Emily Tweedie, Savanah Gilbert, Allison Conway, Julio Dragonetti, Bobby Hoechner

Survey Research Objective and Questions

1. Research Objective: Our objective is to research student attitudes towards gender
targeted advertising to see what methods are found to be effective.
2. Key Findings:
a. Women are more likely to buy male-targeted products than men are to buy
female-targeted products
b. Gender targeted ads are necessary when the product is geared towards a
specific gender
c. Millennials look for ads that grab their attention
d. Students are divided upon which media platform they prefer to see
advertisements
3. Research Questions:
a. Are female students more likely to buy male-targeted products than male
students are to buy female-targeted products?
b. Do students believe that gender targeted ads are necessary when aiming the
product at a specific gender?
c. What kind of advertising tactics grab students attention the most and make them
want to watch the ad in full?
d. Which media platform do students prefer to view advertisements?
4. Hypothesis:
a. Women students at Elon are more likely to buy male products than men are to
buy female products.
b. Students at Elon believe that gender targeted advertising is necessary to an
extent when marketing certain products.
c. Millennials prefer short ads that grab their attention rather than ads that are
longer and provide more information.
d. Students at Elon prefer to view advertisements on social media platforms on their
mobile devices.
5. Thoughts on what we might like to compare:
a. We are looking to compare male versus female thoughts on the above research
questions.
Research Questions:
1. Are female students more likely to buy male-targeted products than male students are to
buy female-targeted products?

2. Do students believe that gender targeted ads are necessary when aiming the product at
a specific gender?
3. What kind of advertising tactics grab students attention the most and make them want to
watch the ad in full?
4. Which media platform do students prefer to view advertisements?
5. Demographics
Survey Questions:
1. Please rate the following types of ads based on how likely they are to grab your attention
and make you want to watch the entire ad?
Very Unlikely Somewhat Unlikely Neutral Somewhat Likely Very Likely
a. Funny Ad
b. Informative Ad
c. Surprising Ad
d. Short Ad
e. Story-based Ad
2. On which media platform do you prefer to view advertisements on? (Rank 1=prefer
most, 8= least prefer)
____Twitter
____Facebook
____Instagram
____YouTube
____Television
____Online Television (Hulu, HBO, etc.)
____Print
____Other (please specify)
3. Of the following female stereotypes commonly seen in a
dvertising targeting males,
which do you think are the most prevalent? (Rank only the top 3, with 1 being the most
prevalent.)
a. Sexual
b. Independent
c. Healthy
d. Domesticated
e. Empowered
f. Ditzy
g. Disorganized
4. Of the following female stereotypes commonly seen in a
dvertising targeting females,
which do you think are the most prevalent? (Rank only the top 3, with 1 being the most
prevalent.)

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

Sexual
Independent
Healthy
Domesticated
Empowered
Ditzy
Disorganized

5. Of the following male stereotypes commonly seen in a

dvertising targeting males,
which do you think are the most prevalent? (Rank only the top 3, with 1 being the most
prevalent.)
a. Strong
b. Influential
c. Sexual
d. Breadwinner
e. Messy
f. Detached
g. Childlike
6. Of the following male stereotypes commonly seen in a
dvertising targeting females,
which do you think are the most prevalent? (Rank only the top 3, with 1 being the most
prevalent.)
a. Strong
b. Influential
c. Sexual
d. Breadwinner
e. Messy
f. Detached
g. Childlike
7. Please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following sentences:
Strongly Disagree Somewhat Disagree
Neutral Somewhat Agree Strongly Agree
a. I generally think gender stereotypes in advertising represent f emales positively.
b. I generally think gender stereotypes in advertising represent m
ales positively.
c. I think ads portraying n
egative gender stereotypes are funny.
d. I think ads portraying p
ositive gender stereotypes are funny.
e. I believe that stereotypes are necessary in gender targeted advertising when
presenting a product.
f. I would buy a product targeted at the opposite gender than I am.
8. If you have purchased a product targeted at the opposite gender, what was it and why
did you purchase it?

9. Please click on the gender you associate with.

a. Male
b. Female
c. Other
d. No response
This survey will examine attitudes and perceptions towards advertisements among Elon
students. It should take no longer than 5 minutes. All answers will remain anonymous.