Beer is for boys; wine is for women : how women perceive portrayed ideas of masculinity in alcohol advertising

Abstract

This research explores how women's perceptions of the portrayed ideas of masculinity in beer advertising may risk isolating potential female consumers. This paper examined how women make sense of their own social identity in relation to drinking and their gender through the framework of the social identity theory. The guiding research questions for this research are: How do women respond to the use of hegemonic masculinity in the advertising of beer, how do women perceive beer advertisements in relation to their gender constructions, and how do women's consumption based identities factor into their alcohol preference? Although there is a substantial amount of research on the use of masculinity in alcohol advertisements and its effects on men, this research wanted to explore how those traits of masculinity impacted women and their perceptions of the advertising and brands. The results suggested that women tend to reiterate the existing norms of their gender in relation to alcohol despite their detestation of those norms, and they tend to use a cultural lens through which to make sense of those norms and their perceptions of the ads. Additionally, this study is able to provide clarification on better methods of gender representation in advertisements and suggest to brands potential ways to better reach them as consumers.