Gender role stereotyping in contemporary online advertising in Europe. An Analysis based on comparison of Polish brands across different industry sectors.

The growing popularity of social media as an innovative and direct marketing tool and one of the most lucrative advertising channels of this day and age spark scholarly attention on how it constructs historically violated notions in traditional media – gender role portrayals. Researchers have been gathering accounts from around the world and different media outlets on the harmful and often unrealistic ways in which advertisements construct the roles of women and men. The former had to be subordinate, focused on their household chores, children, and the maintenance of aesthetically pleasing bodies, hair, and faces, while the latter were at work, "winning the bread", and serving as influential experts. Social media emergence has given hope to the progress and the long-expected changes in constructions of gender. However, has the change happened the moment technology advanced? Or do conservative societies need to evolve first? This thesis aims to enrich the academic literature on gender and advertising by investigating whether gender role stereotyping still exists and, if yes, in what ways it constructs the notion of gender roles. Advertising content from one of the most conservative member states of the European Union – Poland, was examined as this region is often overlooked in research. The study focused on two industry sectors that have been proven to have some of the highest gender bias, according to Geena Davies Institute. Namely, the Instagram posts of carefully selected brands from automotive and consumer-packaged goods sectors were qualitatively investigated using thematic analysis as the most appropriate tool for this method. The study's findings suggest that gender role stereotyping is prevalent in the sample of Polish ads. The themes discussed include: "Homogenous representations," "The green feminine stereotype," and “Gender Contract” relating to sub-themes "Women at home; men everywhere else", and "Men as rational experts; women as needing help".