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Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2010, 51, 216–236 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00772.x
Personality and Social Sciences
The portrayal of men and women in television advertisements:
An updated review of 30 studies published since 2000
ADRIAN FURNHAM and STEPHANIE PALTZER
University College London, UK
Furnham, A. & Paltzer, S. (2010). The portrayal of men and women in television advertisements: An updated review of 30 studies published since2000. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 216–236.
In 1999, Furnham and Mak published a review of 14 content-analytic studies of sex roles stereotyping in television commercials. All these studies werebased on the McArthur and Resko (1975) content categories. This paper updates that review considering 30 studies in over 20 countries published between2000 and 2008. Studies were from Australasia, Austria, Bulgaria, Ghana, Hong Kong, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Poland,Russia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. They exam-ined over 8,000 advertisements. National and cultural differences in gender stereotypes are also considered in the light of this data. The popularity of, andthe problems associated with, the research paradigm are considered.
Key words: Sex roles, television, advertisements, commercials.
Professor Adrian Furnham, Department of Psychology, UCL, 26 Bedford Way, WC1 0AP London, UK. Tel: +44 207 679 5395; fax: +44 436 4276;e-mail: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
Concern with how people are portrayed in the media has existed
since the beginning of all popular media, particularly the elec-
tronic media. Various groups have been particularly concerned
about how people from different age, ethnic, gender and profes-
sional groups are shown in possibly unrepresentative or stereotyp-
ical roles (Bollinger, 2008; Hazell & Clarke, 2007; Nina-Pazarzi
& Tsangaris, 2008).
Perhaps the area that has attracted most research attention has
been the portrayal of men and women in television commercials
(Kaufman, 1999). Although there were a number of early studies
it was not until the late 1970s that good empirical studies, primar-
ily content analytic studies, began to emerge (Dominick & Rauch,
1972; O’Donnell & O’Donnell, 1978; Schneider & Schneider,
1979). Various researchers began to review these studies at vari-
ous points (Bretl & Cantor, 1988; Lovdal, 1989). Further, some
have even attempted updates of studies in particular countries
(First, 1998).
One study done over 30 years ago was to inspire many
researchers to replicate it. McArthur and Resko (1975) published
a study analyzing American television commercials of the time.
What the study did do so successfully was suggest a number of
coding categories for the central role person (being either male or
female) in the commercial. For instance, one way how the actor
established his/her credibility: was it as an authority, expert or sci-
entist, or as a happy and contented user? The coding categories
devised for the content analysis in this paper formed the basis of
nearly all subsequent research and this modest study has 70 cita-
tions since its publication to the present day.
Not long after the study was published the essential methodol-
ogy of the study was replicated in other countries (Manstead &
McCulloch, 1981). Soon thereafter researchers were doing cross-
cultural comparisons (Gilly, 1988), all using the original coding
scheme or minor modifications of it.
� 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation � 2010 The Scandinavian PsycholoGarsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 0
By the end of the millennium 14 essentially replicative studies
had been published looking at sex-stereotyping in television
commercials in 11 countries. These formed the basis of the
review by Furnham and Mak (1999) which is already a highly
cited paper. This paper extends that review looking at studies
published over the next decade, since the start of the millen-
nium. Indeed rather than slow down there has been an accelera-
tion of studies in this area using the same or very similar
methodology.
Part of the fascination of the research is to do cross-cultural, as
well as, across-time comparisons. Based on a range of theoreti-
cally inspired differences, most researchers hypothesize which,
what and why gender-role stereotypes should exist in the data set
they examine and why they should be either similar to, or differ-
ent from, studies done in different countries.
However, Furnham and Mak (1999) pointed out three problems
with comparing the results from different countries or indeed the
same country over time. The first was channel equivalence based
on funding, viewing figures, target audience, and philosophy.
Most countries have a range of different local and international
channels and the question is whether they are in any way equiv-
alent in different studies. This begs the question as to whether
different commercial channels would have advertisements for dif-
ferent products that would portray gender differently. Certainly
different channels are aimed at different audiences and therefore
may advertise different products. But it remains unclear as to
whether there tend to be cross-channel national differences in the
way gender is portrayed.
