Gender stereotypes in television advertising in the Middle East: Time for marketers and advertisers to step up

Gender stereotypes, which are particularly harmful to women, have historically been prevalent in advertising, prompting some governments and brands to regulate conventional gender portrayals. This study examines current gender portrayals in television advertising in the Middle East, and specifically in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), because of the increasing importance accorded to women’s empowerment in some of these countries. Building on similar studies elsewhere, we analyze the content of 111 distinct television advertisements aired over a week by a major TV channel in the region. Our analysis reveals that while depictions of certain aspects, such as role (familial/nonfamilial) and location (home/occupational setting), gently nudged traditional stereotypes by portraying women in nonfamilial roles and in occupational settings, depictions of background (female/male/children) and product type further reinforced traditional stereotypes. Based on these findings, we offer specific recommendations to marketers and advertisers in the region.     

Gender stereotypes in advertising: a review of current research

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the historical context of gender stereotypes in advertising and then examine the scholarship related to gender stereotypes. Gender portrayals in advertising have been examined extensively in the last five decades and still remain an important topic. Changing role structure in the family and in the labor force has brought significant variation in both male and female roles and subsequently how it is reflected in advertising. It has been noted that there is a culture lag. Sexes for a long period of time were depicted in advertising in more traditional roles. Women were presented in an inferior manner relative to their potential and capabilities, while at the same the data indicated a shift towards more positive role portrayals. The changing role of men is the area that has seen the greatest interest in the past few years. Men are depicted in advertising in ‘softer’ roles, while interacting with their children. Men are also shown in more egalitarian roles. The paper finally attempts to outline the future research direction of gender portrayals in advertising. First, research should focus on examining gender portrayals in online platforms, and find ways to modify current coding schemes to digital formats. Second, companies and the media are beginning to pay attention to a once largely ignored segment the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) consumer. Third, recent advertising has focused on the ‘empowered’ women called femvertising.     

Influence of gender stereotypes on advertising offensiveness and attitude toward advertising in general

Although considerable research has examined attitude toward advertising in general (AG), little is known about AG's determinants. This study investigates gender stereotype-related constructs whose relationship with AG is understudied and unclear. Structural equation modeling demonstrates that attitude toward sex/nudity in advertising predicts AG indirectly through the perceived offensiveness of advertising. Also, the more consumers believe that advertising portrays gender stereotypes, the less favorable their AG. Multi-group analyses, however, demonstrate that offensiveness harms AG for men, but not women. Also, gender-stereotype attitudes harm AG for female and younger consumers, but do not harm AG for male or older consumers. These results have important implications for advertisers in message targeting and advertisement execution strategies. Also, because unfavorable AG increases demands for governmental oversight and interference, the advertising industry should strengthen self-regulation. This self-regulation should proscribe traditional gender stereotypes and excessively erotic ads that may offend consumers, even if those consumers are outside an advertiser's target market.     

Gender Discrimination in Chinese Recruitment Advertisements: A Content Analysis

Sex-role stereotypes exist as a primary source of gender inequality in employment. This issue becomes even more salient in the social context of China, where the traditional view of female inferiority persists and the legal system provides inadequate protection of equal employment rights. Reporting a content analysis of Chinese recruitment advertisements, this article concludes that gender discrimination is practiced by Chinese employers in recruiting for white-collar positions. It also finds that female applicants are more likely to encounter other forms of discrimination such as age and physical appearance requirements as well.     

A content analysis of male roles in television advertising: Do traditional roles still hold?

Analysis of male roles in television advertising is limited. In order to remedy this, our research serves as a catalyst by providing a review of the current literature, conducting a preliminary examination of male roles in television advertising, and discussing ways for this area of research to move forward in the future. Specifically, the study conducted in this paper examines television advertising to provide insight on the depiction of males, the portrayed relations between males and other individuals, and how these depictions may have changed from 2003 to 2008. Male depictions in lead roles are contrasted using 907 primetime commercials from 2003 and 961 commercials from 2008 from the four major US broadcasting networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX). Results suggest that some aspects of male depictions in advertising are counter to, while other aspects are reflective of, the changing gender roles occurring in society.     

