Gendering Products Through Advertisements: A Review (1973–2019) of Various Cues Employed by Advertisers

Abstract

Throughout history, people have used consumption props to adorn their gender. The products that individuals own and use are noticeable markers of their gender identity. This explains the sustained interest of advertisers in gender-typing products. Advertisers’ gender work is instrumental in establishing a gender order among products. By virtue of the gender meanings assigned by advertisers, products occupy spaces on the gender map. Advertisers employ various cues to operationalize the gender direction of the advertised products. A review of over four decades of research (1973–2019) on gender and advertising reveals that there are at least 22 different ways in which advertisers achieve gender polarization of products. This explanatory synthesis convenes these cues in the context of television and multimedia web-based and print advertisements. The methodology used also allows for classification of these cues. This review has definite theoretical and practical implications that justify the need for this research. The final output of this article displays the research landscape of the present topic and contributes to the existing advertising literature by offering a repository of objective tools used to shape the gender content of advertisements. It is the author’s belief that this article will help researchers conceptualize different product gendering techniques employed by advertisers and encourage further research in this area. From a practical perspective, advertisers looking to activate the gender schema in advertisements with a view to selectively target a particular gender may benefit from the results of this study.