This article will attempt to answer the research question: “What effects do social changes have on how advertising agencies market to women?” through the compilation and use of various secondary sources, academic and non-academic. This topic was chosen because gender representations have been an important and broad topic of analysis for the past five decades, continuing to be important today. The sexes were often portrayed in stereotypical ways in advertisements throughout the 1900s, with changes in family structures and the entry of more women into the workforce beginning to influence not only society at large but also advertisements that reflected the their audience. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay We will discuss how stereotypes may have changed over time and what movements and campaigns have influenced these changes in advertising. In recent years, more and more advertisements are aimed at the modern woman, often referred to as “advertising” (Grau L. and Zotos C., 2016). This demonstrates the importance of investigating how and why society at large influences marketing strategies and how marketers can use this knowledge to their advantage to make attractive advertisements and increase attention to their brand or product. In this digital age, the failure to make advertisements that adhere to social rules will be embraced by consumers holding the organization accountable via social media. Advertising is generally a reflection of the larger society and is often considered the basis for negative stereotypes about women (Grau, S.L., Roselli, G. & Taylor, C.R., 2007). Research into how social changes have affected how advertisers market to women is an important topic as most products are marketed to the female population as they make up over 50% of total segmentation in the UK; exceeding the male population by “approximately 893 thousand units” by the end of 2016 (Statista, 2017). In the past and in advertisements, although in smaller numbers recently, both genders are shown in advertisements in more traditional roles; women clean or cook and men at work or repair the car. As women entered the workforce, with an increase of 53% from 1971 to 2013, (Ons.gov.uk, 2013), the feminist movement brought to the fore and changes in family structure, advertising has increased had to adapt (Grau L. and Zotos C., 2016). More and more often, advertisements show women in powerful roles, sexually liberated and with greater freedom. However, the sexually liberated role is also seen as another stereotype of women, that of the “seductress”, (Holtzhausen, Jordaan and North, 2011) used by advertising to attract attention through the use of female sexual images. the change in attitudes towards women was the feminist, or suffrage, movement. The first wave began with suffrage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, bringing the idea that women could work and vote alongside men. However, initially this was only reserved for upper class women who owned property or wealth. The second wave began in the 1960s, when they began to advocate for the equality of social rights of women compared to men (Kroløkke and Sørensen, 2006). Of course, even though there were social changes, advertising agencies were still behind the method used to attractconsumers. Stereotypical or even degrading advertisements, such as one for a 1963 juicer that read "Does everything but clean, that's what the wife is for," continued to run until 1982. Rena Bartos, a worker at J. Walter Thompson Company as senior vice president, he was one of the earliest and most influential advocates for better marketing to female consumers. Bartos published "The Moving Target" in 1982, which highlighted the changing economic and social status of women in society. Bartos emphasized the fact that women are not a hive mind and “should not be thought of, approached or invoked as an undifferentiated mass” (Bartos, 1982). (Figure 1. Dyer, 2014) In 1970, the Equal Pay Act was introduced in the United Kingdom (Legislation.gov.uk, n.d.), thanks to the collective efforts of all those involved in trying to ensure equal treatment of women in the world of work. workplace. To continue, as more and more women worked and were liberated, there was a shift in family roles and changes in family dynamics. There were more same-sex couples and single-parent families, instead of the traditional nuclear family, all of which had an effect on society as a whole (McRae, 1999). Advertising had to adapt to women's changing roles and move away from submissive roles where women were limited to cleaning, preparing meals for the family, or being submissive to their husbands. To continue, we refer to the new era of advertisers marketing directly to women. as “advertising” (Grau and Zotos, 2016). As more and more organizations adopt the image of supporting equality for both sexes, they are held accountable for their actions. Making a mistake in an advertisement, for example by inserting sexist images, in the digital age will lead to the company having to face the consequences. A recent Co-op advert for their Fairtrade chocolate egg, emblazoned with the words “Be a good egg. Treat your daughter for doing the dishes,” (Dray, 2017); provoked a massive reaction. Overwhelming pressure from Twitter and other social media platforms led Co-op to withdraw the advert and apologize for using stereotypical and sexist language. Finally, campaigns such as “Real Beauty” by Dove (Dove UK, 2004) and “Like” by Always a Girl” (Always.co.uk, 2014) were marketed directly to women and paved the way for other advertisers to follow the example in the way they handled advertising. The Dove campaign was a major breakthrough in marketing to women of all types, including all body types and skin colors in their advertising. Not only did they improve women's confidence, but they increased their approval rate and sales figures by a large margin (Word-of-Mouth and Referral Marketing Blog, 2015), proving that advertising aimed at women, if done correctly, it pays off. The research The question that will be explored in this article is “what effects do social changes have on the way advertising agencies target women?”