Women Question Images In Advertising.

frank about women, a strategic consultancy dedicated to helping worldwide companies harness the loyalty and purchasing power of women, released the results of a national survey that indicate women are consciously avoiding brands that unrealistically portray images of women in their advertising.

The survey titled, “Appealing or Appalling: Images of Women in Advertising,” offers a candid perspective on how women view images in advertising. “Based on our survey results, women are tired of being bombarded with advertisements that use unrealistic images to portray their gender,” said Carrie McCament, managing director of frank about women. “Unlike many of the images we see today, a woman’s life cannot be airbrushed. Overwhelmingly, women are willing to make purchasing decisions based on the images used in advertising. Ads portraying women who have digitally perfected physiques or who lead seemingly carefree lives are not resonating with many female consumers. Our study found that companies whose advertising portrays the depth and variety of women’s lives in a realistic way, meaning images of women actually doing jobs and chores versus posed pictures of women who may or may not be participating in the activity, will be rewarded.”

Survey Structure

The online survey presented respondents with four different images in 10 different categories. Women were asked to rank the images on a scale of zero to 10 based on their relevancy and appeal. The image categories included:

Images of older women, images of women’s friendships, images of today’s women and teenage girls, fashion images, images of mothers, images of simplicity, images of professional women, images of the sensual side of women, images of spiritual women and images of active women. Women were also asked to provide commentary on the images. A total of 185 women completed the survey.

Highlights from the Survey

Show Reality

The single greatest finding from the survey is that women are looking for more images that reflect today’s reality in advertisements, rather than those that appear unnatural, unbelievable or unattainable. Many surveys have suggested that women want to see a part of themselves in advertising images, which they will perceive as a marketer’s attempt to understand them as unique individuals. This survey, however, reveals that women are consciously avoiding brands that unrealistically glamorize women or portray their relationships with friends, family and coworkers in an idealized way. Women clearly reward marketers who understand how to portray women, their lifestyles, friends and families as diverse and varied as they truly are today.

Reflect the Variety of Women’s Lives

Overall women crave variety in how women are portrayed in advertising and will reward marketers who understand this. Overwhelmingly, advertisers who present diverse, reality-based images that reflect professionalism and aging
garnered the most positive responses.

Survey participants noted not only that motherhood is multidimensional, but also that the definition of family is fundamentally changing. “Women in our study want to see a variety of moms to reflect this shift in thinking,” said McCament. “Advertisers should portray images of single moms, moms with older children, lesbians, working and pregnant moms. They must also avoid the stereotypical images of mothers holding children. Instead, show active mothers highly involved in real-life, un-glamorized activities and settings.”

Enlarge Your Perspective

The study also shows a disconnection between the women who are portrayed in many ads and the average woman in terms of size. The new average body that our respondents want to see in advertising is a larger woman. However, this new “average” is not truly indicative of the statistical average. Our respondents state a desire to see more women who wear sizes 8 or 10, even though 68% of adult women wear size 14 or above. “We heard that women have learned to determine for themselves what is healthy for their own body types,” states McCament. “Often, this means being heavier than the typical models used in ads. They long to see advertisers come to a new understanding of this, especially in fashion marketing.”

Go to Work

Images of professional women need to mirror the radical variety and unlimited scope of working women. Because women are employed in virtually every type of industry, performing every type of job, the women in our study want to see that diversity in advertisements. And they wanted to see women doing their jobs as real women would do them: with attention and energy.

Reflect Families and Friends

Demographic differences among respondents were most pronounced when asked how advertising should reflect friends and family. Younger women’s desire to put such attention and energy into everything they do has caused them to become more deeply entrenched in the work force while simultaneously seeking to connect more closely to their families. Unfortunately, free time with friends is usually the casualty of their efforts. The majority of our respondents, those 40 and younger, felt that their time was too consumed by work and family to maintain close physical ties to friends. Regardless, having
close female friendships is deemed critical to women’s lives and appears to be something for which most women long. Showing younger women in the context of work or catching minutes with friends while participating in their children’s activities will more accurately reflect the on-the-fly friendships women cultivate today. Older participants felt that women’s friendships endure over time and having occasion to meet frequently with friends was rarely an issue.

Among all respondents, the reality of images used in advertising was paramount in their appeal to and effect on women in the study.

Age Gracefully and Actively

Our study indicates there is a shift occurring in women’s perceptions in regard to the aging process. According to our respondents, traditional models of elderly, frail matriarchs are giving way to ones of active and healthy older women, women participating in life rather than sitting on the sidelines.

“Old age is seen as just one more opportunity for women to be whatever kind of women they want to be,” said McCament. “Marketers who portray images of older women who are active, healthy, having fun and celebrating the relationships in their lives will be rewarded.”

For more information at http://www.frankaboutwomen.com