Exploration of How Appearance Management is used to Improve the Self Esteem by Urban Silver Aged Women in Sri Lanka

Abstract

From 1981 to 2012, within 31 years, the Sri Lankan elderly population has doubled. It is estimated that one in four Sri Lankans will be elderly by the year 2041. One of the mistakes done by marketers is neglecting this group by thinking that they have low income and spend less money. Even though they have less income, they are not in poverty compared to the population under age 34. Silver aged population (age 50+) experience physical and mental changes during this period due to body postures, wrinkles, and changes in hair color and skin tones. Despite the bodily changes associated with aging, previous studies reported that the importance of appearance did not decrease with age, and appearance was more important for women than for men. It is the nature of humans that want to appear as young and beautiful as possible regardless of age. Hence the purpose of this research is to explore how appearance management is used to improve the self-esteem in old age. This research adopted the inductive approach since this research is trying to understand the hidden behaviors and psychological matters of women who are passing the silver age. The population of this study was considered as urban women, over fifty years of age in Sri Lanka and the individual level was used since the researcher asked questions from women individually to discover their behavior. Clothing is a visual representation of the self, women use articles of dress to construct and maintain their appearance, cognitively coherent with groups. Individuals manage appearance to represent their image. Fashion is closely linked to the emotional well-being of women. The women in this research used fashion as both social and symbolic capital to classify themselves concerning perceived social categories such as friends, peers, and their projected future self.