Kavitha Iyer
@scmc.edu.in
Faculty, SCMC
Symbiosis International (Deemed) University
EDUCATION
BBA, MBA
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Advertising, Consumer Behaviour, Children
Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
Kavitha Venkatasubramany Iyer and Siya Ragade
Informa UK Limited
Kavitha Venkatasubramany Iyer, Aryan K., Raghid Al Hajj, and Nasreddine Saadouli
Frontiers Media SA
The influx of Gen Zs into the contemporary workforce and their differing perceptions and attitudes towards organizational values led this study to examine which employer values attract the best talent among younger individuals nearing the completion of their courses and actively seeking employment. Although Gen Z’s employer preference attributes and factors influencing their intent to join diverse industries have received considerable focus, the media sector has been curiously left out. Additionally, the media industry is experiencing a decline in employment opportunities, with a shortage of secure, well-paying jobs and fewer college placements. Hence, investigating which PBVs in media organizations attract Gen Zs became the study’s premise, carried out using the Employer Attractiveness (EmpAt) scale. Nineteen items relevant to the study’s aim were included in the survey instrument to collect responses from 312 media students from undergraduate colleges across India who had completed at least one industry internship and a project experience lasting 6 months. The multiple regression analysis revealed that, except for social value, the other four values significantly affect Gen Z’s PBV and employment intention within Indian media organisations. The results emphasize the importance of developing an employer branding strategy that focuses on attractiveness to attract culturally compatible Gen Z candidates to media organizations. The decoding outlines variation in employer attractiveness dimensions across cultural contexts (particularly in Asian and emerging economies) and generational backgrounds. The decoding also aims to show the effectiveness of the EmpAt scale, providing valuable insights for practitioners in the media sector and researchers.
Kavitha Venkatasubramany Iyer and Khushi Dani
Emerald
PurposeAlthough women have been represented in advertising since WWII, the themes were laden with stereotypes – from working roles in the 1940s to superwomen in the 1970 and 1980s, second-wave feminism. Contemporary women-centric advertising (or femvertising) strives towards women empowerment and gender equality by stripping down stereotypes. However, through closer inspection, this study examines if this femvertising by brands nowadays is a gimmick to sell their products and further the neoliberal, postfeminist perspective.Design/methodology/approachSemiotic content analysis (SCA) explored the post-feminist discourses, as categorised by Windels et al. (2020) – in the internationally awarded 80 advertisements produced from 2013 to 2023 in the global West and South. Codes generated from SCA were then quantitatively analysed using chi-square and p-values, comparing the three themes: post-feminist elements and discourses, the form of self-surveillance and product ads and measuring the changes in post-feminist discourses in recent years.FindingsAfter 2018, advertisements used more post-feminist discourse, especially commodity feminism, self-surveillance and love-your-body parameters. Brands reacted in their campaigns, conforming to gender stereotypes under empowerment and modifying feminist values.Research limitations/implicationsThe study lacked a phenomenological understanding of the perspective of the consumers, the advertisers and the panel judges of these awards through a qualitative study on the post-feminist aspects of the femvertisements, the importance of depoliticising the women’s struggle or the feminist movement in communicating with the audience and how such a strategy has helped in empowering (or disempowering) real women.Practical implicationsThe study highlights the need for inclusive marketing communication and also outlines implications for the brand owners, advertisers and the creative team. The research emphasises determining the fit between brands and the social issue, eventually leading to positive brand attitude and purchase intention among consumers.Social implicationsThe research helps inform the young consumers about gender equity, the role played by the social, cultural, political, environmental and structural elements in shaping women’s empowerment and how their identity and experiences affect their empowerment. An inclusive communication approach would enable projects with real people with whom consumers, irrespective of gender, can resonate.Originality/valueThe study highlighted the femvertising issue from an inclusive marketing communication spectrum, implying its importance for brands’ attempts to connect with feminist and women consumers authentically.
Kavitha Venkatasubramany Iyer
SAGE Publications
This study examined the presence and implications of post-feminist discourses in internationally award-winning femvertisements featuring Indian women and sociocultural themes. Using Windels et al.’s (2020, Journal of Advertising , 49 (1), 18–33; 2023, Feminist Media Studies , 23 (1), 1–18) six-element post-feminist framework, 102 advertisements (73 global and 29 Indian) were analysed for evidence of commodity feminism, individualisation, self-surveillance and related discourses. The findings revealed a dominant presence of commodity feminism and confidence culture in Indian femvertising, while global ads exhibited higher occurrences of self-surveillance and individualisation. Statistical comparisons showed significant differences between Indian and international campaigns, particularly in the portrayal of empowerment through brand consumption, objectification under the guise of agency and the invisibilisation of caste, class and intersectional struggles. Viewers in India favoured ads saturated with post-feminist tropes, reinforcing internalised neoliberal ideals. The study concludes that Indian femvertising largely reflects faux feminism, commodifying empowerment while neglecting the political and structural roots of inequality. It calls for more inclusive, intersectional representations aligned with the fourth wave of feminism. It introduces the Self-esteemed–Empowered–Allied framework as a tool for more authentic feminist advertising practices.
