Gender portrayal of US childrens television commercials 50

Gender portrayal of US children’s television commercials: 50 s and 60 s Kara Chan Hong Kong Baptist University conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 1

1. gender role portrayal on television programs and advertising content as major source for children’s gender role socialization 2. Gender stereotyping existed in the portrayal of roles and activities of boys and girls the location of the setting the reward types conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 2

Previous studies MStudies of gender role stereotyping of children commercials dated from 70 s MPatterns: (70 s to early 90 s) MResearch on gender portrayal: male dominance in number and in voiceover; authoritative role in product endorsement; in outdoor setting; more cuts, loud music and active playing females in home setting; more fades and dissolves, soft music and quiet play conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 3

Historical perspectives M 1950 s: a decade in the development of marketing to children M 1968: Action for Children’s Television group lobby on restriction of host selling M 1975 s: the National Advertising Review Board developed a self-regulatory checklist for gender portrayal conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 4

Content Analysis MChulay and Francis (1974): TV ads orienting girls to accept traditional feminine roles, as a wife, a mother, or a sex object MSeiter (1993): boys’ toy commercials depicted conflict, pursuit and competition; girls’ doll commercials focused on care of family members, clothing and home-making conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 5

MKline and Pentecost (1990): play groupings: play with same sex play styles: girls interacted with; boys identified with linguistic theme: scripts for boys’ ads emphasized power, control, domination; scripts for girls’ ads emphasized motherhood, relationship, glamour and attention to physical appearance MDominance of male voice-over: myth of male voice more authoritative conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 6

Research question MHow were males and females portrayed in children commercials in the 50 s and 60 s? MHow does the gender portrayal differ with those found in the 70 s to 90 s MMethod: Content analysis of TVC conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 7

Sample M N=341, unduplicated M 13 tapes of kids commercials in the Television Commercial Archive, Video Resources New York (tapes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) M Included toys, breakfast cereals and snacks commercials M Convenient sample conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 8

Two levels of coding M Each commercial, code: Product category, product gender-type, sex composition, sex of voice-over, location of setting and reward type M Each central character (a child, adult, or cartoon human character appears most), up to two, code: Sex, age, role, activity, whether he/she is authoritative 1/10 of sample coded by a second coder, inter-coder reliability ranged from 0. 9 to 1 conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 9

Table 1. Sample profile (N=341) Product Category No. Toys Character toys and dolls Snacks/food and drink Personal hygiene & toiletries Clothing and shoes Stationeries Household goods and appliance Others* 128 53 127 12 37. 5 15. 5 37. 2 3. 5 5 3 3 1. 5 0. 9 10 2. 9 conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 Percent 10

Product gender type • • 82 (24%) for boys 48 (14%) for girls 211 (61%) for both For neutral ads, 94 features both sexes, 90 features males only conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 11

Ad orientation: trend conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 12

Voice-over • • • 69% use male voice(s) 6% use female voice(s) 24% no voice over 1% use male and female voices Commercials for gender-neutral products used male v-o or no v-o conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 13

Voice-over: trend conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 14

Central characters M 307 out of 341 commercials with CC M Altogether 593 CC coded M 402 male CC (68%), 191 female CC (32%) M 63 (11%) authoritative figures, (14%) male authoritative figure, 5% female authoritative figure conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 15

Central characters: trend conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 16

location • All commercials: mainly home and outdoor • Commercials for girls: mainly home and studio • Commercials for boys: mainly studio and outdoor conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 17

Reward type • Mainly pleasure and practical • Commercials for girls: pleasure (94%) • Commercials for boys: pleasure (56%) and practical (40%) conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 18

Discussion M 50 s-60 s: Strong male dominance in terms of ad orientation and composition of characters M 50 s-80 s: male to female characters ratio kept at 2: 1, more balanced in the early 90 s M commercials in the 50 s and 60 s were genderstereotyped M The slow in change of the gender-stereotype images M Implication for advertisers: be more sensitive to the gender portrayal conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 19

Further research MA greater sample allowed to generalize the findings to all children’s TV commercials from the era MInterviewing advertisers and creative personnel reasons for the change or lack of change in their gender-role orientation their perceived gender roles of children conferen2002AAA_gender 5060 20