Gender effects on consumers’ attitudes toward comedic violence in advertisements

Abstract

This study examined gender’s effects on attitudes and tendencies to share online ads containing comedic violence. The results show that males enjoyed comedic violence more than females, when the perpetrator of the comedic violence was male, regardless of the victim’s sex; and, when the perpetrator and victim were both female. When the perpetrator and victim were of different sexes, the impact of attitudes toward comedic violence on sharing the ad varied by gender. However, when the victim and perpetrator were of the same sex, there was no significant gender difference in the effects of attitudes toward sharing the ad.     

A longitudinal analysis of the changing roles of gender in advertising: a content analysis of Super Bowl commercials

Although the prevalence of gender stereotypes in advertising is well established, relatively little research has examined gender stereotypes in the context of Super Bowl that is arguably the most important event in US television advertising. This study systematically examines gender representations across various product categories in Super Bowl commercials over a 20-year period (1990–2009). Our findings detect and discuss shifts in the cultural notions of gender constructed in advertising messages targeting the largest and the most demographically diverse audience in US television. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.     

A longitudinal content analysis of gender role portrayal in Belgian television advertising

This study explores gender role portrayal in advertisements broadcasted on Belgian commercial television. We gathered a sample of 493 commercials (featuring 907 characters) randomly selected out of two periods (January 2002–April 2003, n = 250 and January 2009–April 2010, n = 243) from a database containing all advertisements broadcasted on Belgian commercial television. A content analysis was carried out using a coding scheme based on existing literature. Content categories included gender of the characters, gender roles (i.e. parental, housekeeping and professional expert) and sexual objectification. Hypotheses predicted that men and women would be represented differently in television advertising, and that these differences would reflect traditional gender stereotypes. Moreover, due to regulatory changes, we hypothesize that these differences should decrease over time. Results are largely in accordance with the existing literature. Women tend to be depicted as younger and are portrayed more often within dependent roles as caregiving parent, housewife or as sexual objects than men. A longitudinal analysis of role portrayal changes across two periods within and between genders indicates little change in gender role portrayals in Belgian television advertising between 2002–2003 and 2009–2010. Despite social and regulatory changes, gender stereotypes in advertising seem to persist over time.     

Schmoozers,not snoozers: Busting the Kevin and Angela stereotypes in public accounting

In contrast to the well-known stereotype of the boring, unsociable accountant, today’s public accounting professionals argue that they are boundary spanners. Working at the intersection of the firm/client interface, these professionals contend that sociability is a requisite skill for routinely navigating the many interactions they have with multiple personnel at client organizations. This research aims to address this disconnect and to confront whether the public perception is warranted. Using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue), we assess the sociability of 176 public accounting professionals and discover that, contrary to the stereotype, male public accountants are more sociable than males in the general population. Our analysis also demonstrates that female public accountants are no more or less sociable than females in the general population. Additional analysis shows that while male public accountants are more sociable than female public accountants, this effect is attributable to differences at lower levels of the profession and that male-female differences disappear when comparing male managers and partners to female managers and partners. Given the importance of sociability in public accounting, this research offers recruiting strategies that will help to dispel the myth of the unsociable accountant and provides training tips for enhancing sociability within the ranks.     

Taste and nutrition: the uses and effectiveness of different advertising claims in women's magazine food advertisements

A multi-method study was conducted to examine different advertising claims in current food advertising and to determine the effectiveness of different advertising claims on females’ evaluative judgments of food advertisements. Content analysis results of 678 women's magazine food ads indicated functional food ads appeared to adopt nutrition appeals without taste claims and a combined use of nutrition appeals and taste claims, whereas hedonic food ads tended to use taste claims without nutrition appeals. Nevertheless, these food advertising practices were called into question by the results of two experiments, showing the combined use of nutrition appeals and taste claims was the most effective strategy for both hedonic and functional foods. However, for hedonic foods, advertisers need to include more congruent than extremely incongruent claims. Implications for food advertisers and policy-makers were discussed.     