The second involves commercial sample equivalence. Commer-
cials change as a function of time-of-day, product-specificity and
legal constraints. Products aimed at school children versus home-
makers versus sports people are inevitably very different. Thus
cross-national or cross-temporal differences could easily be a
function of non-channel, or non-product, equivalence rather than
an actual difference. Unless some attempt is made to ensure
gical Associations. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 96002148, USA. ISSN 0036-5564.
Scand J Psychol 51 (2010) TV commercial sex roles stereotyping 217
reasonable equivalence particularly in terms of product, compari-
sons are essentially meaningless. Third, there is the issue of con-
tent-equivalence. Inevitably researchers have altered, extended
and modified McArthur and Resko’s original categories. This is
both to be expected and welcomed but leads to problems of com-
parison. Indeed it is a testament to the original coding scheme that
the categories have changed so little. Some studies use only select
categories (Nassif & Gunter, 2008) while others have added cate-
gories (Furnham & Saar, 2005). Some additional categories
include verbal issues like humor (Furnham, Gunter & Walsh,
1998).
Furnham and Mak (1999) found evidence of cross- similarity in
terms of stereotyping on such categories as credibility, age and
argument-made while others like location showed much greater
variety. By and large, sex-role stereotyping was more prevalent
the more traditional the country in terms of social and religious
values.
Since the turn of the millennium researchers in countries as
diverse as Serbia, Singapore, and Spain have continued this tradi-
tion. Some have content-analyzed as many as 878 local commer-
cials (Kim & Lowry, 2005) while others have looked at as few as
48 (Furnham & Saar, 2005). Usually numbers are around 100–
200 non-overlapping advertisements. Most examined commercials
on just one channel, others have looked at as many as six (Uray &
Burnaz, 2003). Most have examined evening prime-time tele-
vision while others have sampled from different times of day
(Skoric & Furnham, 2002).
This paper attempts a comprehensive and critical review of the
area. The paper compares the data from 30 studies published in
2000–8. Sometimes different studies from the same countries (i.e.
Japan and Spain) are reported, which allows for internal compari-
son. The appendix tables show in detail where there are differ-
ences on the content categories.
In order to bring some sort of classification to this data the stud-
ies analyzed were classified under five continents. It may be possi-
ble, albeit crudely, to classify the continents thus; America,
Europe and Australasia are essentially first world, continents dom-
inated by individualistic values and sensitive to sexual inequality
(Schwartz, 1991). Asia has a wider variety of countries most of
which are second world economically and have collectivistic val-
ues (Hofstede, 1980). African countries on the other hand tend to
be third world and conservative in the way the sexes are treated.
The various categories will be considered one at a time and some
inferences and comparisons made.
RESULTS
Mode of presentation
This refers to whether the actors are seen or heard or both.
Asia: There is a clear trend in countries in Asia regarding mode
of presentation. Throughout all studies that looked at mode of pre-
sentation in Asia, men were more likely to be voice-overs while
women were presented visually. Through the years the results
have remained relatively stable. Bresnahan, Inoue, Liu, and Nish-
ida (2001) found Malaysia and Taiwan to have the same results
with 81% of males and 19% of females being voice-overs, as well
� 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation � 2010 The Scandinavian Psycholo
as Japan with 68% of males and 32% of females as voice-overs.
Most studies since then have found results similar with male
characters being voice-overs around 70% of the time and female
characters only around 30% of the time. However, the most recent
study in Korea, in 2005, found 20.5% of male characters and
9.8% of female characters as voice-overs, while there is still a
difference between the two; this is a much lower figure for both,
especially males.
Europe: There is still a trend for mode of presentation in Europe
as well, however, it is not as prominent as in Asia. Males are still
more likely to be voice-overs, but there is not such a large differ-
ence between males and females, although the difference is still
significant. Ahlstrand (2007) found similar results in Austria to
those in Asia with 70.6% of males and 22.9% of females as
voice-overs. Ibroscheva (2007) found unusual results with only
21.6% of males but 0% of females doing voice-overs. Skoric and
Furnham (2002) found high prevalence of voice-overs for both
sexes in Serbia, with 81% of males and 71.4% of females doing
them. Studies in Turkey (Uray & Burnaz, 2003) and Poland found
that advertisements were much more equal between males and
females for voice-over. Uray and Burnaz (2003) show only a
small difference between males (58.8%) and females (52.6%).
