Gender stereotypes in advertising: a review of current research

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the historical context of gender stereotypes in advertising and then examine the scholarship related to gender stereotypes. Gender portrayals in advertising have been examined extensively in the last five decades and still remain an important topic. Changing role structure in the family and in the labor force has brought significant variation in both male and female roles and subsequently how it is reflected in advertising. It has been noted that there is a culture lag. Sexes for a long period of time were depicted in advertising in more traditional roles. Women were presented in an inferior manner relative to their potential and capabilities, while at the same the data indicated a shift towards more positive role portrayals. The changing role of men is the area that has seen the greatest interest in the past few years. Men are depicted in advertising in ‘softer’ roles, while interacting with their children. Men are also shown in more egalitarian roles. The paper finally attempts to outline the future research direction of gender portrayals in advertising. First, research should focus on examining gender portrayals in online platforms, and find ways to modify current coding schemes to digital formats. Second, companies and the media are beginning to pay attention to a once largely ignored segment the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) consumer. Third, recent advertising has focused on the ‘empowered’ women called femvertising.     

Intermediary roles in local mobile advertising: Findings from a Finnish study

This research examines the intermediary roles that advertising agencies perform between small local advertisers and a mobile advertising service provider. The intermediary roles have been left unexplored, although the agencies have influence on their client's decisions to use new media. A real-life experiment of new mobile advertising system was conducted, and interview data from eight advertising agencies were collected. The findings show that agencies may play three types of roles. In playing connecting, mediating, and inhibiting roles, agencies influence the value created not only for their clients' but also for themselves and the advertising media provider.     

Cultural values in international advertising: An examination of familial norms and roles in Mexico

Past research suggests that the cultural value orientation, individualism-collectivism, should be considered when developing international advertising campaigns. The present study examines how (in)consistencies in collectivist values (e.g., familial norms and roles) may affect attitudes and behaviors toward advertised products within a collectivist culture, Mexico. The findings suggest advertisements that depict consistencies in local cultural norms and roles are viewed more favorably and purchase intention is higher than for advertisements that depict inconsistencies. The data provide no support for the moderating role of individual-level differences in value orientation (i.e., allocentric versus idiocentric tendencies) on persuasion measures. Interestingly, product category advertised appears to be the best moderator of the relative strength of role and norm effects on ad attitudes and purchase intention. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The multidimensionality of anthropomorphism in advertising: the moderating roles of cognitive busyness and assertive language

Anthropomorphized brands or products in advertisements are known to affect consumers’ attitudes in a positive direction. However, most research treats anthropomorphized stimuli as the same in both its design and effects. We explore the multidimensional nature of anthropomorphism in advertising by investigating two degrees of humanization (i.e. subtle vs. overt) that generate different outcomes in terms of advertising performance. For example, we find that consumers prefer ads that use overt humanization (compared to subtle and no humanization) when an ad uses assertive language (i.e. Buy NOW!); however, they prefer ads that use subtle humanization when coupled with ads that do not include assertive language. We find a similar pattern when consumers are cognitively busy. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Gender stereotypes in television advertising in the Middle East: Time for marketers and advertisers to step up

Gender stereotypes, which are particularly harmful to women, have historically been prevalent in advertising, prompting some governments and brands to regulate conventional gender portrayals. This study examines current gender portrayals in television advertising in the Middle East, and specifically in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), because of the increasing importance accorded to women’s empowerment in some of these countries. Building on similar studies elsewhere, we analyze the content of 111 distinct television advertisements aired over a week by a major TV channel in the region. Our analysis reveals that while depictions of certain aspects, such as role (familial/nonfamilial) and location (home/occupational setting), gently nudged traditional stereotypes by portraying women in nonfamilial roles and in occupational settings, depictions of background (female/male/children) and product type further reinforced traditional stereotypes. Based on these findings, we offer specific recommendations to marketers and advertisers in the region.     

Product advertising versus ideas advertising

Social marketing programs which promote the use of a product, such as a condom, have certain advantages over programs which simply try to convince people to change their behavior. Of considerable importance, the success or failure of a social marketing program can be readily assessed through the level of sales of the promoted product. Most programs designed to alleviate poverty or advance social goals are extremely hard to measure, often leading to program inefficiency and even undetected failure. However, when a socially motivated program depends upon product sales, those sales can be quickly measured. Even though sales statistics alone are not enough to accurately judge the impact of family planning programs, they can still say much about relative program efficiencies. The brand advantage of promoting and selling branded products is also explained.     

Fuel for the body — Nourishment for dreams: Contradictory roles of food in contemporary Norwegian food advertising

The study explores and identifies the content of contemporary Norwegian food advertising with special attention to the ability of food of conjoining both the physical, social, and symbolic dimensions of human experience. The article focuses especially on the role of food in construction of gender identity. Quantitative and qualitative techniques are applied on a sample of 412 printed food adverts collected from Norwegian weekly and daily press.

