Non-Stereotypical Portrayals of Gender Roles in Advertising: What does it signal about the brand and does it generate social effects?

Sammanfattning: While marketers still frequently rely on stereotypes when depicting women and men in advertising, research shows that challenging them can have positive brand-related and social effects. Prior research has primarily focused on physical characteristics, ethnicity or sexuality, while gender role stereotypes is an under-researched area. This thesis will, therefore, explore if using non-stereotypical gender role portrayals in advertising can send positive signals about the brand, and generate positive social effects. A quantitative experiment was conducted in a questionnaire-based format. The experimental group was exposed to a print ad with a non-stereotypical portrayal of gender roles as stimuli, while the control group's ad showed a stereotypical portrayal. The collected data from 234 respondents was used to measure the parameters signaled brand-ability, signaled effort on behalf of the advertiser and perceived product quality, as well as the brand-related effects ad attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intention. Also, the social effects empathy and social connectedness were measured. The study found that advertisements, which challenge stereotypical gender roles, signaled greater brand-ability and greater effort on behalf of the advertiser than traditional ads. These signals enhanced perceived product quality and brand-related effects. Furthermore, the non- stereotypical ads increased levels of social connectedness. An implication which can be drawn from these finding is that incorporating more norm-breaking gender role portrayals in advertising can be beneficial on a brand-level and a societal level.