There seems evidence of an east-west split with fewer sex differ-
ences in the east.
Australasia: In New Zealand (Furnham & Farragher, 2000),
women are a little more likely than males to be presented visually
(47.4 vs. 41.2%).
Africa: In Mauritius, approximately two-thirds of females
(67.9%) are presented visually while 47.1% of males are pre-
sented in this context. In South Africa (Furnham & Spencer-Bow-
dage, 2002), a larger difference in portrayal exists where 52.1% of
males were voice-overs while only 2.6% of females have provided
voice-overs.
There seems general agreement across all cultures that men are
generally more likely to provide voice-overs and females continue
to be presented visually more often than men. Often women’s
voices are used for clarity (speaking clock, public announcements)
so it is not for this reason that men are more likely to be chosen
for ‘‘speaking roles’’. It is young, attractive women that appear
more often in advertisements with mature men doing the authori-
tative voice over.
End comments
This refers to the presence or absence of final summary comments
at the end of the advertisements.
Europe: There were no significant results found in either Serbia
or Turkey. Poland (Furnham & Saar, 2005) showed a significant
difference where 42.1% of men presented an end comment while
80.6% of women did not.
Asia: In Hong Kong (Furnham & Chan, 2003) English advertise-
ments, women were more likely to make end comments than men
(76.7 vs. 68.6%) while end comments were present in 100% of
Chinese Hong Kong advertisements, with both male and female
gical Associations.
218 A. Furnham and S. Paltzer Scand J Psychol 51 (2010)
central figures. However, Japan found men more likely to make
end comments (55%) than women (40%).
Australasia: In New Zealand, most central figures did not make
end comments, 80% of men did not make an end comment but
women were still less likely to make an end comment, with com-
ments absent 94.7% of the time.
Africa: Both studies in South Africa and Mauritius showed the
majority of central figures, both males and females, presenting
end comments. However, there was a difference between men and
women. For men, the figure was around 80% for both studies,
while it was lower for females at around 60%.
End comments do not seem particularly sex-linked despite the
evidence of the recency effect. That is, there is considerable evi-
dence from experimental psychology that order of presentation of
material effects memory for that material (Furnham, 1986). How-
ever, the fact the advertisements are so short (often being under
one minute long) and containing so little that is very informative
that less attention is paid to the end comment.
Credibility
This seems a most important dimension to the advertisements,
namely the credibility, and equally the credulity, of male and
female users and experts in advertisements.
Europe: Most countries in Europe have shown women primarily
as the user of the product advertised. In Sweden (Milner & Col-
lins, 2000), 80% of women were portrayed as the user. Poland
and Bulgaria also showed similar results with around 80% of
females in each study as product users. However, men in each of
these studies (Poland, Bulgaria, and Sweden) are equally as likely
to either be an authority or a product user. For example, 42.9% of
men are portrayed as the user while 38.1% of men are portrayed
as an authority figure. Surprisingly, Russia (Milner & Collins,
2000) was the only study to show men (92.9%) more often than
women as the user (90%).
Asia: In Singapore (Lee, 2003), men were actually more likely to
be the product user in both daytime (85.6%) and primetime
(54.5%) advertisements when compared to women (33.3% for
daytime and 45.7% for primetime). Hong Kong (Furnham &
Chan, 2003) showed a much larger proportion of women as an
authority figure (73.3%/48.3%) than most other countries in Asia.
Other studies such as the one in Korea (Kim & Lowry, 2005)
found smaller differences between men and women with regard to
credibility when compared to other areas of the world. As an
authority figure, 26.2% of men and 14.2% of women were por-
trayed in this role.
