1. Millward Brown: Knowledge Point
Do men and women respond differently to ads?
While at an overall level, men and women give similar ratings to ads, they
respond differently to individual ads. Men are more likely to enjoy ads featuring
humor, distinctive creative styles, and sexual imagery, while women are more
likely to enjoy ads featuring children or a slice of life.
Overall, ratings are similar Comparison of male and female – negative emotions
At an overall level, we observe little difference in the way men
10
9. 24
8 .88
8 .42
and women respond to advertising. The following chart looks
7.97
at key TV Link measures (enjoyment, active involvement,
branding, news, credibility, difference, and relevance) for U.S. 5
English ads for which the test sample consisted of both men 3.03 2.94
and women; there is little difference in the scores given by 1.66 1.76
1.08 0.85 0.63 0.71
1.42 1.29 1.42 1.29
men and women. 0
Repel led Inadequate Sad Annoyed Hat red Dis appointed Guilty Unimpressed
(1277 ) (1268 ) (1277 ) (1268 ) (1277 ) (1268 ) (1277 ) (1268 ) (1277 ) (1268 ) (1277 ) (1268 ) (1276 ) ( 1267) ( 1276) ( 1267)
Men versus Women: No real differences
Male
6 Female
5. 32
5. 03
These findings are backed up by analysis from our tracking
4.04 4.03 4.09
database, which finds no difference between the average
4.01
4
3.55 3.54
3.58 3.60
2.65 2.64
3. 02 3.04 Awareness Indexes for men and women. After advertising,
2
increases in TV ad awareness and brand measures are similar
among both groups.
0
Diffe re n c e Rel eva nce
Men and women enjoy different things
Enjoyme nt I nvo lve me nt Bran d in g News Cre d ib il ity
(1338) (1329) (456) (447) (1332) ( 1323) ( 1287) ( 486) ( 443) ( 434) (1285 ) However, behind these averages, it is clear that there are real
Ma l e differences in the types of ads that are enjoyed by men and
Fema l e women.
We took data from a set of 1 200 U.S. ads that were tested
Similarly, looking at emotional responses generated by
among samples including both males and females and
advertising, the overall pattern between the sexes is similar.
examined the ads that were in the top 10 percent for each
Comparison of male and female – positive emotions group on enjoyment. This analysis showed that men are more
15
13.3
14.5
likely to enjoy humorous ads - particularly those involving
1 8
1.
10.5 10.7 spoofs. (However, it is worth stressing that there are also
10. 3
10
8 .1 8 .1
9.4
8.4 many humorous ads that do perform well among women).
7. 2
6 .2
HUMOR Male Female
5
3.1 Funny 47 28
2.6 2.2
1.6 Light hearted 36 38
0 No Humor 17 34
Att ra c te d Exc i te d Co n fi d ent Contented Affec tionate Sur prised Proud Ins pired
( 1277) ( 1268) (1277) (1268) (1277) (1268) (1277) (1268) (1277) (1268) (1277) (1268) (1277) (1268) (1277 ) (1268 ) --------------------
Male
Spoof/Parody in ad 12 2
Fem ale Base (ads) (114) (135)
Base
April 201
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