Abstract
Among emerging economies, one in five people do not have access to a mobile phone (Silver et. al, 2019) and 2.9 billion globally have never used the internet (International Telecommunication Union 2021). Mobile for development (M4D) programs, an extension of information communication technology for development, aim to close this digital divide by providing mobile phones to users where existing access to technology may be limited. This research explores the following question: Does mobile for development advertising present an authentic view of how mobile phones enable empowerment for rural Indian women? Utilizing survey research deployed to 373 low-income women in rural India, this study seeks to understand 1) their perceptions of INGO advertising that depicts women ‘like them’ as mobile phone users in developing contexts and 2) the lived reality of their mobile phone use. The findings, which address an existing gap in the literature whereby beneficiary response to INGO advertising is underrepresented (see Ademolu 2021 and Girling 2017) demonstrate how the use of femertizing embeds messaging of empowerment in M4D ads that resonates with both American and Indian audiences. However, these advertisements also mislead viewers by obscuring the realities of mobile phone use for rural Indian women and perpetuate neocolonial sentiments associated with notions of empowerment in both American and Indian contexts, resulting in a dialectical tension between perceived and lived use of mobile phones.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Mobile for development, ICT4D, Women, Advertising, Empowerment, India