Australasia: New Zealand (Furnham & Farragher, 2000) por-
trayed men and women relatively equally as the authority (19.6%
of males vs. 15.8% of females) and males (74.5%) were actually
portrayed more often than women (63.2%) as the product user. In
Australasia (Milner and Higgs, 2004), the same was seen in
authority (52.6% of males vs. 47.4% of females) yet women
(64.1%) were more commonly portrayed as the product user than
men (49.2%).
� 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation � 2010 The Scandinavian Psycholo
Africa: Furnham and Spencer-Bowdage (2002) found a large dif-
ference between men and women in South Africa. Women were
seen 82.1% of the time as a user, compared to 29.2% of men.
Men were also most likely to be an authority (41.7%), while
women were rarely seen as the authority (7.1%).
America: Milner and Collins (2000) found nearly equal difference
for men with 49.2% as a product user and 50.8% as authority
while women (64.1%) were more likely to be the user than an
authority (35.7%).
Overall these results suggest that generally, other than three
studies across the world, in most countries analyzed, women were
by far more likely to be a user of the product advertised and men
far more likely to be portrayed as an authority. This does vary as a
function of product category where the advertised product is
clearly aimed at one gender or the other. Nevertheless both
women’s products and gender neutral products seem often to have
males portrayed as wise, scientists or knowledgeable experts and
females as happy, grateful and contented users of those products.
Role
This focuses on whether the central figure is more in a profes-
sional and advisory or a dependent consumer role.
Europe: Bulgarian and Polish data suggested a large difference in
autonomous and dependent/familial roles between men and
women. In Bulgaria (Ibroscheva, 2007), 83.8% of males were in
the autonomous role while 45.6% of females were in dependent
roles. Poland (Furnham & Saar, 2005) showed 57.9% of males in
autonomous roles and 48.4% of females in familial roles. Most
other countries (Austria, Serbia, Spain, and Turkey) did not find
very significant differences between men and women in specific
roles. Serbia actually had a high proportion of both men (91.9%)
and women (85.7%) in the role of interviewer/narrator.
Asia: In both English and Chinese advertisements in Hong
Kong (Furnham & Chan, 2003) women (30% and 37.9%) were
shown a higher proportion of the time in a ‘‘professional/other’’
type of role, when compared to men (19.6% and 9.1%). All
other studies showed more men in autonomous roles such as
interviewer/narrator and professional and women in more depen-
dent roles. In Japan (Furnham & Imadzu, 2002), 56.8% of
females were in dependent roles while 42% of men were an
interviewer/narrator. In Singapore (Lee, 2003) only 5.7% of
women were professionals, compared to 36.4% of men, and the
majority of women (65.7%) portrayed were celebrities, almost
double that of men (36.4%).
Australasia: In New Zealand (Furnham & Farragher, 2000)
70.5% of men were portrayed in an autonomous role while 42.1%
of women were portrayed in familial roles.
Africa: Females in South Africa and Mauritius were most often
portrayed in a dependent role (60.7% in Mauritius and 78.6% in
South Africa). Men were most often in an interviewer/narrator
role (around 50% in both studies). While men (35.3%) were com-
monly portrayed in professional roles in Mauritius, women were
not portrayed in this role at all.
gical Associations.
Scand J Psychol 51 (2010) TV commercial sex roles stereotyping 219
Over the years the role categories have expanded to try and
encompass all those of the people in the advertisements. While
the studies had different categories for role, the majority of studies
agreed with one another in the type of role men and women held
in advertisements. The autonomous or interviewer/narrator/profes-
sional role was typically a role that men had in advertisements
while women were often in the dependent purchaser, customer
role. Some studies, however, (such as Turkey) divided the roles
up into even more categories (i.e. sex object). This may be evi-
dence of researchers trying to pick up more subtle nuances in the
advertisements they content analyze. While this may be very help-
ful it does mean that it is more difficult to compare and contrast
studies of sex role on television.
Age
The issue of age and agism has emerged recently in Western soci-
eties with large aging populations. Sensitivity to how age is por-
trayed has appeared more widely. Usually researchers group the
central character into three groups: under 30 years, 31–50, and
over 50 but this does change from study to study and what label
is given to each group.
