Do Consumer Attitudes Toward Gender Equality Matter? Brand‐Related Consumer Responses to Femvertising in a Country With a Low Gender Equality Index

ABSTRACT Femvertising, a form of advertising aimed at empowering women, has been widely examined and is generally associated with positive consumer responses. However, less attention has been given to how foundational consumer beliefs, such as attitudes toward gender role equality, shape responses to femvertising, particularly in those Eastern European contexts where gender equality remains low. This study examines the brand‐related consumer responses of femvertising, while considering gender role equality attitudes as a potential moderator. An experiment was conducted in a low‐gender‐equality context, comparing a femvertisement with a traditional gender‐stereotypical advertisement in one marketplace. Data from 286 Generation Y women were analyzed using covariance‐based structural equation modelling in AMOS and moderated serial mediation analysis using PROCESS (Models 6 and 83). The findings indicate that the femvertisement evoked favorable evaluative responses among the sampled Hungarian Generation Y participants. Perceived female empowerment enhanced the attitude toward the advertisement, which in turn related to more favorable brand evaluations and higher purchase intentions. Gender role equality attitudes further strengthened the association between perceived empowerment and attitude toward the advertisement. Overall, the results suggest that consumer responses to empowerment‐oriented advertising vary with underlying gender equality beliefs and contextual conditions, with particular relevance for Generation Y women. This study contributes to research on advertising and societal gender norms by linking attitudes toward gender equality with variation in consumer responses to empowering advertising.