Publish Date: Nov 03, 2018

 

The end of advertising stereotypes: how much can sales increase? 
By Mariana Leiva

 

*Translated to English from original* 

 

 

Initiatives such as #metoo #timesup and #balancetonporc or Argentina #NiUnaMenos - which aims to combat aggression and sexual harassment, gender violence and femicide - are an obvious sign of a global movement to achieve greater gender equality around the world. 

 

That is a (social) argument more than enough for the advertising sector to look for new ways to sell their products without using 'harmful stereotypes' which makes 40% of women do not feel identified with the ads. 

 

But -if you need more- there is another reason linked to the commercial: the intentions of buying a brand can increase up to 45% when the company eliminates the clichés of the advertising of its products. 

Why? Among other things, because 70% of all purchasing decisions are made by women; 75% of the female population identifies as the main buyer of their house; and 64% of all consumer spending is controlled by women. 

Based on this, companies that are neutral or equal in terms of gender are likely to obtain great benefits if they show progressive attitudes in their advertising.

Companies that offer ads (from a gender perspective), in this sense, are associated with "a purchase intention greater than 25% among all consumers and 45% only among women," according to a study performed on particular cases. 

This was determined by an investigation of the "Unstereotype Alliance" founded by UN Women and a series of leaders in the marketing and advertising sector in 60 countries, entitled "Guide for a better representation of men and women in advertising: Why? Is it important to eliminate stereotypes in ads? " 

The regional vice president for Latin America of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which is part of the Unstereotype Alliance, Philips Pérez, pointed to the field.that "the stereotype as abbreviated representation of society is a legitimate resource to achieve that in a few seconds the target audience (to which the ad is directed) feel interested in buying that product." 

An example: if my target audience is professional women, I can show a woman in a work situation in the look "expected" by society, said the manager. 

He indicated that "the initiative to eliminate harmful stereotypes, which are a problem, arises from a social demand, because people do not feel identified with what is shown in the advertising and as a consequence neither with the products or services of that company. "

Perez, who also serves as president of the Argentine Chamber of Advertisers (CAA), said that "in an advertisement, you can show a woman washing the dishes at home, that's irrelevant." The most important thing to keep in mind is that the situation (such as cleaning the house) is not associated exclusively with a single gender and that it is not presented as the only option of life of a gender ". 

"It is necessary to find a point of balance between the representation of society and an idealized situation in advertising (the latter is what works as an aspirational component)," he said. 

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