Eyetracker technology in elderly people: How integrated television content is paid attention to and processed

Elderly people are major consumers of the media, especially of television, which combines conventional commercials with advertising formats included in the programme that do not break its continuity, unconventional advertising (UA). The aim of this study is to analyse how elderly adults, compared with young people, attend and process the information that appears on screen simultaneously (program and advertising). The study involved 30 elderly adults and 30 young adults. Attention to the TV screen (in terms of attention capture, heat maps and eye fixations) was analysed using the eye tracker technology. Content recognition, the level of psychological reactance to UA and channel-hopping behaviour were also analysed. The results show that the level of attention among the elderly does not differ from that of young people and depends on the integrated content. Recognition by the elderly is lower than among young people when the UA is of a high or medium level of intrusiveness. The psychological reactance of elderly adults is lower than that of young adults but both groups show the same behaviour in terms of loyalty to the television programme. The general conclusion is that cognitive ageing does not affect the capacity for attention to integrated content as much as it affects information processing skills.