Hope trumps hype for anti-aging treatments

Billions of dollars and decades of research have been devoted to determining whether anti-aging treatments really work. A new Canadian study, however, suggests the better question might be: do consumers even care?

In a study of more than 300 women aged 19 to 73, University of Guelph scientists found just three per cent of those who used anti-aging products did so because they felt they were effective. By contrast, the majority of women were skeptical about the products' efficacy, with many considering their advertised claims to be "gimmicky."

Those doubts, however, didn't stop nearly seven in 10 of the sample from being at least somewhat likely to slather on the treatments anyway.

"Women are using these products but it's not necessarily because they think they're really effective," says co-author Amy Muise, whose study will appear in a forthcoming issue of the journal Sex Roles. "It's more about how (the treatments) make them feel as opposed to seeing changes in their skin."

Desire to maintain a youthful appearance was the most commonly cited reason for seeking anti-aging products, cited by more than half of the sample. The strongest predictors of purchase were personal aging anxiety and placing high importance on physical looks; self-esteem, body satisfaction and socio-cultural pressures showed no significant correlation.

Further analysis suggested women's use of anti-aging products is a way of exerting a sense of control over the aging process, as well as a feeling of risk-management. That is, even those doubtful of advertised claims will use an anti-aging product on the chance it actually works.

David Dunne, who worked for a skin care and cosmetics manufacturer for 15 years, says marketers are well aware of this phenomenon.

"The saying in the business is that people are buying hope," says Dunne, a professor of marketing at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

"The Holy Grail for companies is something that really does work. But in the absence of that, it's about giving people a sense that there's something there for them — some ingredient that has a (transformative) effect, for example."

For Euoko Y-30 Intense Lift Concentrate, which retails for $525, the silver bullet is a synthetic viper venom; Creme de la Mer anti-aging products tout a "miracle broth" borne of rare sea kelp; and SK-II uses a sake-inspired Pitera complex.

Dermatologists, however, say there has yet to be a cream, potion or serum invented that eradicates wrinkles for good. Without injectables or surgical measures, the best consumers can expect is a reduction in the appearance of finer lines.

Toronto's Karen Kwan, a magazine writer who routinely reviews time-fighting products, says it's about not being a passive participant in the aging process.

"I feel more at ease knowing I'm doing something, anything, to help my skin looks its best — even if the results aren't dramatic," says Kwan, who runs the lifestyle blog HealthandSwellness.com.

Paradoxically, roughly two in five women in the Guelph study claimed to embrace aging as natural and inevitable, but nonetheless counted themselves among those financially supporting Canada's anti-aging products market — which, according to Euromonitor International, was worth $279 million last year, and has posted average annual growth of 14.1 per cent since 2004.

Most saw this as no less acceptable than using hair dye or cosmetics — a perspective shared by Kwan.

"Aging gracefully can include using anti-aging products," says Kwan, who currently uses two such treatments. "In my opinion, it's when you're getting elective cosmetic surgery that you're entering an 'ungraceful' zone."

The University of Guelph study was jointly funded by Haber Dermaceutics and the government research program Accelerate Ontario.

mharris@canwest.com