Gender Representation in Television Advertisements in Britain and Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study conducted a content analysis of TV adverts from Channel One in Saudi Arabia and ITV1 in the United Kingdom in 2000-2001. A total of 164 adverts were analyzed from each country. The analysis compared the representation of men and women. Results showed that men and women were equally visually represented as lead characters in advertisements in both countries, but male voice-overs dominated in Saudi advertisements more so than in British advertisements. Women appeared more often in domestic roles and settings and less often in occupational or leisure roles and settings, and were much more likely than men to promote body care and household cleaning products. These differences were more pronounced in Saudi than in British advertisements.

Co-Constructions of Gender and Ethnicity in New Zealand Television Advertising

“…However, women remain concentrated in product categories relating to the home, food preparation, personal care and the body, while men are more often seen in advertisements for financial products (Ganahl, Prinsen & Netzley, 2003, US) and non-domestic products, particularly those related to automobiles and sports (Bartsch et al, 2000;Ganahl et. al, 2003;Nassif & Gunter, 2008). Studies also consistently show that men are more frequently depicted as powerful, as leaders and as exercising reasoned authority (Beattie, Khan & Philo, 1998, UK;Coltrane & Messineo, 2000;Seiter, 1995, US), and appear in a wider range of occupational roles than women (Furnham & Mak, 1999;Nassif & Gunter, 2008;Neto & Pinto, 1998, Portugal).…”

“…Studies also consistently show that men are more frequently depicted as powerful, as leaders and as exercising reasoned authority (Beattie, Khan & Philo, 1998, UK;Coltrane & Messineo, 2000;Seiter, 1995, US), and appear in a wider range of occupational roles than women (Furnham & Mak, 1999;Nassif & Gunter, 2008;Neto & Pinto, 1998, Portugal). Women are less frequently depicted as professionals or product authorities and remain underrepresented in vocational roles, while being over-represented in maternal, homemaking and aesthetic roles (Furnham & Mak, 1999; see also Furnham & Skae, 1997, UK;Gilly, 1988, Australia, Mexico & US;Nassif & Gunter, 2008;Neto & Pinto, 1998). For example, in their cross-cultural comparative study, Paek, Nelson and Vilela (2011) found that in US and Canadian advertisements men were significantly more likely than women to be depicted as professionals and office workers, while nearly all those depicted as homemakers were women.…”

Representaciones de género en la publicidad de alimentos: Un análisis de contenido

“…Es decir, si bien físicamente la presencia de personajes femeninos es elevada (incluso más elevada que la masculina), los spots de alimentación parecen optar, de forma predominante, por voces masculinas a la hora de ofertar los distintos productos. Coincidimos, así, con estudios empíricos previos (Rausell, González y Ortiz, 2008;Valls y Martínez, 2007;Nassif y Gunter, 2008;Whippe y McManamon, 2002) que sitúan la mayor desigualdad en cuanto a presencia de hombres y mujeres en aquella que toma la forma de narradores y voces over. Más difícil es contrastar los resultados obtenidos con los centrados en los spots de alimentación (Furnham y Li, 2008y Aronovsky y Furnham, 2008; ya que no diferencian entre voces over y protagonistas, analizando ambos caracteres de forma conjunta.…”

“…Físicamente, es más frecuente que aparezcan representadas como "jóvenes adultas, frente a una mayor diversidad, según grupos de edad, a la hora de representar a los caracteres masculinos" (Stern y Mastro, 2004: 216). La presencia de mujeres en los espacios publicitarios sigue siendo inferior a la masculina, sobre todo en la forma de narradores y voces over (Valls y Martínez, 2007;Nassif y Gunter, 2008;Furnham y Farragher, 2001).…”

“…relativamente equilibrada por lo que respecta a los protagonistas. Estos resultados están en consonancia con los aportados por investigaciones previas sobre muestras generales de publicidad televisiva, que destacan tanto la creciente presencia femenina en la publicidad (Neto y Silva, 2009) como el persistente protagonismo masculino entre las voces over (Valls y Martínez, 2007;Nassif y Gunter, 2008;Furnham y Farragher, 2001). …”