The vast majority of marketers reckon they're doing well when it comes to avoiding gender stereotyping, yet almost half of consumers say advertisers are still not getting it right.
The way both sexes are depicted rarely includes positive role models, consumers say, and there are few aspirational or authoritative portrayals. The effect is that campaigns are missing opportunities to have more impact, says Kantar's new study AdReaction: Getting Gender Right.
Researchers carried out 30,000 ad tests, and surveyed 450 global marketers, as well as looked at attitudes to advertising among almost 40,000 consumers around the world to determine and understand how men and women respond to advertising.
According to the findings, more consumers think women are shown in ads in a way that is inappropriate (45%), rather than in a way that makes them think highly of the characters (40%). This gap is even wider for male portrayals (44% vs 35%).