Scopus Journal Call for paper: Journal of Historical Research in Marketing

Historical analysis of Gender-based marketing strategies

This special issue offers an original contribution by situating gender at the centre of historical marketing analysis—an area often overshadowed by studies of firms, products, or consumers in general. It advances current scholarship by integrating feminist theory and visual culture into the historiography of marketing, providing new conceptual tools to interpret how gender has shaped, and been shaped by, market communication. This special issue aims to expand the temporal and geographical scope, encouraging comparative studies that trace long-term trajectories across different historical contexts. By including perspectives on both representation and agency—women as subjects and producers of marketing—the issue will foster a more inclusive and multidimensional understanding of marketing history. It will thus establish a framework for rethinking the relationship between gender, creativity, and commercial culture across time.

Since the Journal of Historical Research in Marketing published its special issue on female contributors to marketing thought and practice (edited by Tadajewski & Maclaran, 2013), gender has remained a meaningful yet dispersed theme within marketing history. Subsequent research has examined women’s professional visibility and leadership in advertising and marketing organisations across international contexts (Whelan, 2014; Wills, 2018; Wills, 2020). In parallel, recent studies have advanced the analysis of gendered narratives, visual representation, and the construction of femininity in historical marketing discourse (O’Hagan, 2022; Kenalemang-Palm, 2025; Arnberg, 2025; Tso, 2025). More recently, cultural shifts have seen a move from the postfeminist ideals of the #girlboss towards a nostalgic and reactionary turn, embodied by the tradwife figure (Sykes, 2025). Understanding this reorientation requires examining the historical imaginaries on which such femininities rely, and advertising, due to its role as mediator between economy and culture, and producers and consumers (Corin, 2004), plays a central role in shaping these imaginaries.

List of Topic Areas

Representations of femininity and motherhood in advertising across historical periods.
Gendered segmentation and the construction of female consumer identities
Women as creators: illustrators, copywriters, brand designers, and entrepreneurs
Domesticity, beauty, hygiene, and moral authority in female-targeted campaigns
Cross-cultural comparisons of gendered advertising narratives
The visual and symbolic construction of gender roles through posters, packaging, and promotional materials
The historical role of women in marketing departments or branding strategy
The co-construction of class and gender in market communication
Historical debates on feminism and advertising
Gender and emotions in historical branding strategies

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jhrm
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see here: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/jhrm
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.