Board Gender Diversity: Challenges and Implications for Corporations in the East African Community

ABSTRACT

East African Community’s (EAC) corporations are required to follow a regional treaty of mainstreaming gender equality. This article discusses challenges encountered by corporate boards of the EAC’s corporations when adding women. Agency and resource dependence theories led the study, while a review of the literature was the methodology. We discuss the benefits of diverse boards and challenges faced when developing this diversity. We show how power distance, masculinity, and certainty avoidance prevent women from corporate boards. Furthermore, we discuss how social orientation and business environment impact women’s participation. The article discusses various strategies to be considered for increasing diversity.     

Innovativeness and business relationships in women‐owned firms: The role of gender stereotypes

This paper investigates the relationship between business contacts and innovativeness in women‐owned firms and how women entrepreneurs’ perception of gender stereotypes affects this relationship. Data were collected through a survey of 107 women entrepreneurs in Spain. The results show that maintaining close contacts with managers/entrepreneurs in different industries and with customers is significant in explaining innovativeness in women‐owned firms. The stronger the women entrepreneurs’ perception of stereotypes that deviate from the masculine profile of the entrepreneur, the stronger the influence of these two types of close contact on innovativeness. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Influence of Nationality and Gender on Ethical Sensitivity: An Application of the Issue-Contingent Model

When a member of an organization has to make a decision or act in a way that may benefit some stakeholders at the expense of others, ethical dilemmas may arise. This paper examines ethical sensitivity regarding the duties to clients and owners (principals), employees (agents), and responsibilities to society (third parties). Within this framework, ethical perceptions of male and female managers are compared between the U.S. and Turkey – two countries that differ on power distance as well as the individualism/collectivism dimensions. Our results show that ethical sensitivity varies depending upon whether the interests of principals, agents, or third parties are affected by a given ethical dilemma. We also find that, contingent upon the principal-agent–society relationships, the nationality and gender of the decision-maker influences ethical sensitivity. Can Simga-Mugan is a Professor of Accountancy at Department of Business Administration of Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. She received her Ph.D. in accountancy from University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. Her current research interests are ethics, international financial reporting issues, manipulation in the stock market and effect of news on the stock market. Bonita A. Daly, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Accounting in the School of Business, University of Southern Maine in Portland, Maine. She teaches auditing and financial accounting to both undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Daly also teaches business ethics in continuing education programs for practicing accountants. Her research on the accounting profession has appeared in Critical Prespectives on Accounting, Accounting, Organizations, and Society, and the St. Johns Law Review, among others. Dilek Onkal is a Professor of Decision Sciences and is currently the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration at Bilkent University, Turkey. She received a Ph.D. in Decision Sciences from the University of Minnesota, and is doing research on ethics judgements, risk perception, risk communication, and judgmental forecasting. Lerzan Kavut is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Business Administration of Istanbul University. She has received her B.A. and Ph.D. from Istanbul University. Her current research interest is in the area of behavioral auditing.     

Gender identity and brand incongruence: when in doubt,pursue masculinity

Gender identity is the extent to which an individual identifies with masculine or feminine personality traits. Sex roles in Western societies continue to evolve, so this research examines the developing relationship between gender identity and consumer responses to gendered branding. Grounded in self-congruency theory [Sirgy, M. J. (1982). Self-concept in consumer behavior: A critical review. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 287–300], the present research reports an experiment that supports a congruence relationship between gender identity and brand response. Masculine consumers prefer masculine brands. The results also show incongruent brand rejection where masculine consumers react negatively to feminine brands although feminine consumers are more accepting of masculine brands. Further, the results suggest that gender identity is a more effective dimension for customer segmentation than biological sex. Overall, the results suggest that masculine brands are more effective than other gendered brand profiles for masculine, feminine, and androgynous consumers.     

Perception of Women Managers in Singapore: A Media Analysis

The paper exmaines the factors that facilitate and inhibit women's entry into managerial positions, drawing on the findings from a previous study conducted in 1993 and comparing the results against those based on an analysis of selected contributions (from 1993–2003) in the media. A content analysis is conducted in three local newspapers on how they described woman and male managers. Profile, word and theme analysis are carried out on the selected contributions. Findings reveal that successful women managers are increasingly accepted and recognized by the society. Nonetheless, they still have to fulfill their traditional social roles. Only the talented women can make it. Implications of the findings are discussed..     

