GENDERED REPRESENTATION IN ONLINE MARKETING: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20854645Keywords:
Critical Discourse Analysis, Digital Advertising, Gender Representation, Online MarketingAbstract
This study investigates the representation of gender in online marketing through a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach. The study aims to examine how men and women are portrayed in digital advertisements and to explore the underlying ideologies and power relations embedded in online marketing discourse. A qualitative research design was adopted, and purposefully selected advertisements from major digital platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and official brand websites, were analyzed using three-dimensional model of CDA. The findings revealed that women were predominantly represented in terms of beauty, attractiveness, self-care, and emotional expression, whereas men were portrayed as authoritative, successful, competent, and achievement-oriented. Although contemporary online marketing increasingly incorporates themes of empowerment, diversity, and inclusivity, traditional gender stereotypes continue to shape advertising discourse. This study concludes that online marketing remains a significant platform for the construction and reinforcement of gender identities, highlighting the need for more balanced and inclusive gender representations in digital advertising.
Downloads
References
Abitbol, A., & Sternadori, M. (2016). You act like a girl: An examination of consumer perceptions of femvertising. Quarterly Review of Business Disciplines, 3(2), 117–138. https://faculty.utrgv.edu/louis.falk/qrbd/QRBDaug16.pdf#page=45.
Angel, S., Bathran, R., & Goswami, M. P. (2026). Gender discourse and femadvertising in India: A multi-modal discourse analysis. Women's Studies International Forum, 114, 103204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2025.103204.
Bathran, & Goswami
Becker-Herby, E. (2016). The rise of fmvertising: Authentically reaching female consumers (Master Thesis). School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Minnesota.
Cai, Y., Cao, D., Guo, R., Wen, Y., Liu, G., & Chen, E. (2024). Locating and mitigating gender bias in large language models. In D. S. Huang, Z. Si & C. Zhang (Eds.), Advanced Intelligent Computing Technology and Applications (pp. 471–482). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-5672-8_40.
Creswell, J. W. (2019). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. London: Sage.
Dai, Y., Zhu, Z., & Guo, W. Y. (2025). The impact of advertising on women’s self-perception: A systematic review.
Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1430079. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1430079.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. London: Sage.
Dhanesh, G. S., & Marschlich, S. (2025). Gender representations and user engagement in social media posts of companies: Dream crazier or keep walking?. Business Horizons, 68(3), 301–318.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2025.01.006.
Eisend, M. (2010). A meta-analysis of gender roles in advertising. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38(4), 418–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-009-0181-x.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Fairclough, N. (2013). Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. London:
Fairclough, N. (2023). Critical discourse analysis. In M. Handford & J. P. Gee (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003035244.
Gill, R. (2007). Gender and the media.Cambridge: Polity Press.
Golovchenko, Y., Stańczak, K., Adler-Nissen, R., Wangen, P., & Augenstein, I. (2023). Invisible women in digital diplomacy: A multidimensional framework for online gender bias against women ambassadors worldwide. ArXiv
Preprint arXiv:2311.17627. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2311.17627.
Grau, S. L., & Zotos, Y. C. (2018). Gender stereotypes in advertising: A review of current research. In Y. C. Zotos, S. L.
Grau, & C. R. Taylor, (Eds.), Current Research on Gender Issues in Advertising (3–12). New York: Routledge.
Ikhlef, A., & Awad, Z. M. (2023). Gender in fashion advertising on social media: A multimodal discourse analysis approach. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(7), 1801–1809. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1307.25.
Ismail, M. K. A., Farukh, A., Ahmad, M. (2019). A critical discourse analysis of positive self and negative other representations through English language textbooks. Pakistan Journal of Educational Research, 2(2), 31–
doi: https://doi.org/10.52337/pjer.v2i2.23.
Iyer, K. V., & Dani, K. (2025). Femvertising empowering or commodifying women? Exploring the changing feminist discourse in internationally award-winning advertisements. Corporate Communications: An International Journal,
(5), 749–771. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-11-2023-0157.
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2021). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. New York: Routledge.
Lazar, M. M. (2007). Feminist critical discourse analysis: Articulating a feminist discourse praxis. Critical Discourse Studies, 4(2), 141–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405900701464816.
Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2023). How to do critical discourse analysis: A multimodal introduction. Thousand Oaks: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781036212933.
Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Rashid, R., Jabeen, M., Akhtar, T., & Ilyas, S. (2024). Exploring the representation of gender stereotypes in commercial advertisements: A critical discourse analysis. Journal of Applied Linguistics and TESOL, 7(4), 36–46.
https://jalt.com.pk/index.php/jalt/article/view/22. Routledge.
Santoniccolo, F., Trombetta, T., Paradiso, M. N., & Rollè, L. (2023). Gender and media representations: A review of the literature on gender stereotypes, objectification and sexualization. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(10), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20105770.
Shah, S. K., & Ahmad, M. (2020). Use of repetition as a political discourse manipulation device in the speeches of a Pakistani prime minister. Journal of Politics & International Studies, 6(1), 39–56.
Singh, M., & Lunyal, V. (2025). Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Gendered Language and Ideology on Social Media Platforms. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 10(3), 97–103.
https://doi.org/10.22161/ijels.103.16.
Spasova, L. (2025). A critical discourse analysis of gender role and stereotypes in present advertisements–leading research questions before and after 2000. Trakia Journal of Sciences, 23(4), 392–407. https://doi.org/10.15547/tjs.2025.4.014.
Wang, R. (2025). Multimodal critical discourse analysis of the evolution of female representation in advertising. International Journal of Education and Humanities, 19(1), 254–260. https://doi.org/10.54097/pqjhg281.
Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (2016). Methods of Critical Discourse Studies (3rd ed.). London: Sage.
Yin, Q., & Abdullah, K. B. B. (2024). Analysis of gender discourse bias and gender discrimination in social media: A case study of the TikTok platform. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 24(2), 93–102. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v24i2.802.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Umme Rayan Gul , Dr. Muhammad Ahmad, Zarnab Stephen (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
