A quarter of consumers are more likely to buy a product or service from a brand if it publishes ad content and other creative that breaks gender stereotypes, a new study from self-service ad platform Choozle has found.
The Gender Stereotyping in Advertising Survey polled the opinions of 250 males and 250 females to examine the relationship between digital marketing and gender bias. The main takeaway is that consumers are rewarding those brands that break free of outdated conventions and viewpoints and deliver a personalised, inclusive experience.
More than a third of those surveyed said that they like brands to go against stereotypes, and 25 per cent later go on to make a purchase. The respondents gave mixed opinions regarding whether the ad industry should have the responsibility to break stereotypes – 37 per cent agreed that it should, while over a third didn’t have strong feelings either way.
The topic has received a fair amount of coverage this year, as the UK Advertising Standards Authority decided to ban any form of gender stereotyping in ads just a couple of months ago. Facebook also released a study in August that outlined how progressive attitudes in content can drive better business results for brands.
Choozle’s study found that certain aspects of creative can contribute to the promotion of gender stereotypes. For example, 60 per cent of consumers said that fonts and colours can portray a bias, and 75 per cent claimed that phrasing and words do so. It appears that everything included in an image or video has a connection to the reinforcement of stereotypes in some form.
Finally, women are more receptive to brands breaking a stereotype. In total, 50 per cent of men said that this would not affect their view of a brand compared to 38 per cent of women.
“The increase of personalisation with the help of third-party data has created an increase of gender bias in digital advertising,” Choozle’s CEO and co-founder, Andrew Fischer, said. “With the increase of acknowledgement of gender stereotypes and representation, we as an industry should strive to create an inclusive ad experience that meets the consumers’ needs.”
