Advertising Review: The Portrayal of Muslim Women Athletes in YouTube Ads

Afnan Qutub; Wesam Basabain

Advertising Review: The Portrayal of Muslim Women Athletes in YouTube Ads

Afnan Qutub, Wesam Basabain

Abstract

Promoting wearing of the hijab by active young consumers is one method of showing respect for the human rights of Muslim women. Some international sportswear corporations such as Nike, Adidas, Under Armour UA, and Haute Hijab HH have been targeting modest athletic wear as new clothing lines to empower veiled athletes and increase their consumer base. This study analyzed four international sports brands’ advertisements on their official YouTube channels aimed at promoting modest sportswear for veiled women. The study investigated the discourse and semiotics used in the advertisements to persuade customers to make a purchase. Methodologically, the study conducted qualitative content analysis to review the ads and explore the extent of viewers’ interactions. The findings determined that the Nike and HH ads were most reached ads, followed by the UA ad, while the Adidas ad was the least reached. Two strategies played a significant role in the success of hijab sportswear ads: cultural identification and transformational appeal. These factors were found to attract the target audience and result in their engagement more than a company’s history and reputation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54663/2182-9306.2021.v9n17.1-72-97

Keywords

Women, Veiling, Hijab, Empowerment, Advertisement, Athletes, YouTube.

Full Text:

PDF

References

Adi das. Creativity by Ruqsana Begum – adidas. (2018) https://youtu.be/tHkBsTrGEU0. Accessed on June 2020.

Alden, D. L., J. B. E. Steenkamp, and R. Batra. “Brand Positioning Through Advertising in Asia, North America, and Europe: The Role of Global Consumer Culture.” Journal of Marketing, 63(1), (1999): 75–87.

Alenezi, L. (2014). Women’s Practice of Sports in Islamic Jurisprudence [Taibah University]. http://0o106yui1.y.http.search.mandumah.com.kau.proxy.deepknowledge.io/Record/620902

Arab news. Saudi Arabia to start granting female gym licenses this month. (2017) https://www.arabnews.com/node/1052881/saudi-arabia

Arai, A., Y. J. Ko, and S. Ross. “Branding Athletes: Exploration and Conceptualisation of Athlete Brand Image.” Sport Management Review, 17, (2014): 97–106.

Bahrainwala, L. and E. O’Connor. “Nike Unveils Muslim Women Athletes.” Feminist Media Studies, (2019): pp.1–16.

Baker, C. International Advertising: Realities and Myths. Sage, 2000.

Baker, R. “Online Social Networks and Saudi Youth Participation in Physical Activity.” Ph.D. diss., Brunel University London, 2016.

Basabain, W., K. Macleod, T. Westbury, and A. Qutub. “Challenges of Self-Presentation and Athlete Branding Among Saudi Female Exercisers: An Auto-ethnography of a Muslim Saudi Personal Trainer Instagram User.” Asian Social Science, 17(3), (2021a).

Basabain, W., K. Macleod, T. Westbury, and A. Qutub. “Personal Branding on Instagram: The Challenges Encountered by Saudi Women Exercisers.” Official Conference Proceedings of the European Conference of Arts and Humanities (2021b).

Baxter, E., 2010. Saudi cleric says the sport is corrupting women. Arabianbusiness.com. Accessed on Feb 2021.

Cheng, H. (Ed.) The Handbook of International Advertising Research. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.

Davis, C., H. Powell, and K. Lachlan. Straight talk about communication research methods. Dubuque, IA: Kendall, 2012.

El-Banna, D. “The Representation of Veiled Versus Non-veiled Women in Advertising: a Comparative Analysis of Local and Western Brands’ Instagram Posts.” (2020).

Elo, Satu & Helvi Kyngas. “The Qualitative Content Analysis Process.” Research Methodologies, (2007): 107–115.

Faisal Al-zawy Abu Fawzan. Ruling on establishing women's sports clubs? Allama Al-Fawzan. (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9na8MDxFFA

Goddard, A. 1998. The Language of Advertising: Written Texts. London: Routledge.

Haute Hijab. Introducing Haute Hijab Sport. (2020) https://youtu.be/BeD0h5Zj0dQ. Accessed Januarary, 2021.

Krippendorff, K. Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology. Second Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004.

Helmi, M. Tashkandi, S. The effect of some comfort properties on the performance properties of sports abaya fabrics for women”. Journal of Architecture, Arts and Humanities, 2021.

Lovic, V.(2012). Content Analysis of Advertisements in Different Cultures. Language,

-51.

NikeWomen. “Nike: What will they say about you?” (2017) https://youtu.be/F-UO9vMS7AI

Okazaki, S., B. Mueller, B, and C. R. Taylor. “Global Consumer Culture Positioning: Testing Perceptions of Soft-Sell and Hard-Sell Advertising Appeals Between US and Japanese Consumers.” Journal of International Marketing, 18(2), (2010): 20–34.

Parker, M. “Nike.” Fortune Magazine. 2015.

Robertson, R. “Globalization and Societal Modernization: A Note on Japan and Japanese Religion.” Sociological Analysis, Vol. 47, March, (1987): 35–43.

Rodriguez, P. R. “Effectiveness of YouTube Advertising: A Study of Audience Analysis.” (2017).Sabir, A., and K. Zenaidi. “Saudi Arabia Reforms: The Changing Face of Saudi Women at the Workplace with a Vision of 2030.” American Journal of Management Science and Engineering 4, (2019): 1–7.

Samargandi, T. H. “The Attitudes of Saudi Teachers toward Teaching Physical Education for Girls at Public Schools in Jeddah” Ph.D. diss., University of Arkansas, Ann Arbor, 2018.

Saudi cleric al-Ghamdi: Abaya is not mandatory as per Islam’s teachings, 2018. Al Arabiya English. https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2018/03/28/Saudi-cleric-Al-Ghamdi-Abaya-is-not-mandatory-as-per-the-teachings-Islam (accessed 2.21.21).

Tashkandi, S., L. Wang, and S. Kanesalingam. “An Investigation of Thermal Comfort Properties of Abaya Woven Fabrics.” Journal of the Textile Institute, 104(8), (2013): 830–837.

Terman, Rochelle. “Islamophobia and Media Portrayals of Muslim Women: A Computational Text Analysis of US News Coverage.” International Studies Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 3, (2017).

Under Armour. UA Sport Hijab. (2020). https://youtu.be/FnEVUcwOg9E