Communicating legitimacy through portrayals of successful aging: An examination of Pulte homes’ online communication strategies

Abstract

The aging population has created implications for many industries, especially in terms of establishing legitimacy among stakeholders. One industry that has been affected by the shifting demographics is homebuilding. Older adults must consider future housing needs that allow for successful aging. However, the current inventory of houses and neighborhoods are not necessarily built to suit this population. Pulte Homes, a national homebuilding company, has a line of active adult communities under the name Del Webb. To understand how Pulte communicates legitimacy for this housing product, I completed a qualitative content analysis of the Del Webb section of the organizational website that integrates the tenets of the Communication Ecology Model of Successful Aging (CEMSA) with five discursive strategies for establishing legitimacy. In doing so, I found that Pulte constructed an idealized portrayal of age/aging by emphasizing the need to (1) plan for future needs, (2) express optimism about aging, (3) resist age-based stereotypes, and (4) minimize the role of communication technology. Based on these findings, Pulte’s discourse ultimately positions Del Webb as a utopia for older adults/space that facilitates ‘successful’ aging and raises questions about the transparency of this organizational discourse.