Femvertising practices on social media: a comparison of luxury and non-luxury brands

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how luxury and non-luxury brands portray women in social media advertising shedding light on their femvertising practices. Design/methodology/approach: Quantitative content analysis and multiple correspondence analysis are used to examine female representations in the advertising of personal care products on social media. The sample includes brand posts from 15 brands on two social media platforms. 

Findings: The results demonstrate that non-luxury brands use femvertising to a greater extent compared to luxury brands. In particular, this study shows that luxury brands rely more on stereotyped gender expressions and use more sexualisation in their advertising, relative to non-luxury brands. 

Research limitations/implications: This study provides an analysis of luxury and non-luxury brands’ femvertising practices on social media. In doing so, this study extends the study of femvertising to the context of luxury and social media, which is currently underexplored. In terms of practical implications, this study sheds light on the extent of the application of femvertising across luxury and non-luxury brands on social media. 

Practical implications: The findings drive a number of suggestions for luxury marketers, including the use of more independent gender roles and more racial diversity in their social media advertising and the lessening of unrelated sexuality. 

Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to compare femvertising practices of luxury and non-luxury brands on social media, delineating different facets of femvertising (e.g. gender roles, diversity, etc.) and extending scholarly understanding of the possible facets of this concept.