Woman Portrayal In Lithuanian Contravercial Advertising: Feminist Ground Theory
Purpose – The amalgamation of social media, widespread availability of Internet connectivity, and visual media consumption, is perhaps the quintessential manifestation of the experience economy. The impact of gender images is heavily influenced by media pictures portrayed in advertisements, surpassing the literature on feminism and research experiments focused on promoting gender equality. The contemporary advertising landscape persists in prioritizing women and accentuating their physical appearance while devaluing their intrinsic worth through normative attitudes and presuppositions. This study presents an integrative methodology to identify and analyze the distinctive qualities of identity controversial women's image discourse, to enhance best practices in consumer engagement. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, a rigorous grounded theory methodology was employed to analyze a corpus of primary data consisting of selected printed Lithuanian advertisements. The ads chosen were recognized by specialists as being contentious and were presented to a cohort of 15 female volunteers between the ages of 25 and 45. The results were deduced to fundamental principles of sense-making and consolidated into a framework that incorporates established classics from a variety of knowledge domains, thereby offering a comprehensive cumulative viewpoint for the scrutiny of visual discursive conduct. This study demonstrates the methodological coherence and credibility of the conceptual framework, specifically, its pragmatic relevance and explanatory potency in revealing the nature of controversial advertising. Finding – One of the unresolved queries among marketing professionals pertains to the ethical implications of predicting consumer buying patterns and the determining factors that influence such trends without offensive gender-equal attitudes in adverts. The present study reveals that Lithuanian women categorize advertisements as objectionable when they contain content that is deemed provocative, sexist, or bothersome, with a particular emphasis on the perceived disregard for their cognitive capabilities demonstrated by the message or theme. Additionally, women who are also mothers are also diverted by contentious advertising and how the product demonstrated in advertising affects their children. Ultimately, there is an environmental paradox whereby participants in this research are more tolerant of offensive advertising. Mostly it is affected by their professional choices, moral tolerance, and religious views, which is compared with the escapism provided by social network use or the attitude towards advertising. Research limitations/implications – Results from this research may not be generalizable because it was limited to Lithuania. The small number of participants and the application of interviews are two additional drawbacks. It is essential to specifically research the many sects under moral options. Practical implications – The present study holds significance for practitioners specializing in the domains of feminist ground theory, advertising, research, surveillance of consumer behavior, marketing communications, and economics. Originality/Value –– The author presents a new feminist grounded theory approach that is based on women consumers’ views on other women represented in controversial advertising. Through an unbreakable market relationship with the consumer, moral ideals that are communicated through advertising or the brand become individualizations that are impacted by choice. Marketing professionals still lack insight into how to forecast purchase trends and what drives them. Being a part of the war caused us to consider how our preferences for and support for brands and businesses affected our moral standards. The act of shopping is employed as a bridge between the items and the real reason people purchase, where culture transforms into a wider programming of people's thinking, represented not only in values but also in the types of women buyers choose to buy from advertisements.