Gender narratives decoded in marketing: selling identity or outdated stereotypes?

This exploratory research explores how consumers reflect on depictions of gendered identities in marketing. Debates around gendered representations in marketing have intensified over the last few decades, and more recently have become politicised. This demonstrates that gendered discourse has a number of connotations, and it is often portrayed as adopting polarised perspectives that endorse or reject gender stereotypes. While some marketing campaigns portray diversity of size and colour, this does not represent diversity in gender identities, and follows gendered binaries that are often positioned to appeal to the male gaze. This research investigates the role of gender in marketing and how gendered representations can be considered as informing consumer decision making. Framed within social identity theory and gender schema theory, and set within an interpretivist philosophy, fifty-five participants responded to online open-ended questions. The findings demonstrate that stereotyping genders can be considered as harmful for society and some identity constructs transcend gender.