Femvertising: Women Empowering Advertising or Commercialized Feminism? A Qualitative Explanation of Consumers’ Reaction

Abstract

Femvertising is a term that refers to advertisements that promote women's empowerment through pro-feminist themes, which has become a significant subject in contemporary media marketing.However, it has also been condemned for commercializing feminism to boost financial benefits for the brand itself. Hence,this research performed 12 in-depth interviews to gain a better understanding of both consumers' reactions to women empowering advertising by gender,and the elements that lead to negative responses. The study finds out that among three femvertising from brands of various categorized products(Audi, Bumble and PROYA), female respondents reported that they detest Audi's commercial the most, despite the fact that Audi is the brand favored by male participants. Female customers rated Bumble as the most preferred femvertising while male interviewees mainly maintain a moderate attitude. PROYA gets less criticism than praise from both male and female customers’ perspective.Moreover,the researcher organized the components that contribute to unfavorable customer reactions,based on brand, commercial content,consumers, societal norms, empowerment themes, and communication approach. This qualitative study addressed these concerns and provided information on consumer perceptions yet expectations of femvertising in commercials on brands and advertising institutions for social discourses.