. This was chosen due to the volatile nature of the advertising industry which changes the basic content of its adverts to reflect the wider society, depending on the country in which it is marketed. This topic has been and still is analyzed around the world, as typically advertisements reflect societies and the values ​​they uphold, and now, due to the digital age, every country is able to view advertisements and holds organizations accountable of almost all their marketing exploits. The following four objectives were determined to provide a linebasis to attempt to answer the research question mentioned above: investigate the different ways in which advertisers target women evaluate the evolution of the way advertisers have and continue to market to women explore how they might have changed stereotypes of women in advertising ascertain what movements and campaigns may have influenced the market change in how women are marketed The data collection for this article was all secondary research compiled from various academic and non-academic sources. The document will include a collection of various qualitative data to best convey information to attempt to answer the research question. The information was collected from sources including statistical and government databases, journal articles, and non-academic literature such as news articles. The research is descriptive to describe changes in society and the effect these changes have had, and continue to have, on advertising agencies and the way they target women. To ensure that the research was reliable, the majority of works used were published works, while any other information conveyed consisted of facts, figures or ideas that may have advanced the research. This article discusses the various ways advertisers advertise to women and women. as they often portray them in their advertisements. The main changes that have occurred in society in recent decades that have influenced the way in which advertisers market themselves were also analysed, to highlight the evolution of advertising agencies' marketing strategies. Furthermore, stereotypes are a common theme across all demographics within advertisements, with stereotypes of women, and how they have changed or remained quite similar over the years, discussed in more depth. Finally, the main movements and campaigns that created change in society and paved the way for more modern advertising were examined. To obtain precise figures on the growing number of female workers and the number of consumers, and other necessary figures, the two websites Statista and the Office of National Statistics (ONS) were used. Since this is a government source and they use market research, among other invaluable data, updated almost daily; to collect information for individual statistics, the data used in this document is reliable and valid. As mentioned, there has been a 53% increase in women in the workplace from the years 1971-2013 (Ons.gov.uk, 2013) . This is mainly due to second wave feminism in the 1960s, which pushed for equal treatment of both sexes in the workplace. The Equal Pay Act of 1970 (Legislation.gov.uk, n.d.) also paved the way for women to feel freer in the workplace as they received the same pay for the same work as their male colleagues. taken from the International Journal of Advertising with the title "Gender Stereotypes in Advertising: A Review of Current Research" (Grau and Zotos, 2016). This secondary literature presents research most similar to the content discussed in this article, with details and research conducted on the stereotypes of how women are portrayed in advertising over the past fifty years. The research was conducted in the US, so comparisons could be made with other countries such as the UK. The information was used to compare how stereotypes are slowly changing due to external factors within society at large and how in recent years advertising agencies have been directly targeting all different types ofwomen. Another literary source used in this article was under the title 'The representation of women in South African television commercials' (Holtzhausen, Jordaan and North, 2011). This was used to highlight the claim that women in advertisements are not only stereotyped as housewives or caregivers, but also cast in sexual roles to attract consumers and sell products to larger numbers This research paper compared the roles of Western countries such as the United States and Europe, and Eastern countries such as China and Thailand, with the roles of women in South African advertisements It was found that one of the most popular roles that women played in advertisements was that of “seductress” (Holtzhausen, Jordaan, & North, 2011), after the role of “seductress”. homemaker and carer. No previous research had been conducted specifically in South Africa into representations of women in advertising, so this was a big step forward in discovering and comparing it to how advertising agencies in other countries operate. To discuss what movements have influenced society and how they treat women, the suffrage and feminist movement must be discussed. From "Three Waves of Feminism" (Kroløkke and Sørensen, 2006), a comprehensive summary of the effects