Targeting a Minority without Alienating the Majority: Advertising to Gays and Lesbians in Mainstream Media

Oakenfull, Gillian; McCarthy, Michaël; Greenlee, Timothy B.

doi:10.2501/s0021849908080239

Cited by 77 publications

(84 citation statements)

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“…US states that have legalized same-sex marriages are more likely to have citizens that hold positive general attitudes concerning gay or lesbian people. In addition, gender of the viewer can also exert an influence as Oakenfull et al (2008) and Hooten et al (2009) documented women reacted differently than men in response to advertisements with GL images. Based on these findings, we reasoned (H5), (H6), and (H7).…”

Section: Previous Research On Use Of Gay/lesbian Images In Advertisingmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Previous researchers have documented negative responses of heterosexuals towards such imagery (e.g. Angelini and Bradley 2010;Hooten Noeva and Hammonds 2009;Oakenfull, McCarthy and Greenlee 2008).…”

Section: Fashion Brands and Gay/ Lesbian-inclusive Advertising In Thementioning

confidence: 98%

“…Previous researchers in their investigations of the possible effects of GL advertising images compared responses towards traditional advertisements featuring homosexual images versus those featuring heterosexual images (Angelini and Bradley 2010;Hooten et al 2009;Oakenfull et al 2008). However, thanks to the development of the Internet and corresponding marketing communication techniques, advertising images are delivered to consumers through diverse forms and means including editorials, billboards, Internet search engines, social media, and point-of-sale advertising.…”

Section: Fashion Brands and Gay/ Lesbian-inclusive Advertising In Thementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Oakenfull et al (2008) investigated the effect of a heterosexual (mainstream) advertisement, a gay advertisement, a lesbian advertisement and an advertisement with gay subcultural elements 2 on participants representing different sexual orientations (i.e. heterosexual, gay, lesbian).…”

Section: Previous Research On Use Of Gay/lesbian Images In Advertisingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fashion brands and gay/lesbian-inclusive advertising in the USA

Chae

Kim

Johnson

2016

Fashion, Style &Amp; Popular Culture

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Within the United States general attitudes towards gays and lesbians (GL) are rapidly undergoing change. Several researchers have previously documented that heterosexual consumers respond negatively to advertisements featuring same-sex couples. At this critical juncture, it is important to reexamine consumer response to fashion advertisements featuring GL images. Using a small qualitative study (n = 10) and an experiment (n = 202) our research purpose was to determine whether consumer attitude towards advertisements, brand attitude, brand distinctiveness and/or brand attractiveness varied based on the level of inclusiveness of GL images (i.e. GL-inclusive vs. non-inclusive). Results from the qualitative project demonstrated most participants responded positively to the advertisements featuring GL images although two participants were worried about unidentified 'negative' influences on the sexual orientation of heterosexual viewers. The inclusiveness level of GL images did not negatively influence attitude towards the advertisements or brand attitude. Rather, GL-inclusive advertising resulted in higher ratings of brand distinctiveness and attractiveness as compared to the non-inclusive advertising. Implications and limitations of this study as well as suggestions for future research are discussed. 252

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Section: Previous Research On Use Of Gay/lesbian Images In Advertisingmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Fashion Brands and Gay/ Lesbian-inclusive Advertising In Thementioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Fashion Brands and Gay/ Lesbian-inclusive Advertising In Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Previous Research On Use Of Gay/lesbian Images In Advertisingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Fashion brands and gay/lesbian-inclusive advertising in the USA

Chae

Kim

Johnson

2016

Fashion, Style &Amp; Popular Culture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Critical analyses of media portrayals specific to lesbianism have been less optimistic, however, pointing out that lesbian sex is often appropriated as a fleeting performance rather than an authentic identity (Diamond, 2005;Wirthlin, 2009). Market research identifying homosexual audiences as a "dream market" provides suggestions about how to target this minority without offending the majority (Oakenfull, McCarthy, & Greenlee, 2008), but consideration of the impact of such messaging on queer audiences, particularly women, is a body of research that remains underdeveloped.…”

Section: Voices Of Queer Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Queer Women's Perspectives on Sexualization of Women in Media

Randazzo

Farmer

Lamb

2015

Journal of Bisexuality

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This study explored the perspectives of lesbian, bisexual, and queer women on the sexualization of women in media. Three focus groups at a Northeast university were attended by 12 sexual minority women who talked about their thoughts, feelings, and experiences related to sexualization. An interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed themes related to (1) how women and queer people are treated by the mainstream media; (2) the ways in which media compromises women's relationships to their own bodies and to other women; and (3) unique insights that queer sensibility contributes to the discourse of sexualization, including possibilities of empowering, transgressive female sexuality.

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Gender and Advertising

McCartan

McMahon

2020

The International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communication

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There is a commercial imperative to take into account the gender of an advertisement's target audience and gender is the primary segmentation variable used by advertisers to capture attention and encourage action. This entry examines reasons why gender matters to advertisers and society. It discusses how men and women often react differently to adverts because of the differences in how they process information, with two theories dominating this field: the selectivity hypothesis and the item‐specific versus relational processing model. It discusses to what extent adverts can be manipulated to appeal to a particular gender, acknowledging that a commonly used strategy is to depict men in agentic roles and women in communal roles. With respect to online advertising, there appears to be a continuation of the agentic/communal distinction witnessed in offline platforms. Further, it is found that, notwithstanding some recent changes, gender stereotyping remains prevalent, particularly in relation to the portrayal of women's occupational status and women's portrayal in decorative roles. With that said, advertising's role in gender stereotyping is more of a reaction to, rather than a driver of, societal values, but has been shown to be lagging behind as societies move toward more gender equality. An examination on gender stereotyping in children's advertising reports broadly similar results to that reported by studies concerning advertising to adults. It is also agreed that men and women's role portrayal in advertising differs by culture, and that gender affects responses to advertising aimed at LGBT consumers.

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Targeting a Minority without Alienating the Majority: Advertising to Gays and Lesbians in Mainstream Media

Cited by 77 publications

References 0 publications

Fashion brands and gay/lesbian-inclusive advertising in the USA

Fashion brands and gay/lesbian-inclusive advertising in the USA

Queer Women's Perspectives on Sexualization of Women in Media

Gender and Advertising

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