Billboard Visual Design and the Inclusivity Concept: Implications for Gender Patronage of Consumer Products in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Billboard advertisements have become public infrastructure that shapes the commercial urge and tastes of consumers. Its all-embracing concept known as inclusivity provides explanation for common belongingness. In this case, visual design concepts do not exclude any member of the consumer society on the grounds of gender, race, colour and disabilities among others, and that is the canvass of this study. No one can determine how many passers-by view outdoor billboard advertisements in a day. As both human and vehicular traffic increase so its viewership grows rapidly. Billboard business would not have been noticeable without its static and location characteristics. It has more to it. Commercial billboard design concepts provide product information that is visually emphatic on the public to form positive purchasing decisions. Probing into the common notion that billboard visual designs concepts interest women more than men and that their patronage level is higher remains the problem of this study. Survey research design was adopted. Questionnaire instrument was used. Visual designs and the inclusivity concept with its attendant implications for gender patronage were examined. One research question and one hypothesis were drawn to guide the study. The objective of the study is to ascertain whether visual design concepts influence gender patronage of the products advertised on billboards. The hypothesis states that visual design presentation has no significant influence on gender patronage of consumer products. In testing this hypothesis, the responses of the male and female respondents concerning gender in Section A of the questionnaire and the items of the questionnaire concerning visual design concepts (pressure group, moral, cultural, mega-mural design, humour and propaganda, and colour in Section B were scored and the mean and Standard Deviation were computed and then subjected to t-test. The result was presented in a table. The findings of the study show that, of the six visual design concepts, only the pressure group influences gender patronage of consumer products in Lagos State.

Keywords: inclusivity, design concept, consumer products, gender, communication