Gender differences in financial knowledge,attitudes, and behaviors: Accounting for socioeconomic disparities and psychological traits

A large body of international research finds a persistent gender gap in the financial literacy of women compared to men, but explanations for this gap remain a topic of active debate. In this observational study, we explore the explanatory value of psychological characteristics, in addition to demographic variables and roles in household financial decision making. We begin by documenting the expected gender differences in financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, using a national survey of adult Canadians (n = 21,789) that provides population-level estimates. Next, we contrast these results against a second Canadian survey data set (n = 3,502) where we are able to control for individual differences in psychological traits. Results of OLS regressions suggest that gender is not a significant predictor on three scales of financial capability. Decomposition analysis finds underlying differences in individual characteristics (endowments) explain the majority of the observed gender gap in financial literacy when psychological traits are included in the model.     

Global Marketing,Gender and Family Business in Asia: A Literature Review

ABSTRACT

In this article, we explore the recent trends in global marketing, gender and family entrepreneurship in Asia. Taking into account previous contributions, this article aims to provide a better portrait about research on global marketing, gender and family entrepreneurship in Asian countries and future directions. The article presents a few comparative analyses for Asian countries in terms of gender representation in the entrepreneurship sector in recent years as well as the succession in larger family businesses in Asia.     

Gender Differences in Online Customer Satisfaction: The Asymmetric and Nonlinear Effect

ABSTRACT

The article aims to determine the extent of gender-related differences in user satisfaction with websites with a focus on the asymmetric and nonlinear effects of customer satisfaction. An experiment was conducted with 15 men and 15 women who undertook a typical task (scenario) on 44 websites. Overall, 1,320 evaluations of website quality attributes were obtained and analyzed. The results reveal that men and women differ in their website quality assessment. Marketing professionals should consider their target audience's gender when designing a quality website, or even devise ways of approaching both gender groups through distinct means.     

Influence of negative age stereotypes and anti‐aging needs on older consumers’ consumption‐coping behaviours: A qualitative study in South Korea

The number of older people in South Korea is growing dramatically, and the socio‐psychological needs of these people have begun to change from those of elderly people in the previous Confucian culture. The anti‐aging industry is popular among older South Korean consumers, and the Korean mass media have begun to broadcast new images of older people. The purpose of this research was to explore older Korean people's anti‐aging needs by examining their consumption‐related thoughts and behaviours in daily life. A theoretical framework is formulated to organize the coping processes and psychological mechanisms used by older Koreans to meet their anti‐aging needs. A total of 25 older Korean consumers were interviewed, and the qualitative data are analysed to determine the main causes and, attributes of, and reactions to their anti‐aging needs. The analysis of the in‐depth‐interviews shows that the older consumers’ negative age stereotypes act as a stressor and that their need for anti‐aging products is a defensive reaction. It is also found that older Korean consumers change their consumption behaviours to cope with negative age stereotypes and to satisfy their anti‐aging needs, and two types of coping behaviours (problem‐focused and emotion‐focused) are revealed. The results of this study contribute to the academic explanations of the anti‐aging phenomenon among older Koreans and enhance understanding of the perspectives of older Eastern consumers by revealing the existence of their anti‐aging needs.     

Looking through Outdoor Advertising Images for Beauty in Argentina,Chile, Hungary,and Romania

This investigation expands scholarship on beauty and cross-cultural communication through the unique perspective of outdoor advertising. With a content analysis method 1,700 portrayals of men and women in outdoor advertisements, from four different cultures, including Argentina, Chile, Hungary, and Romania, were examined through a framework of advertising and consumer culture, globalization, and theories of beauty. The findings reveal differences across cultures and that beauty ideals are culture specific. Implications are important for practitioners in marketing communications to better understand subtle cultural variations in order to develop effective promotional programs required in the globalized economy.