Role Portrayal of Women in Advertising: An Empirical Study

Abstract

One of the sensitive areas in the world of advertising and marketing is the portrayal of women. Women are an indispensable part of Indian society as they constitute half of the population and play critical roles. However, the depiction of women as sex symbols, objects of desire, and as having subservient behaviours has presented a great concern to feminist scholars, activists, and researchers. The objective of this research paper is to study how women’s role portrayal impacts consumers’ willingness to buy and to identify the difference in views of Indian men and women when it comes to the stereotypical role portrayal of women in advertisements. The study uses MANOVA statistics to identify whether significant differences exist between the men and women when it comes to willingness to buy. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis are used to identify the latent variables. The impact on purchase intent is determined by validating the proposed hypotheses through structural equational modelling statistics.