PSYCHOLOGY & ADVERTISING- Gender Stereotypes and their usage in Advertising

Gender Stereotypes and their usage in Advertising  

INTRODUCTION

This article offers an analysis of gender stereotypes in advertisements from year 2010-2015. It has been observed that advertisements often either reflect the social reality or do not, such as in an instance where there has been a growing change in attitude towards what defines masculinity, however ads continue to portray the traditional male roles. Typically, it has been observed that ads have shown traditional portrayal of men and women, although some changes have also started seeping into the advertising industry, one such femvertising that focuses on empowered women.

KEYWORDS

Gender; stereotypes; traditional 

Traditional ads have portrayed women as decorative elements- beauty and domestic products industry, whereas men have been portrayed in an authoritarian light- independent, working outside the home, career-driven, breadwinner, etc. Age and physical attributes of men are rarely explored.

Mirror vs Mold 

Advertising professionals and sociologists have had a long debate when it comes to gender stereotyping. There is an active mirror v/s mold debate that offers 2 such clashing perspectives.

While Sociologists argue that advertising is a responsibility towards framing of stereotypes, i.e. to ‘mold’ them as per Cultivation Theory, Advertisers argue that ads simply ‘mirror’ or reflect the society in order to increase sales and consumerism. The exception is that of political advertising, where advertisers seek to know the deeper impact ads have- going beyond gender stereotypes, etc.

A prominent case study among the Chinese advertising practitioners highlights the ‘mirror’ case where they claim that their ads reflect the Chinese society and Chinese values of morality, where women are portrayed a shy and passive.

Another case study by on Sweden where there is less masculinity-driven society ads show men and women in less distinguishing light.

This theory by psychologist Eisend (2010) employs meta-analysis methodology. The results show empirical support of mirror argument over mold argument. 

Advertising practitioners’ perspective

Advertisers hold mirror argument over mold, as they feel ads are a reflection of social reality and hence, are more into the sales or consumerism and wouldn’t go beyond. However, the ‘mold’ argument wins here in a case study by psychologists Van Hellemont and Van de Bulck in 2012, where they point out how several European countries, EU’s self-regulatory bodies and European Advertising Standard Alliance (EASA) managed to prove to us that stereotypes in advertising do ‘mold’ and reinforce social reality, where the ocnusmer tries to imitate the said ‘ideal’ about their gender.

Recent advertising 

1. Most of the current research on gender stereotypes has been examined in print (e.g., magazine) and television advertising. However, both of these media have seen steady decreases in reader- ship and viewership. At the same time, people spend more time online _ with videos, social media and apps. But little research has examined gender portrayals in online plat- forms.

2. Second, companies (and the media) are beginning to pay attention to a once largely ignored segment _ the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) consumer. Some compa- nies have been more open about using same sex couples in their advertising. However, other companies have decided to use more coded representations, which may appear invisi- ble to heterosexual consumers, but possibly be interpreted as ‘gay’ by LGBT consumers. This strategy known as ‘gay window advertising’ (Bronski 1984) stems from some advertisers’ fear of alienating heterosexual consumers (Greenlee 2004; Oakenfull 2004). Future research should examine the stereotypes of LGBT consumers in advertising. 

3. Third, recent advertising has focused on the ‘empowered’ women (e.g., Pantene, Always) called femvertising. The goal of this ‘pro-women’ messaging is to celebrate women rather than objectifying them in advertising (Bahadur 2014). In a SheKnows poll, 91% of respondents say that how women are portrayed in advertising has a direct impact on girls’ self-esteem and that 51% of respondents say that these ads help break down gender equality. 

How to make a successful ad, that doesn’t look like you’re just going with the trend of current social ideologies? 

The ad must have authenicty, indeed, there is a fear that some companies are simply jumping on the bandwagon of femvertising to increase sales. Future research needs to examine femvertising in more detail and iden- tify the elements that make it more or less effective. Overall, while there has been major progress in examining the types of stereotypes of women and men and how portrayals have changed.