Should kids’ brands ditch the gender divide? (Study)

Younger parents are trying to raise their children without imposing gender stereotypes, but see marketers as key obstacles to their efforts, according to a new study from Harbinger and Ehm & Co.

In a survey of more than 1,600 parents from Ehm & Co’s Yummy Mummy Club network, seven in 10 parents report being more open-minded in how they raise their kids with regard to gender norms compared to how they were raised.

When comparing responses of parents with at least one child in the same age group, millennial parents are more than twice as likely (47%) as boomer parents (21%) to say brands/advertising make it difficult for them to raise their kids without imposing gender stereotypes.

“Gender roles have definitely shifted in the homes, so children are seeing moms being the main breadwinner and dads are staying home,” said Erica Ehm, CEO and creative director at Ehm & Co. “These stereotypes are being broken in homes, but they’re not being reinforced in the media. They’re not keeping up with the times. It has already happened and I think brands haven’t caught up yet.”

The report, titled “Parenting, Kids and Gender Boundaries,” notes that marketers are capitalizing on the opportunity to enter markets and grow margins with gendered products, including licensing popular children’s characters for toiletries or line extensions from brands like Lego (Lego Friends) and Kinder (Kinder for Girls).

Among parents, there is the perception that popular family brands such as Nintendo, Apple and Lego are trending further away from being gender neutral.

“There are more gendered versions of products now, but I think we’re going to see a shift back to more gender-neutral alternatives that let children play without this societal judgment that we impart when something is pink versus blue,” said Jennifer Lomax, vice-president of Harbinger.

The study suggests that marketers risk a consumer backlash for ascribing gender to otherwise gender-neutral products and should align more closely with the views of today’s parents.

In 2015, Target announced it will remove gender labels from its toy and bedding sections after a mom’s photo of a sign that read “Girls Building Sets” went viral.

Also last year, The Disney Store said it will no longer market Halloween costumes as “girls” or “boys” online. In the U.K., Toys R Us no longer categorizes toys by gender online.

“A lot of families are voting with their wallets now,” said Ehm. “This generation understands the power of their voices and is changing the way that retailers are doing business to earn the business of these new young families.”

While parents overall are becoming more open-minded, their actions can still skew towards traditional gender roles. The study found that 79% parents still purchase gendered toys, albeit only 6% always choose gendered. Parents are much more likely to buy gender-specific items like bicycles for boys (26%) than for girls (11%).

Dads, in particular, are more likely than moms to set clearly defined gender boundaries for their kids. In dual parent households, dads (30%) are much more likely than moms to be the stricter parent with regard to clearly defined gender roles. In addition, dads are twice as likely as moms (7%) to admit to making choices based on societal norms or pressures (14% versus 7%). Written comments in the survey suggest the reason for this is parents have a desire to protect their kids from being bullied or judged.

Comments from moms, however, reveal a frustration over brands that ascribe a gender to otherwise unisex children’s items and activities. The report suggests marketers must tread carefully at the risk of alienating this important decision-maker.

The survey found moms are the key household decision-maker and the parent who is most looking for gender-neutral alternatives for her children: Moms (53%) vs. dads (37%) are the dominant decision-maker for children’s activities and sports for sons and daughters. Moms are half as likely as dads to always choose the gendered alternative of bikes, sports equipment, toys and snacks/candy.

Lomax said she’s not suggesting society needs to do away with gender norms. Her suggestion to marketers is “to be more open-minded about how parents choose to raise their kids with regard to gender roles. There is less risk in producing and designing packaging and marketing goods that are more gender neutral than there is risk in continuing going down a road where you ascribe gender to something that is otherwise genderless.”

Ehm added that brands “have an opportunity to become heroes in the parent space by being leaders. By taking what would have traditionally been called a risk by being gender neutral or making a Barbie for boys or making trucks for girls, they become a hero in the social space, which is great earned media. And certainly for parents who are forward thinking, this is the direction that they are heading.”

The full whitepaper can be downloaded at www.harbingerideas.com or at www.ehmco.com/gender-white-paper.