advertisements produced by retirement communities on the one hand fulfill a prac¬ tical need to inform potential residents about available facilities and housing options while on the other they describe an idealized reality that promotes successful ageing and agelessness through elaborate descriptions of residents playing golf, enjoying time with friends and partaking of local cultural amenities.Thus basic information about individual retirement communities is intermixed with subtle messages about how to age successfully and avoid old age.By locating their nar¬ ratives in specific, welldefined and exclusive spaces, retirement communities emplace ideas about success¬ ful ageing.
While the imagery used to describe life in retirement communities suggests a strong belief in successful ageing, the results of the analysis indicate variation in the extent to which the idealized reality portrayed in retirement community marketing brochures reflect notions of successful ageing and the concomitant denial of old age and age-related illness.Successful ageing is most completely embraced in the text describing for¬ profit communities.Discussions of successful ageing, while evident in the promotional brochures written by nonprofit and continuing care communities, imply less activity and participation in less strenuous activ¬ ities.References to age-related decline, loss of inde¬ pendence and chronic illness are nevertheless indirect even in these communities.
Summary: The Marketing of Retirement Communi¬ ties and Retiree Lifestyles Retirement communities offer the promise of a ful¬ filling life in old age.Purposefully planned and con¬ structed with the intention of encouraging consump¬ tion through the promotion of successful ageing and a space in which to enjoy it, the success of retirement communities rests partially on the images used in attendant advertisements.Using content analysis to analyze the text of informational brochures provided to potential residents, this paper examines the images used to sell retirement communities.The sentences are classified into one of three categories: successful ageing, physical attributes of the community and old age related decline.The results show the overwhelm¬ ing use of positive images to describe retirement com¬ munity living and a denial of old age related physical decline.Most of the sentences in the brochures relate to the availability and plethora of leisure amenities in retirement communities, or endorse the idea of suc¬ cessful ageing by describing residents as active, healthy individuals with money to spend.

Fig. 1 :
Fig. 1: Map showing location of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario Die Lage von Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario Localisation de Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario Cartography: L. Baumann Because ageing is an emplaced