Evaluating Financial Planning Advertisements for Retirement in India: A Content Analysis

Authors

Ritu Gupta, IBS Hyderabad, IFHE UniversityFollow
Sudeepta Pradhan, IBS Hyderabad, IFHE UniversityFollow

Abstract

For Indians, retirement is neither a formal stage of life nor an issue that people dwell upon while planning their future. Despite the lack of preparation for retirement, a burgeoning population indicates a huge mass of retirees in the coming decades. These statistics trigger the need for individuals to prepare for their retirement appropriately, while accounting for factors like inflation. To highlight the significance of retirement planning and create awareness among the masses, pre-requisites to retirement planning should be effectively communicated. Extant literature suggests advertising to be one such measure of effective communication. This study intended to capture the extent and method of retirement advertisement in the Indian context using 40 television advertisements (ads) of financial institutions focusing on retirement plans. A content analysis revealed that 61% of the ads were non-informative and filled with emotional content. Though celebrity endorsements have effective impact on the Indian audience, only five advertisements used a celebrity to voice their messages. It was concluded that retirement ads need greater focus in India due to the expansive retiring population and the changing family structure in India. The study concluded that financial institutions and banks should focus on this segment and promote their product appropriately.

Keywords

Retirement, Retirement Planning, Finance, Advertisements, Content Analysis, India

Author Bio(s)

Dr. Ritu Gupta completed her Ph.D. from IBS Hyderabad, IFHE University, Hyderabad, India. She has completed her Ph.D. in the field of organizational behavior and Human Resource Management and is teaching in the same area. She has published research papers in journals of international repute and has presented papers in international conferences. She was a visiting scholar at Oklahoma State University for the year 2011-2012. Her research interests include time perspective, change management, retirement, expatriate management and qualitative research methodology. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: Ritu Gupta, HRM Department, IBS Hyderabad, IFHE University, Dontanpally Village, Shankarpally Road, Hyderabad, 501203, Telengana, India. Email: rgritu@gmail.com Telephone: +91-96520-81180

Dr. Sudeepta Pradhan, completed her Ph.D. from IBS Hyderabad, IFHE University, Hyderabad, India. She has completed her Ph.D. in the field of business ethics and corporate governance and is teaching in the same area. She has published research papers in journals of international repute. Her research interests include ethics, corporate governance, finance and marketing and, qualitative research methodology. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: Sudeepta Pradhan, Marketing Department, IBS Hyderabad, IFHE University, Dontanpally Village, Shankarpally Road, Hyderabad, 501203, Telengana, India. Email: sudeepta.pradhan.24@gmail.com Telephone: +91-99487-48298

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Douglas A. Hershey, Department of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma USA 74078 for introducing them to the area of gerontology.

Publication Date

7-7-2017

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2219

Recommended APA Citation

Gupta, R., & Pradhan, S. (2017). Evaluating Financial Planning Advertisements for Retirement in India: A Content Analysis. The Qualitative Report, 22(7), 1792-1808. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2219