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Zusammenfassung Brennstoff für den Körper — Nahrung für TrÄume: GegensÄtzliche Rollen von Nahrungsmitteln in der derzeitigen norwegischen Nahrungsmittelwerbung Berichtet wird über eine Studie zur Erforschung des Inhalts zeitgenössischer norwegischer Nahrungsmittelwerbung mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der FÄhigkeit von Nahrungsmitteln, die physische, die soziale und die symbolische Dimension menschlicher Erfahrung miteinander zu verbinden. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Rolle von Nahrungsmitteln bei der Schaffung der GeschlechtsidentitÄt. Quantitative und qualitative Techniken werden auf Daten angewendet, die aus einer Stichprobe von 412 gedruckten Nahrungsmittelanzeigen aus der norwegischen Tages- und Wochenpresse stammen.

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The author would like to thank Randi Lavik, Eivind Jacobsen and Tormod Lunde for generous support and constructive comments during the data analysis procedure.     

降低广告风险,保证广告效果——重庆电视台广告风险管理机制

电视台广告投资风险与其频道品牌价值有着密切关系,频道品牌越健康,实力越强,抗风险性越强。选择一个品牌健康的频道能为广告主营造一个高价值、可持续、稳定的广告投资回报平台,从而化解风险。CTR权威收视调查机构显示,重庆卫视广告投资价值指数排名省级卫视前五位,是一个适合企业长期合作的频道。重庆电视台广告风险意识较早,在广告风险管理上,重庆电视台坚持收视预估、风险预警、控制营销,正逐步建立完善的广告风险管理机制。     

Conceptual blending in advertising

Conceptual blending occurs at the moment of perception and creates new meanings out of existing ways of thinking. Analysis of data collected in phenomenological interviews reveals the blending processes consumers use to “make sense” of advertisements. We recognize subtle similarities and differences between metaphor and blending, and examine their occurrence in three types of blending networks in ads.     

Information content in advertising

This paper reports on an investigation of the information content of printed advertising in all media and for all kinds of products. The conclusion is that even in a country like Denmark with strict rules for marketing and a very active consumer movement, printed advertising in general contains little information and is of little use to the consumer. The paper also discusses the implications of the findings for consumer policy.

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Informationsgehalt der Werbung

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag berichtet über eine Untersuchung über den Informationsgehalt von gedruckter Werbung in allen Medien und für alle Produkte, die sich auf eine repräsentative Stichprobe (2203 Zeitschriften- und 2035 Zeitungsanzeigen) aller dänischen Anzeigen stützt, die von Februar 1977 bis Februar 1978 erschienen sind.Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daß auch in einem Land mit strengen Marketing-Regeln und einer sehr aktiven Konsumentenbewegung wie Dänemark die gedruckte Werbung im allgemeinen sehr wenig Informationen enthält. Zwar informieren alle Anzeigen über die Existenz des beworbenen Produktes und 66% der Anzeigen zeigen, wie das Produkt aussieht. Darüber hinaus jedoch waren von insgesamt 18 untersuchten Informationsdimensionen (aufgeführt im Anhang) nur 4 in nennenswertem Umfang von Bedeutung, nämlich Informationen über den Preis (bei 48% der Anzeigen), über den Firmennamen (bei 44%), über Produktvarianten (bei 42%) und über Menge bzw. Größe (bei 33%).Die Schlußfolgerungen des Autors richten sich darauf, wie die Informationshaltigkeit durch Informationsauflagen erhöht werden kann, ohne daß die Form dieser minimalen Informationsanforderungen festgelegt werden müßte.

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Preben Sepstrup is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Marketing, Aarhus School of Economics and Business Administration, Ryhavevej 8, DK-8210 Aarhus V, Denmark. The study has had financial support from the Danish Social Science Research Council.     

Evidence-based advertising

Complex phenomena such as advertising are difficult to understand. As a result, extensive and repeated testing of diverse alternative reasonable hypotheses is necessary in order to increase knowledge about advertising. This calls for experimental studies: laboratory, field, and quasi-experimental studies. Fortunately, much useful empirical research of this kind has already been conducted on how to create persuasive advertisements. A literature review, conducted over 16 years, summarised knowledge from 687 sources that drew upon more than 3,000 studies (Armstrong 2010). The review led to the development of 195 principles (condition-action statements) for advertising. We were unable to find any of these principles in a convenience sample of nine advertising textbooks and three practitioner handbooks. The advice in these books ignored conditions for the most part. The books also tended to ignore empirical evidence, which is how we learn about conditions; of the more than 7,200 sources referenced in these books, only 30 overlapped with the 687 used to develop the principles. By using the evidence-based principles, practitioners may be able to increase the persuasiveness of advertisements. Relevant evidence-based papers have been published at the rate of 20 per year from 2000 to 2010. The rate of knowledge development could be increased if journal editors invited papers with evidence-based research findings and if open peer review were provided on a continuing basis.     

