Implicit and explicit gender attitudes as predictors of the effectiveness of non-traditionally gendered advertisements.

Explicit measures of gender attitudes are vulnerable to egalitarian norms and thus may not predict the effectiveness of gendered advertising consistently. We report three quantitative studies which manipulate egalitarian norms (Study 1) and employ hierarchical regression analyses to test the predictive power of explicit and implicit gender attitudes in explaining the effectiveness of gendered advertisements. Study 1 (n=47) showed uniquely that only under conditions where egalitarian norms were inactive did the (subtle) explicit Benevolence toward Men attitude predict the effectiveness of non-traditional Househusband advert types (i.e. the higher the benevolence the greater effectiveness of these adverts). Study 2 (n=60) showed that under the same conditions a new paper Implicit Association Test (IAT) predicted their effectiveness better than explicit attitudes (the higher the relative implicit preference for non-traditional vs. traditional male type the greater effectiveness of the Househusband advert). Study 3 (n=72) replicated these findings for non-traditional female advert types (the higher the relative implicit preference for non-traditional vs. traditional female type the greater effectiveness of the Businesswoman advert). Thus paper IATs had greater utility than explicit gender attitude measures in predicting the effectiveness of gendered ads.