An exploration of the perceived role of femvertising in retail fashion customer brand preference

Abstract

Femvertising can be defined as advertising that is aimed at empowering females. In the past decade alone, there has been a significant number of brands who have utilised femvertising in order to reach and create relationships with their female audiences Femvertising seeks to address and rectify the traditional stereotypical images of women in media. Women have become the world’s most powerful customerss driving approximately 70-80% of customer purchases, and their influence is increasingly growing every year. This growth has resulted in brands taking female customer more seriously as well as forcing these brands to acknowledge the gender-based struggles women have been fighting for years. Brands are increasingly starting to use pro-female storylines in their advertisements as a new way of reaching their female customers customer. Due to the contemporary nature of femvertising, a problem exists in that there is a lack of research around the perceived role between femvertising and brand preference across industries. Furthermore, a gap exists in research around femvertising being used in a developing country such as South Africa. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceived role of femvertising in retail fashion customer brand preference amongst South African female customers. Research was conducted across three South African fashion retailers, with twenty-one participants in total. It was found that femvertising does play a role in retail fashion customer brand preference. The study revealed that diversity, inclusivity, female empowerment, body positivity and racial inclusion are all important criteria for a successfully received femvert within the South African market. The findings contribute to academia and offer insight into femvertising for marketing practitioners, agencies, and retailers. The study also sets out recommendations for further research in the field.