寻找广告费的那一半——降低广告风险，保证广告效果——重庆电视台广告风险管理机制

编前：目前,广告主考核电视媒介投放效果主要指标包括总收视点、传播广度、有效到达频次、广告千人成本等．其中收视率是左右企业广告投放的关键。但业界也逐步意识到。对于电视节目的广告创收而言收视率不是万能的。     

Economics of advertising: Emerging functions of Internet advertising

This paper intends to highlight the emerging force of the Internet as an advertising medium. The economic functions of Internet advertising are examined. Moreover, the paper aims to evaluate the relative impacts on optimal advertising models. Our discussion also includes analysis of associated price-cost margins with respect to optimal advertising budgets and strategic reactions. All in all, this paper should provide entrepreneurs with more crucial knowledge of advertising strategies offered by the new medium. Moreover, it will equip scientists and technologists with more insights into the economic aspects and strategic values of Internet advertising. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Drug information in TV advertising

Pharmaceutical drugs are a special product because of the risks attached to their uninformed use. For this reason, drug advertising, in particular TV advertising, becomes a consumer policy issue. In West Germany, it is legally regulated. An empirical study by Möckel reported upon in the paper shows that there are many contraventions of these regulations. The author discusses the causes of this, and concludes that TV advertising for drugs should be forbidden.

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Fernsehwerbung für Arzneimittel

Zusammenfassung Arzneimittel sind wegen der Risiken unüberlegten oder uninformierten Konsums eine besondere Art von Waren. Daher kann Werbung für Arzneimittel, insbesondere im Fernsehen, zu einem verbraucherpolitischen Problem werden. Das Heilmittelwerbegesetz enthält detaillierte Vorschriften zur Arzneimittelwerbung. Eine an der Gesamthochschule Wuppertal durchgeführte Untersuchung deckte zahlreiche Verstöße gegen das Heilmittelwerbegesetz in der Fernsehwerbung auf. Der Verfasser diskutiert die Gründe für derartige Rechtsverstöße und gelangt zu der Schlußfolgerung, daß in das Gesetz ein Verbot von Arzneimittelwerbung im Fernsehen aufgenommen werden sollte.

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Günter Borchert is Professor for Legal Science, especially Social Security Law, at the Bergische Universität/Gesamthochschule Wuppertal, P.O. Box 100127, D-5600 Wuppertal 1, FRG.     

Reframing replicative research in advertising

Given the espoused importance of replication by researchers, there is still surprisingly little evidence of its practice in advertising research. In this paper, we apply Berthon et al.’s (2002) replicative research framework to advertising. A conceptualisation of the relationship between replication, extension and generation in advertising research is offered. The framework delineates eight possible research strategies. These are discussed in turn and illustrated with examples from the advertising literature. The paper concludes with a discussion of the factors that influence the selection of a research strategy.     

Missing ingredients in cause-related advertising

In traditional cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns, marketers focus on a promoted product and ads contain CRM messages only in small print at the bottom. Some recent marketers have chosen to highlight the cause, with the product taking a lesser role in the advertising copy. The purpose of this research is to compare these two execution styles. Moderating effects of product type and cause framing are considered. Experimental results indicate that a cause-focused ad is more effective in hedonic product promotion and a product-orientated ad is more effective in utilitarian product promotion. An other-benefit appeal facilitates the effects of a cause-related ad to individuals with a hedonic tendency towards the product, and a self-related appeal enhances the effects of a product-orientated ad to those with a utilitarian tendency towards the product. The findings underscore the importance for marketers to learn more about how visuals work, and in turn suggest how practitioners can avoid negative consumer reactions to their cause-related ads.     

再提广告策略中的作战思维

已经到了年末,各个企业应该已经开始思考和制定来年的媒介计划。快要过去的08年经济环境动荡、企业整体赢利缩减,广告投入力度也会收到相当的影响。但是广告策略是现代企业市场战略中的关键一环,面对不稳定的经济形势,简单地缩减或者单纯地节约媒体投放不算明智之举,做好市场布局,使广告策略行之有效才是上举。     

初探吴江市新媒体广告

本文试图通过网罗式的搜集,分析吴江地区的新媒体广告发展的类型和特点,并通过此分析了解吴江新媒体广告的现状,从而提出吴江地区新媒体广告的未来发展策略.     

广告业的四大猜想

2009年即将结束,我们会记住这一年。在这一年里,我们交织着忧虑与喜悦,经历了年初的全行业紧缩,年中的对复苏的企盼,以及年末对2010年的美好憧憬。