LGBTQ imagery in advertising: how viewers' political ideology shapes their emotional response to gender and sexuality in advertisements

Abstract

Gender is many things to many people. It is at once uniting and divisive. Gender in advertising presents a range of opportunities for marketers but is linked inextricably to concepts of masculinity–femininity and sexuality and has the potential to create strong positive or negative responses from different audiences. Using an experimental methodology, this study examines how depictions of gender and sexuality combine to influence consumer attitudes. The findings demonstrate how individuals’ political ideology determines their emotional response to such advertisements and that the resulting emotional response and attitude to the advertisement act as causal mechanisms responsible for product-related attitudes.