Female power portrayals in advertising. Issue 7 (14th September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kordrostami, Melika; Laczniak, Russell N.
• Is Part Of: International journal of advertising. Volume 41:Issue 7(2022)
• Page Start: 1181
• Page End: 1208
• Publication Date: 2022-09-14
• Subjects: Advertising -- Femvertising -- female power -- gender roles; Advertising -- Periodicals; 659.105
• DOI: 10.1080/02650487.2021.1998878
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1759-3948

Abstract

Abstract: Although stereotypical female portrayals are still common in advertisements, in recent years it appears there has been a move toward portraying women in powerful positions in ads. This research investigates the recent trend in advertising that portrays women in positions of power and offers a typology of female power dimensions in ads. Building on previous literature on social power, feminine power, and current trends in advertising, a typology for female power is proposed and verified using two studies. In the first study, data from a pile sort of current print ads is collected and analyzed by cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. In the second study, semi-structured interviews are employed to verify the proposed typology. Results verified that receivers perceive female power in advertisements in the following power dimensions: sexual power, expert power, family power, and empowerment (including athletic power).