The hidden sex life of the male (& female) shot

Abstract

This paper does not deal with sexist marketing communications. Neither does it explore gender-stereotyped imagery in promotional messages. Such dimensions are mostly concerned with how men and women are portrayed in advertising, based on perceptions of how the socialisation process influences gender roles. Instead, the focus is on information-processing style and the context is direct mail. Do women and men process information differently, as a result of their neurobiological development and, if so, should direct marketers target them on this basis? This paper reports on the qualitative phase of a major industry-funded research programme. Overall it was found that men and women react differently to certain features of written communication. Women respond well to bright colours, photographs and images and men respond well to bold headlines, bullet points and graphs. The paper suggests how the industry might incorporate the findings which could have far-reaching implications for direct mailings.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Martin Evans

Martin Evans is Royal Mail/Mail Marketing professor of marketing and director of the Bristol Business School Research Unit in marketing. Previously he has held professorial posts at the universities of Portsmouth and Glamorgan and other academic positions at Cardiff Business School and Newcastle Polytechnic. He gained industrial experience with Hawker Siddeley and then as a consultant to a variety of organisations for over 25 years. He has published over 100 papers plus eight books, mostly in the areas of marketing research and information, consumer behaviour and direct marketing.

He founded the Direct Marketing Research Consortium, which is a grouping of collaborative researchers at the universities of Cardiff, Glarmogan, Bath and Portsmouth. He is an academic prize winner at the Academy of Marketing and International Conference of Marketing Communications.

Agnes Nairn

Agnes Nairn is a teaching fellow at the School of Management, University of Bath. Prior to this she taught at Bristol Business School and before that was a director of a market research firm with a wide range of international clients. Her research interests include new and emerging approaches to market segmentation and aspects of direct marketing.

Alice Maltby

Alice Maltby is the CIM Postgraduate Diploma Award Leader and marketing module leader at Bristol Business School. Originally a journalist with the Yorkshire Post, her industrial experience includes the International Mohair Association, O.S. Blenkinsop and the Wellcome Foundation. Research interests include gender differences in direct mail and the Internet, undergraduate option choices and marketing in the horticultural industry.