Pink or Green? Evaluating Gendered Color Differences in Cyberspace Multi-Level Marketing Advertisements

Zak, Elizabeth

doi:10.22059/jcss.2025.396344.1170

Pink or Green? Evaluating Gendered Color Differences in Cyberspace Multi-Level Marketing Advertisements

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original article

Author

Elizabeth Zak

Department of Computer Science, Carthage College, Wisconsin, USA.

10.22059/jcss.2025.396344.1170

Abstract

Background: Economic misinformation may result in people making poor financial choices. Multi-level marketing organizations often target women as potential salespeople. The majority of multi-level marketing organizations are predatory. Oftentimes, their online promotion effectively reaches people.
Aims: In order to better identify the differences in color used in online advertisements for multi-level marketing organizations, I chose to explore whether health multi-level marketing organization advertisements had colors that corresponded with traditional gender norms or traditional health advertisements.
Methodology: I obtained and analyzed exclusively online advertisements for multi-level marketing organizations. I found that there was indeed a difference in both color and brightness between organizations that targeted men and organizations that targeted women.
Results: Health multi-level marketing organizations pose a unique danger. Specifically, they promote both economic and health misinformation. Not only do these organizations recruit people to sell products using spurious techniques, but in many cases, these products may be directly harmful to consumers’ health. As a result, more insight into detecting a health multi-level marketing advertisement is necessary.
Conclusion: Color is a major element in advertisements. Specifically, distinct colors may be used in advertisements that target different genders. Understanding the differences in multi-level marketing advertisement colors is important: if consumers can identify which organizations are multi-level marketing companies, they will distrust the advertisements.

Keywords

Main Subjects

media

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