Working with the UK’s leading Out of Home media and infrastructure company, Clear Channel UK, who released a new study focusing on diversity in advertising. The study of 2,000 respondents conducted via OnePoll revealed that nearly one in three (35%) Brits call for more representation for older generations in advertising.
Below is the full list of the groups that are heavily underrepresented in media according to Brits:
- older generations 50+ (35%)
- people with a disability (31%)
- plus size models (28%)
- race and ethnicity (24%)
- neurodiverse people (20%)
- LGBTQI+ (16%)
The study also revealed that Gen Z is more inclusive than older generations, especially when it comes to race and disability representation in media. In comparison to general public, Gen Z considers the following groups greatly underrepresented in advertising: race and ethnicity (42%), people with disabilities (40%), plus size models (36%), older age groups (30%), neurodiverse (30%) and LGBTQI+ (27%).
Women also seem to be more in favour of diversity than men. For example, 41% of women would like to see older ages represented more in advertising compared to just 29% of men. On average, roughly 10-15% more women than men expressed interest in seeing disabilities, plus-sized models and neurodiversity in advertising. People who identify as non-binary came out as the most inclusive when it comes to older ages, plus size models, race and ethnicity and neurodiversity with 50% of respondents preferring to see them being represented.
The study revealed that authenticity/tokenism (26%), lack of normalisation (25%), offensive stereotypes (25%), poor representations of the culture (22%) and failure to acknowledge cultural differences (19%) are the common issues people find in inclusive advertising.
The study also revealed simple steps for how marketers can make advertising more inclusive and accessible, in this case sensory-friendly: simple messaging (38%), clearer layouts (36%), sensory optimisations e.g. reducing sounds/brightness (34%), using clearer fonts (29%), choice of formats e.g. text, audio, video (18%) and using muted colour schemes (16%).
Please credit this research to Clear Channel UK: https://www.clearchannel.co.uk/latest/how-diversity-and-inclusion-can-unlock-audience-growth
