TY - JOUR
T1 - Women’s Attitudes toward Sexual Objectification in Brands
T2 - A Political Ideology Perspective
AU - Torelli, Carlos J.
AU - Guo, Yafei
AU - Cho, Hyewon
N1 - Carlos J. Torelli (corresponding author: [email protected]) is professor of marketing, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 474 Wohlers Hall, 1206 S. Sixth St., Champaign, IL 61820, USA. Yafei Guo ([email protected]) is doctoral student in marketing, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 330 Wohlers Hall, 1206 S. Sixth St., Champaign, IL 61820, USA. Hyewon Cho ([email protected]) is assistant professor of marketing, Sogang University, 35, Baekbeom-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea. The authors are grateful for grants to the first author from the C. W. Park Fellowship, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The authors acknowledge the helpful input of the editor and reviewers, as well as the research support of Andrea Torelli Lathulerie.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - Although the issue of gender inequality dominates the public discourse, the country is sharply divided along party lines about its importance and the way to deal with it. In this polarized context, marketers struggle to devise brand communication strategies that will successfully connect with equality-conscious female consumers. By integrating research in political ideology, sexism, and brand communications, this research uncovers the types of sexual appeals that are more likely to resonate with female consumers who endorse a liberal (vs. conservative) ideology. Results of three lab experiments and a secondary data set demonstrate that liberal (vs. conservative) women are more likely to reject brands that are associated with a sexually objectified image of women. Furthermore, this effect is driven by liberal women’s rejection of benevolent sexism. These results are discussed in terms of the contributions to political ideology and brand communications research, as well as the implications for marketers’ communication strategies.
AB - Although the issue of gender inequality dominates the public discourse, the country is sharply divided along party lines about its importance and the way to deal with it. In this polarized context, marketers struggle to devise brand communication strategies that will successfully connect with equality-conscious female consumers. By integrating research in political ideology, sexism, and brand communications, this research uncovers the types of sexual appeals that are more likely to resonate with female consumers who endorse a liberal (vs. conservative) ideology. Results of three lab experiments and a secondary data set demonstrate that liberal (vs. conservative) women are more likely to reject brands that are associated with a sexually objectified image of women. Furthermore, this effect is driven by liberal women’s rejection of benevolent sexism. These results are discussed in terms of the contributions to political ideology and brand communications research, as well as the implications for marketers’ communication strategies.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131016108&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85131016108&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1086/719585
DO - 10.1086/719585
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85131016108
SN - 2378-1815
VL - 7
SP - 371
EP - 381
JO - Journal of the Association for Consumer Research
JF - Journal of the Association for Consumer Research
IS - 3
ER -