IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/busper/v10y2022i1p65-78.html

Gendering Products Through Advertisements: A Review (1973–2019) of Various Cues Employed by Advertisers

Author

Listed:
  • Namrata Sandhu

Abstract

Throughout history, people have used consumption props to adorn their gender. The products that individuals own and use are noticeable markers of their gender identity. This explains the sustained interest of advertisers in gender-typing products. Advertisers’ gender work is instrumental in establishing a gender order among products. By virtue of the gender meanings assigned by advertisers, products occupy spaces on the gender map. Advertisers employ various cues to operationalize the gender direction of the advertised products. A review of over four decades of research (1973–2019) on gender and advertising reveals that there are at least 22 different ways in which advertisers achieve gender polarization of products. This explanatory synthesis convenes these cues in the context of television and multimedia web-based and print advertisements. The methodology used also allows for classification of these cues. This review has definite theoretical and practical implications that justify the need for this research. The final output of this article displays the research landscape of the present topic and contributes to the existing advertising literature by offering a repository of objective tools used to shape the gender content of advertisements. It is the author’s belief that this article will help researchers conceptualize different product gendering techniques employed by advertisers and encourage further research in this area. From a practical perspective, advertisers looking to activate the gender schema in advertisements with a view to selectively target a particular gender may benefit from the results of this study.

Suggested Citation

  • Namrata Sandhu, 2022. "Gendering Products Through Advertisements: A Review (1973–2019) of Various Cues Employed by Advertisers," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 10(1), pages 65-78, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:busper:v:10:y:2022:i:1:p:65-78
    DOI: 10.1177/2278533721994354
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2278533721994354
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2278533721994354?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Namrata Sandhu, 2018. "Impact of Gender Cues in Advertisements on Perceived Gender Identity Meanings of the Advertised Product," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 7(4), pages 293-303, December.
    2. Abid Ali & Dileep Kumar & Muhammad Haroon Hafeez & Bushra Ghufran, 2012. "Gender Role Portrayal in Television Advertisement: Evidence from Pakistan," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 4(6), pages 340-351.
    3. Avery, Jill, 2012. "Defending the markers of masculinity: Consumer resistance to brand gender-bending," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 322-336.
    4. Namrata Sandhu, 2019. "Fueling Gender Stereotypes: A Content Analysis of Automobile Advertisements," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 7(2), pages 163-178, July.
    5. Nakata, Cheryl & Huang, Yili, 2005. "Progress and promise: the last decade of international marketing research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(5), pages 611-618, May.
    6. Namrata Sandhu, 2017. "Consumer Response to Brand Gender Bending: An Integrated Review and Future Research Agenda," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 5(2), pages 151-166, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Namrata Sandhu, 2019. "Fueling Gender Stereotypes: A Content Analysis of Automobile Advertisements," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 7(2), pages 163-178, July.
    2. Namrata Sandhu & Dilpreet Singh, 2017. "Gender Contamination in Indian Automobile Advertisements," Paradigm, , vol. 21(2), pages 139-155, December.
    3. Namrata Sandhu, 2018. "Impact of Gender Cues in Advertisements on Perceived Gender Identity Meanings of the Advertised Product," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 7(4), pages 293-303, December.
    4. Namrata Sandhu, 2017. "Consumer Response to Brand Gender Bending: An Integrated Review and Future Research Agenda," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 5(2), pages 151-166, July.
    5. Prast, Henriette & Sanders, José & Boggio, C., 2017. "Seven ways to knit your portfolio: Is the language of investor communication gender neutral?," Other publications TiSEM b477bb2d-f71c-4b9b-ab9e-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    6. Boggio, C. & Fornero, E. & Prast, H.M. & Sanders, J., 2015. "Seven Ways to Knit Your Portfolio : Is Investor Communication Neutral?," Other publications TiSEM 81e1098a-af2d-4107-a298-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Mandler, Timo & Sezen, Burcu & Chen, Jieke & Özsomer, Ayşegül, 2021. "Performance consequences of marketing standardization/adaptation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 416-435.
    8. Golossenko, Artyom & Pillai, Kishore Gopalakrishna & Aroean, Lukman, 2020. "Seeing brands as humans: Development and validation of a brand anthropomorphism scale," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 737-755.
    9. Marc Buelens & Mieke Woestyne & Steven Mestdagh & Dave Bouckenooghe, 2008. "Methodological Issues in Negotiation Research: A State-of-the-Art-Review," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 321-345, July.
    10. Joana César Machado & Beatriz Fonseca & Carla Martins, 2021. "Brand logo and brand gender: examining the effects of natural logo designs and color on brand gender perceptions and affect," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(2), pages 152-170, March.
    11. Nathalie Veg-Sala & Elyette Roux, 2018. "Cross-gender extension potential of luxury brands: a semiotic analysis," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(5), pages 436-448, September.
    12. Ulrich, Isabelle & Azar, Salim L. & Aimé, Isabelle, 2020. "Stay close but not too close: The role of similarity in the cross-gender extension of patronymic brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 157-174.
    13. Cecilia Boggio & Elsa Fornero & Henriette Prast & Jose Sanders, 2014. "Seven Ways to Knit Your Portfolio: Is Investor Communication Neutral?," CeRP Working Papers 140, Center for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies, Turin (Italy).
    14. Mehreen Furqan & Maha Ijaz, 2014. "Publication Trends and Methodological Advancements in the Area of Agency Cost," Sukkur IBA Journal of Management and Business, Sukkur IBA University, vol. 1(1), pages 57-86.
    15. Polsa, Pia, 2013. "The crossover-dialog approach: The importance of multiple methods for international business," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 288-297.
    16. Reed, Americus & Forehand, Mark R. & Puntoni, Stefano & Warlop, Luk, 2012. "Identity-based consumer behavior," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 310-321.
    17. Nickel, Kristina & Orth, Ulrich R. & Kumar, Minu, 2020. "Designing for the genders: The role of visual harmony," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 697-713.
    18. Davis, Robert & Smith, Sandra D. & Lang, Bodo U., 2017. "A comparison of online and offline gender and goal directed shopping online," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 118-125.
    19. Ingram, Darren, 2017. "Exploratory Investigation Into The Practice Of Communicating To Publics Using English As A Lingua Franca (Elf) By Finnish Companies," Thesis Commons kgx7b, Center for Open Science.
    20. Fleura Bardhi & Giana M. Eckhardt, 2017. "Liquid Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(3), pages 582-597.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:busper:v:10:y:2022:i:1:p:65-78. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.