How Age And Gender Representation Can Boost CTR In A Post-Aspirational World
Marketers believe aspirational advertising is the key to success. Show people what they want to be, not what they are, you'll get them. So advertisers tend to use young and female models in their ads. But research suggests that this approach may be misguided. In fact it may cost you money.
Young and female sells, but does it?
Marketers often assume that audiences respond better to young and beautiful faces. Belgian Ad Diversity Barometer, which analyzes the top 1000 ads in Belgium each month by media spend, shows a stark underrepresentation of older audiences.
People aged 45 and older account for 46% of Belgian population and 53.5% of buying power, but they make up only 19% of talent in these advertisements.
The representation gap is even more pronounced when it comes to women. As ads feature talent aged 45 or older, we see ±40% fewer female faces. Conversely, as the talent gets younger than 24, women are represented 40% more than men.
| Age | Male | Female | Difference F-M/F+M |
| 65+ | 1% | 1% | 0% |
| 55-64 | 5% | 2% | -43% |
| 45-54 | 7% | 4% | -27% |
| 35-44 | 12% | 11% | -4% |
| 25-34 | 12% | 17% | 17% |
| 18-24 | 4% | 9% | 38% |
| -18 | 5% | 11% | 38% |
Across all age categories, online ads feature 57% women and 43% men. In other words, marketers prefer female and young models.
The source attractiveness model (McGuire, 1985) states indeed that people are more attracted to products endorsed by attractive persons. But marketeers seem to mistake attractive for young. Moreover, aspirational beauty standards are an outdated notion. Trend reports indicate that authenticity and vulnerability have gained significance since the COVID pandemic.
Research Debunks The Myth Of The Aspirational Ad
An experiment conducted by Ulster University provides compelling evidence against the assumption that all audiences prefer seeing young female models in ads.
The researchers showed various teeth whitening Facebook ads with models of different ages and genders to audience groups of different ages and genders. The results, based on 659,522 unique Facebook impressions and 1,733 unique clicks were striking: age-gender congruence (same age-gender of depicted person as age-gender of target audience) significantly increased click-through rates (CTR).
Older women clicked 125% more on ads portraying older women, older men 190% more on ads featuring older men, younger women clicked 227% more on younger women, and younger men clicked 323% more on ads portraying younger men.
CTR increase when models and audience have the same age and same gender
| CTR increase when models and audience have the same age and same gender | |
| Older female (50-64) | 125% |
| Older male (50-64) | 190% |
| Younger female (25-39) | 227% |
| Younger male (25-39) | 323% |
CTR increase when models and audience have the same age and same gender as opposed to having the opposite age group and gender
Showing the same gender but a different age or showing a different age but same gender did not result in a better click-through as shown in the table, averaging the click-through rates for the four groups.
| Relative CTR when user and depicted model have | Different age | Same age |
| Same gender | 94 % (~100%) | 216 % |
| Different gender | 100 % | 93 % (~100%) |
Average CTR increase across all groups for different age-gender congruence combinations
When marketeers fail to represent their target audience in ads, their brands or products lose relevance and ultimately they will miss a significant portion of the market.
Similar studies have been conducted regarding ethnic congruence. We will address these in a later post.
How Inclusive Representation Can Drive Growth
Many marketers have rightfully abandoned demographic segmentation in favor of need-based segmentation; and brand strategists and creatives have been looking for an emotional insight that is shared across ages and genders to trigger the target audience.
But when it comes to depicting the target audience in ads, they mostly still go for the one-size-fits-all aspirational "key marketing demographic", young, fit and attractive models.
Digital advertising allows for targeting and personalization at scale, which means we can let go of the lowest common denominator and attract underrepresented audiences.
Unlock Diversity Metrics To Unlock Growth
With No-Kno's diversity analytics you can measure the age and gender of the people depicted in your ads across all your marketing touch points - along with other diversity metrics. These metrics can be matched with your target audiences to identify gaps.
Conceptually, marketers understand inclusive marketing's importance, but concrete cases are often lacking to make it a reality.
Age and gender matching of your digital campaigns with your target audience can be an ideal low-entry project. It touches upon all the steps in the marketing process, from creative to delivery, without requiring a new brand positioning or campaign concept exercise.
By showing “people like me”, brands can build stronger connections with their consumers and ultimately drive growth.
Sources
Multivariate Testing Confirms the Effect of Age and Gender Congruence on Click-Through Rates from Online Social Network Digital Advertisements. Higgins, Sean; Mulvenna, Maurice; Bond, RR et al. In: Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, Vol. 21, No. 10, 16.10.2018, p. 646-654.