Kavitha Venkatasubramany Iyer and Anupam Siddhartha
Informa UK Limited
Kavitha Venkatasubramany Iyer, Shashwat Chaturvedi, and Anupam Siddhartha
IGI Global
This study aimed to understand comprehensively the motivations and constraints underlying fantasy sports participation among young adults (18-25) in India. The study applied a motivation and constraint model in the Indian landscape, wherein youth groups who played and did not play fantasy sports were surveyed. Given the issue of the legality of fantasy games in India and its linkage with gambling, two additional factors of addiction and morality were added. The findings of the multiple regression show that participation in fantasy sports among the youth is influenced by intrinsic motivation instead of monetary benefits, pride, or social interaction. Constraints affecting the potential participation of non-players include addiction, consuming valuable time, causing loss of money, and perceived capitalistic exploitation for stakeholders' profit. Producers of fantasy games need to enhance engagement levels to foster intrinsic motivation instead of external among the youth and safeguard them from addiction and gambling.
Kavitha Venkatasubramany Iyer and Mansuri Mallika
LLC CPC Business Perspectives
Self-referential, meta or self-aware advertising uses irony and cynicism to overtly critique and challenge conventional advertising strategies. While increasingly multiple brands are using self-referential advertising campaigns to implement innovative advertising strategies, a limited amount of research has been conducted on the effects of self-referential advertising on consumers’ evaluative responses. This study aimed to identify a link between self-referential ads and the consumers’ sense of self-presentation, mainly the conflict between the ideal self and the real self, and how this, in turn, affects their attitude toward the brand in the subject, further affecting purchase intention and brand perception. A quantitative structured study was conducted in a group of 326 18–35-year-old people, comprising Millennial and Generation Z consumers, using voluntary sampling through links to Google Forms distributed online on various platforms. Findings showed a significant positive correlation between self-referential ads, brand perception, and consumers’ brand attitude (r = 0.777, 0.712). Besides, in the mediation analysis, each of the four regression models establishes a correlation among the three variables. However, significance is not found in the mediating role of consumers’ real selves between self-referential advertising and brand attitude, though consumption patterns mediate consumer acceptance of self-referential advertising. The findings gave product/brand managers and marketing professionals a strategic direction on the importance of using self-referential forms of advertising in congruence with the product life cycle and brand positioning. It also helps to understand the importance of consumption patterns in creating advertising appeals.
Yukta Kulkarni and Kavitha Iyer
Redfame Publishing
In recent years, although inclusive advertising has emerged as a vital focus for global brands, the representation of individuals with disabilities has predominantly been viewed through an ableist lens. The main purpose of this study is to examine the influence of disability-inclusive advertising on the behavioural intentions of Generations X and Z in relation to social inclusion. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we investigated intergenerational attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, self-schemas, anticipated regret felt (moderators), and behavioral intention towards a disability-inclusive advertisement as the stimulus using a sample of 270 respondents recruited using stratified convenience sampling. While the study revealed impartiality of attitudes and subjective norms regarding disability inclusion, perceived behavioral control was affirmative and notably more robust in Generation X as compared to Generation Z. The analysis reveals positive behavioural intentions to promote social inclusion for individuals with disabilities. This study provides important contributions to marketing and sociology by highlighting the crucial role of inclusive advertising in fostering favorable behavioral intentions among targeted audiences. This unique study, represents initial investigation into inclusive advertising within the Indian context, with a specific emphasis on its capacity to foster a favourable socio-psychological change within two prominent societal groups.
Katia Vladimirova, Claudia E. Henninger, Cosette Joyner-Martinez, Samira Iran, Sonali Diddi, Marium Durrani, Kavitha Iyer, Iva Jestratijevic, Helen McCormick, Kirsi Niinimäki,et al.
Elsevier BV
Kavitha Venkatasubramany Iyer and Anupam Siddhartha
LLC CPC Business Perspectives
Reports indicate that 49% of adults in India spend at least 2-3 hours consuming OTT media, rather than watching conventional television. With such changes in the way the general population is exposed to content, brands have also been adapting to the new patterns that this study investigates. This study was conducted to assess consumers’ attitudes and acceptance towards brand placement in the novel media format of web series based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This study, based on a survey of 278 individuals from Urban India settings, was conducted using a self-report questionnaire adapted from F Davis’s Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and User Acceptance of TAM questionnaire (1989). The study supports TAM and recognizes that the frequency of viewing Web Series directly relates to brand recall (R = 0.57, p < .001). Product/brand placement yields brand awareness for unknown or unpopular brands and provide evidence for higher engagement with the placement when the audiences have pre-existing positive attitudes towards the brand (t (277) = 27.11, p = .01). This study also confirms that TAM as a relevant model can be applied to understand how regularity and duration of viewing affect attitudes towards brands and their placement in Web Series. Brand placement in Web Series is perceived as useful and largely determines brand name recall. Thus, marketers should strategically consider using brand placement in Web Series as a part of their marketing communication plan, especially as this media with other related forms of advertisement are important for brands to keep up with the industry’s communication challenges.
Kavitha Venkatasubramany Iyer and Vikas Suresh Dole
IGI Global
India’s education sector is being impacted by COVID-19 in unprecedented ways. The pandemic is disrupting the traditional education system, affecting over 320 million students. This sector is trying to develop robust, innovative approaches to foster a paradigm shift toward digital education. These efforts are being supplemented with the launch of quality-focused multilingual educational applications (apps). Parents are also swiftly adopting a variety of e-learning apps. This research addresses the role of advertisements to empower parents to be educated consumers for educational apps for children. The purposeful sample data were collected from 307 parents of students from the top 10 ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) and CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) schools in Urban India. The findings indicate that advertising media accelerates the diffusion of educational technology and apps among parents. However, it does not help in overcoming insecurities that parents may have regarding these apps for their children.