Thesis

STEREOTYPING OF WOMEN IN TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENTS

A Thesis
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the
Louisiana Sate University and
Agricultural and Mechanical College
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
Master of Mass Communication in The Manship School of Mass Communication

By
Vaishali Shrikhande
B’Com., University of Pune, India, 1998
M.C. M.S., Mass Communication, University of Pune, India, 2000
August, 2003

Table of Contents
PAGE
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………..iii
CHAPTER
I.
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………1
II.

LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………..6

III.

METHOD………..………………………………………………..19

IV.

RESULTS…………………..……………………………………..25

V.

DISCUSSION……………………………………………………..46

REFERENCES………………………………………………………………..51
APPENDIX A: CODING BIBLE..…………………………………………...54
APPENDIX B: CODING SHEET…………………..………………………...58
VITA.………………………………………………………………………….59

ii

Abstract

This study examined the portrayal of women in television commercials and documented the stereotypes associated with women in today’s television commercials.
Content analysis was chosen as a method of inquiry for this study. Two hundred and twenty six advertisements were recorded from the three chosen networks, ABC, CBS and
NBC. No local advertisements or public service announcements were included in the sample. Each advertisement was initially coded for the central figure, whether the central figure was a male or a female. In addition, each central figure in the advertisement was coded for the following categories: 1) age; 2) product use; 3) occupation; 4) voiceover; 5) product representative; 6) stance; and 7) product types.
Analysis was performed to determine the extent to which female characters portrayed in these advertisements were subject to stereotypical portrayals. The analysis of the data gathered reveals that portrayals of women in television advertisements in many ways conform to most advertising’s stereotypical

References: Albarran, A.B. (2000). Management of electronic media. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press. Allan, K., & Coltrane, S. (1996). Gender displaying television commercials: A comparative study of television commercials in the 1950s and 1980s Bardwick, J., & Schumann, S. (1967). Portrait of American men and women in TV commercials Bretl, D.J., & Cantor, J. (1988). The portrayal of men and women in U.S. television commercials: A recent content analysis and trend over 15 years Browne, B.A. (1998). Gender stereotypes in advertising on children’s television in 1990s: A cross-national analysis (1972). Sex-role stereotypes: A current appraisal. Journal of Social Issues, 28(2), 59-78. Chafetz, J.S., Lorence, J., & Larosa, C. (1993). Gender depictions of the professionally employed: A content analysis of trade publications, 1960-1990 Courtney, A.E., & Lockeretz, S.W. (1971). A woman’s place: An analysis of the roles portrayed by women in magazine advertisements Courtney, A.E., & Whipple, T. W. (1985). Female role portrayals in advertising and communication effectiveness: A review Culley, J.D., & Bennett, R. (1976). Selling women, selling blacks. Journal of Communication, 26, 160-174. Dominick, J.R., & Rauch, G.E. (1972). The image of women in network TV commercials Ferguson, J.H., Kreshel, P.G., & Tinkham, S.F. (Winter, 1990). In the pages of Ms.: Sex role portrayals of women in advertising Flerx, V.C., Fidler, D.S., & Rogers, R.W. (1976). Sex role sterotypes: Developmental aspects and early intervention Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1980). The “mainstreaming” of America: Violence profile no Geis, F.L., Brown, V., Jennings, J., & Porter, N. (1984). TV commercials as achievement scripts for women Gilly, M.C. (1988). Sex roles in advertising: A comparison of television advertisements in Australia, Mexico and the United States Gould, S.J. (1987). Gender differences in advertising response and self-conciousness variables Graig, R.S. (1992). Women as home caregivers: Gender portrayal in OTC drug commercials Hall, C.I., & Crum, M.J. (1994). Women and “body-isms” in television beer commercials Holsti, O.R. (1969). Content analysis for the social sciences and humanities. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley Publishing Company. Kaid, L.L., & Wadsworth, A.J. (1989). Measurement of Communication Behavior. In Emmert, P., & Barker, L.L (Eds.) Knill, B.J., Pesch, M., Pursey, G., Gilpin, P., & Perloff, R.M. (1981). Still typecast after all these years? Sex role portrayals in television advertising Komisar, L. (1971). Woman in sexist society. The image of woman in advertising. In Gornick, V Lull, J.T. Hanson, C.A., & Marx, M.J. (1977). Recognition of female stereotypes in TV commercials Lundstorm, W.J., & Sciglimpaglia, D. (July, 1997). Sex role portrayals in advertising. Macklin, M.C., & Kolbe, R.H. (1984). Sex role stereotypes in children’s advertising: Current and past trends Masse’, M.A., & Rosenblum, K. (1988). Male and female created they them: The depiction of gender in advertising of traditional women’s and men’s magazines. McArthur, L.Z., & Eisen, S.V. (1976). Television and sex role stereotyping. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60 (4), 329-351. McArthur, L.Z., & Resko, B.G. (1975). The portrayal of men and women in American television commercials Milburn, S.S., Carney, D.R., & Ramirez, A.M. (2001). Even in modern media the picture is still the same: A content analysis of clipart images O’Donnell, W.J., & O’Donnell, K.J. (1978). Update: Sex role messages in TV commercials Schneider, K.C., & Schneider, S.B. (1979). Trends in sex roles in television commercials. Sternglanz, S.H., & Serbin, L.A. (1974). Sex role stereotyping in children’s television programs Tamplin, E., Marchwick, J., & Wanca, C. (Spring, 1997). The diffusion of innovation: The fortune 100 and the internet