ADVERTISING & GENDER

It is evident that advertising is a huge and pervasive industry.  Advertising has a powerful effect that goes well beyond the purpose of selling products to customers, it affects our culture and our views therefore it is extremely persuasive.  

                             

Media researchers explain that stereotyping involves presenting a group of people in an unvarying pattern that lacks individuality and often reflects misperceptions.  Courtney and Whipple (1983) produced a comprehensive list of female gender stereotypes in advertising which include the following:

             @   women in isolation

  @ women being depicted as obsessed with their physical attractiveness

    @ women in underwear and lingerie more than professional clothing

It is clear that sexist and stereotypical advert portrayals have severe negative impact and effect on women. Studies continue to reveal our cultures obsession with thinness as reflected in advertising.  Women are receiving many times more messages about thinness and body shape than men in prominent magazines and on television.  This behaviour of advertisers creates a widening gap between the weight of an average woman and the ideal.  The pressure to be thin is not as great for men as for women, which is evidenced by the higher number of average – weight and overweight male models in adverts in comparison with females.

Just as there are female stereotypes in advertising, male gender stereotyping also appears.  According to Ivy and Backlund (2004), male depictions in ads include:

• professional, knowledgeable

• Jock, who can perform in all sports

• handy man who can fix anything

It is evident that men seem to fit any role and can sell anything but women are more favourable for hygiene, beauty products and underwear.  It is worryingly clear that women today are still not taken seriously within society.

Advertisers overwhelmingly select positive, approved typifications so their product will be associated with a good image, [therefore] what we see are idealised characters using ideal facilities to realise ideal ends (Goffman, 1976).

Adverts are aimed at reflecting life as individuals wish to live it, including looking beautiful and achieving wealth and success.  This is an implicit promise that certain desirable benefits will accrue if one uses the right scent for example.  An advertiser not only can create product identification but can impel purchase if the vision hits its mark of personal desire.

Manca and Manca (1994) state that when advertisers target women they use complex, appearance related emotional appeals such as using science to ‘prove’ the benefits of a certain facelift cream.  This pattern characterises women as externally or “other” oriented and concerned primarily with men.  Conversely, when advertisers target men, they use simple, ego gratification emotional appeals.  These appeals stereotype men as internally or “self” oriented, concerned primarily with themselves.

Gendered differences are apparent, accordingly, gendered advertising beliefs, attitudes, values and consumer behaviour exist, therefore advertisers recognise them, understand them, and use them to design gender specific advertisements.  Advertising always involves a promise and is expected to fulfil its promise.  Consumer advertising most commonly associates products with symbols that exemplify values, group feeling, prestige, status, power, achievement or just plain hedonistic pleasure. 

This is why most organisations concerned with persuasion look for prestigious spokespersons to endorse their position and thus endow it with something for their own prestige.  People seek social approval from all others, but it is more valued when it comes from those higher up the social scale since it is less likely to be self-serving and considered more perceptive.