Gender Differences in Lexical Selection of Online Perfume Advertisement Descriptions: A Study of Adjectives and Nouns

Abstract

In the digital age, online advertising has become a dominant marketing tool, allowing brands to reach global audiences. Perfume advertising remains especially challenging, as scents cannot be directly communicated through media. Gender is a key factor in perfume marketing, with fragrances often framed within a male–female binary. This study examines gender differences in the lexical selection of adjectives and nouns in online perfume advertisement descriptions through quantitative and qualitative analyses. Data were drawn from five global brands—Dior, Gucci, Bvlgari, Chanel, and YSL—covering 20 advertisements (10 male-oriented and 10 female-oriented). The analytical framework combined Lexical Selection Theory, Sensory Integration Theory, and Synesthetic Metaphors in Thai. Findings indicate five main lexical strategies, with “ingredients of perfume” most common and “time” least used. Male-oriented texts emphasized identity-related terms, while female-oriented ones favored sensory and emotional descriptors. Adjective use was similar across genders, though nouns appeared slightly more in female-oriented texts. While overt gender bias was limited, certain lexical choices still reinforced stereotypes in subtle ways. This study fills a gap in applied linguistics by analyzing online rather than print perfume marketing and offers valuable implications for linguists, marketers, and advertisers in crafting gender-targeted yet stereotype-conscious texts, while also providing a stronger foundation for future cross-cultural and multimodal research.