A Gender-Based Approach in the Context of Integrated Marketing Communications: Pink Marketing

Abstract

This study examines how pink marketing, as a gender-based approach, is constructed within the framework of integrated marketing communications and which meanings of femininity it circulates. Integrated marketing communications require firms to manage product, price, place, and promotion decisions, along with advertising, public relations, digital, and experiential tools, under a coherent message strategy. In this context, pink marketing is conceptualized as a field in which women are targeted through specific product designs, pricing strategies, store and space arrangements, and emotionally loaded communication campaigns that operate in an integrated way. The research adopts a qualitative case study design and uses purposive sampling to select three campaigns. The global campaign surrounding the Barbie movie, The Estée Lauder Companies’ breast cancer awareness campaign, and the BIC “For Her” product series represent different faces of pink marketing. Slogans, campaign texts and social media posts are analyzed through qualitative content analysis, and posters, product images, spatial designs and photographs documenting user practices are examined through qualitative visual content analysis. The findings show that pink marketing strategies position women within integrated marketing communications, both as influential economic decision-makers and as an emotional, vulnerable target group. Messages of empowerment, solidarity and health often appear within a strongly consumption-oriented frame, and in some cases, traditional gender stereotypes are reproduced. The study highlights the ethical tensions that pink marketing creates for integrated marketing communications and underlines the need for more inclusive strategies that do not reinforce existing gender clichés.

Keywords

• integrated marketing communications
• pink marketing
• gender
• consumption
• consumer behavior

Bütünleşik Pazarlama İletişimi Bağlamında Toplumsal Cinsiyet Temelli Bir Yaklaşım: Pembe Pazarlama

Abstract

Bu çalışma, bütünleşik pazarlama iletişimi bağlamında cinsiyet temelli bir yaklaşım olarak pembe pazarlamanın nasıl kurgulandığını ve kadınlıkla ilişkili hangi anlam kümelerini dolaşıma soktuğunu incelemektedir. Bütünleşik pazarlama iletişimi, işletmelerin ürün, fiyat, dağıtım ve tutundurma kararlarını reklam, halkla ilişkiler, dijital ve deneyimsel uygulamalarla uyumlu ve tutarlı bir mesaj çerçevesinde yönetmesini gerektirmektedir. Bu çerçevede pembe pazarlama, kadın hedef kitleye yönelik ürün tasarımları, fiyatlandırma stratejileri, mağaza ve mekân düzenlemeleri ile duygusal odaklı iletişim kampanyalarının bütünleşik bir yapı içinde ele alındığı bir alan olarak kavramsallaştırılmaktadır. Araştırmada nitel durum çalışması deseni benimsenmiş ve amaçlı örnekleme yoluyla üç kampanya seçilmiştir. Barbie filmi etrafında yürütülen küresel kampanya, The Estée Lauder Companies’in göğüs kanseri farkındalık kampanyası ve BIC “for Her” ürünü, pembe pazarlamanın farklı yüzlerini temsil eden örnekler olarak incelenmiştir. Kampanyalara ait sloganlar, kampanya metinleri ve sosyal medya gönderileri üzerinde nitel içerik analizi yapılmış, ardından afişler, ürün görselleri, mekân tasarımları ve kullanıcı pratiklerini belgeleyen fotoğraflar nitel görsel içerik analiziyle değerlendirilmiştir. Bulgular, pembe pazarlama stratejilerinin bütünleşik pazarlama iletişimi içinde kadınları hem güçlü bir ekonomik karar verici hem de duygusal ve kırılgan bir hedef kitle olarak konumlandırdığını göstermektedir. Güçlenme, dayanışma ve sağlık gibi olumlu söylemler çoğu zaman tüketim odaklı bir çerçeve içinde sunulmakta, kimi örneklerde ise toplumsal cinsiyetçi kalıplar yeniden üretilmektedir. Çalışma, pembe pazarlamanın bütünleşik pazarlama iletişimi açısından taşıdığı etik gerilimlere işaret etmekte ve daha kapsayıcı, toplumsal cinsiyet klişelerini yeniden üretmeyen stratejilere duyulan ihtiyacı vurgulamaktadır.

Keywords

• bütünleşik pazarlama iletişimi
• pembe pazarlama
• toplumsal cinsiyet
• tüketim
• tüketici davranışları.

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