With traditional (and some might argue antiquated) gender roles in a state of rapid flux, it's more important than ever to understand clearly what society as a whole feels about the notion of gender equality. JWT London and media intelligence specialists Kantar Media were keen to identify exactly what the views of British consumers are on equality between the sexes and how these views vary by type of person. A number of stories in the media recently have highlighted the topicality and importance of this issue. One study from the Creative Industries Federation revealed only a quarter of senior management roles in marketing and advertising are filled by women, and another report from JWT showed 24% of people in the UK believe advertising is more sexist today than in the past.
JWT and Kantar Media were keen to identify what the views of British consumers are on equality between the sexes and how these views vary by type of person
To help achieve an enhanced understanding of consumer views on equality, JWT and Kantar Media collaborated to introduce new attitudinal measures on to the Kantar Media TGI consumer insight study (the consumer insight tool of choice for over 200 companies in the UK that plan, buy and sell within the advertising industry), which provides in-depth insights into all kinds of consumer behaviour. These new attitude statements are:
- Women are just as capable as men at being leaders.
- It’s perfectly acceptable for men to be stay at home parents these days.
- I think men and women are given equal opportunities.
Results from the new measures reveal that an overwhelming 84% of British adults believe that women are just as capable as men
Opinions on gender equality can be emblematic of a whole host of other sincerely held values that make consumers tick, and knowledge of these is invaluable for evaluating the best way to communicate with target groups of consumers. Results from the new measures reveal that an overwhelming 84% of British adults believe that women are just as capable as men at being leaders and 73% believe that it is perfectly acceptable for men to be stay at home parents these days. There is clearly a broad consensus within society towards a progressive and positive view on gender roles. What is particularly interesting is that the TGI figures also reveal that only 34% of adults believe that men and women are given equal opportunities, indicating most people would agree there is still plenty of work to be done to achieve full equality.
TGI figures also reveal that only 34% of adults believe that men and women are given equal opportunities
James Whitehead, Executive Partner at JWT, said: “We are in an age of rapidly shifting gender norms for both men and women. Neither are expected to conform to rigid expectations, so how are we expected to be able to speak to them effectively without significantly widening our knowledge base with the most up-to-date research.” Richard Keogh, Head of TGI UK at Kantar Media, added: “We have been pleased to work with J. Walter Thompson to create and add these new attitudinal measures to our Kantar Media TGI study. They provide key players across the media industry with a more discriminatory means of identifying and communicating with their key consumer targets and ultimately improve campaign efficiency.”
