Influence of a Model's Apparent Gender on Viewer's Responses to Print Ads

Though the impact of identity salience as a result of priming on consumer behavior, as well as consumers’ responses to ads explicitly targeting the identities of consumers has been researched, the response of consumers to print ads featuring models of the apparently same gender with no other primes or cues needs to be examined. From a Social Identity Theory perspective, I assessed the degree to which people with gender identities of differing strengths identify with a print ad, and the effects of this on intentions to buy the advertised brand. One hundred ninety undergraduate students participated in an online survey featuring a series of 7-point scales that measured five things: attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, gender group identity, gender identity toward the ad, and brand purchase intention.