that feminism has had on the advertising industry and society as a whole have been detailed. From the first moments of suffrage to the modern feminism of 2006, they have all had an impact on the way society views and treats women. And advertising agencies have had to adapt to these changes or risk losing potential consumers and, now, in the digital age, they risk their image and brand as they are held accountable for all sexist or demeaning advertisements. The book entitled "The Moving Target" (Bartos, 1982) brought to the forefront the fact that women were individuals with completely distinct thoughts, desires and needs. Before the publication of this book, advertising agencies were behind society at large in accepting that the roles of both women and men were changing. After the book was published they began to change their methods to keep up with the younger generations, as they rejected companies set up according to their old ways and instead turned to more modern companies. During the 1980s and 1990s, there was a shift from an economy based on manufacturing to one based on the provision of services, which led to more women finding work and reduced the number of employed men (McRae , 1999). McRae (1999) Discusses these changes in his book “Changing Britain. Families and Households in the 1990s", which also contains details about shifting family roles and changes in family dynamics. One example is that there were more same-sex couples and single-parent families, instead of the traditional nuclear family, as there was much less stigma towards it than before; all of which had an effect on society as a whole. As there were more women in the workplace, even in advertising agencies, they had a greater influence on how they came marketed advertisements aimed at women. Although they still did not have much authority to direct individual advertising, it was a step in the right direction towards equality. All the movements mentioned have brought us to the current era of marketing advertisements directed at women they are called “advertising”. (Grau and Zotos, 2016) compare the way both genders are represented in advertisements today with those of the past. They found that men are portrayed in softer roles and caring for children, for example. And on the contrary, morewomen are shown in empowering and sexually liberating roles. This research provided insights for this article about how it was not just women whose stereotypes were slowly changing, but those of men as well. Grau and Zotos stressed the importance of advertising being diverse and paying attention to other segments that may have been ignored in the past. This could include, for example, LGBT individuals, who will indeed draw attention to different types of people within society; normalizing all different types of individuals. Dray (2017) was used in this article to illustrate what kind of consequences could befall an organization that uses sexist images or words in this digital age. They used the example of Co-op advertising Fairtrade chocolate eggs to demonstrate that consumers will not accept degrading or sexist language. There was enormous pressure on Twitter and other social media platforms, which reached the Co-op as it was forced to withdraw its advertising or face further consequences. Since all consumers are able to communicate and view everything a company offers, in terms of marketing, online and share their thoughts across countries, organizations need to make sure their bad marketing choices are not what is spread. This can lead to less respect for the organization's name and decrease the quality of the brand image. In direct contrast to this there are two companies that have marketed so well to women that their brand image has increased tremendously and they are one of the most trusted organizations within. their sector. The two organizations are Dove and Always, which pioneered excellent advertising that included women of all types and empowered them at the same time. The Word of Mouth and Referral Marketing Blog (2015) was used to demonstrate that marketing directly to women, if done well, will increase an organization's approval rate. It was found that after the release of the Dove and Always adverts, women's overall confidence improved and their sales figures increased by a large margin compared to before the adverts' release. Through investigating the different ways advertising agencies target women, it is clear that women view ads more favorably that do not categorize all women as exactly the same, liking and using the same products. The Dove campaign is an excellent example of a company that is inclusive of all body shapes and skin colors, uplifting all women rather than a select few. More organizations should take this into account when marketing directly to women. Clothing advertisers, for example, should include multiple body types and models to show which clothes look good on them. This is because having only one type of model will not accurately portray all of the clothing they have to offer but they also do not include their core consumer base. Advertising agencies should also make an effort not to place women in their advertisements who consistently fill subservient or typically stereotyped roles, such as in the kitchen or taking care of children. They should instead include more men sharing the same responsibilities or have same-sex couples to be more inclusive. To continue, advertisers should not resort to selling their products through the use of overtly sexual overtones featuring women in their advertisements, especially in cases where they are not targeting female consumers, as this could also pose the risk of consumers becoming they address '80,.