Europe: All content analytic studies from Europe showed signifi-
cant differences between age groups. Women were most com-
monly in the youngest age group. In Russia (Milner & Collins,
2000), 81.6% of females were young (four times the amount of
women who were middle-aged). This was also seen in Turkey,
Sweden, Poland, Bulgaria, and Austria where at least 60% of
women in each study were young and at least double the amount
of women in any other age group. In Austria (Ahlstrand, 2007),
64.1% of men were middle-aged, double the amount of women in
the age group. In both Serbia and Russia, there were no men or
women representing the old age group, while most other countries
showed around 5% of the sample in that group.
Asia: Again, women are always seen most often in the young
age group. This number is usually at least 50% of advertisements
with women, with only Furnham and Chan (2003) finding 33.3%
of women in this age group in English advertisements in Hong
Kong. All studies showed men in the middle-aged group at least
50% of the time as well. The highest was also seen in English
advertisements in Hong Kong with 84.3%.
Australasia: In New Zealand (Furnham & Farragher, 2000)
women were more commonly portrayed as young (55.3%) while
men were often portrayed as middle-aged (56.9%). Milner and Hi-
ggs (2004) found a higher proportion of women (39.3%) than men
(22.7%) in the middle-aged group which was not seen in any other
studies. However, this was still not as high of a percentage for
either males or females as the young group (over 50% for both).
Africa: South Africa (Furnham & Spencer-Bowdage, 2002) found
70.4% of women (more than three times the amount of women in
the middle-aged group) and 47.8% of men in the young age
group.
America: The highest proportion of both males and females in the
United States (Milner & Collins, 2000) is seen in the youngest
� 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation � 2010 The Scandinavian Psycholo
age category with 49.4% of males and 63.6% of females in this
age group. For men there is not a large difference between young
and middle-aged since 42.1% of men are in the middle-aged
group, yet only 30.8% of women are in this group (half of the
amount in the young group).
Interestingly only one study, done in Australasia, has shown
males and females similar to one another in terms of age category.
Even though they still have a large proportion of ‘‘young’’ central
figures, they have a much more equal proportion of central figures
between genders (between 50 and 60% each). Two studies
grouped middle-aged and old together, Bulgaria and Korea. This
presents a problem for between study comparisons because age
judgments have to be estimated. Further the terms young (under
30) or old (over 50) may be seen as inaccurate, insensitive or even
derogatory. Again, age of the actor is no doubt related to the prod-
uct or service being advertised. However, in keeping with the sex-
ual stereotype of the young attractive consumer and the wise
avuncular expert there remains strong evidence and age differ-
ences in the central role of television advertisement characters.
Argument
This category refers to the central issue of the rationale for the
advertisements: the argument, implicit or explicit as to why the con-
sumer should select and purchase the brand of product or service.
Europe: In Poland (Furnham & Saar, 2005), the majority of
males (42.1%) and females (67.7%) did not present an argument.
When it was presented they were more likely to present both fac-
tual and opinion arguments. Turkey (Uray & Burnaz, 2003)
showed similar results in that 60.7% of women and 56.2% of men
did not present an argument. In Serbia (Skoric & Furnham, 2002),
67.6% of men presented factual arguments while 57.1% of
women presented ‘‘opinion arguments’’. Surprisingly, men in Ser-
bia were more likely than women to be depicted with social/self-
enhancement rewards (13.5 vs. 3.3%). Serbia was also the only
European country where men were depicted with more practical
rewards than women (48.6 vs. 32.2%).
Asia: Studies in Asia found different results from one another.
Furnham and Imadzu (2002) found that men (40%) in Japan were
more likely than women (26.5%) to offer a factual argument while
the majority of women (30.9%) offered an opinion argument. In
Chinese advertisements in Hong Kong (Furnham & Chan, 2003),
women were just as likely to give a factual (51.7%) versus opin-
ion (48.3%) argument but men (65.9%) were more likely to give
an opinion argument.
Australasia: Furnham and Farragher (2000) found in New Zea-
land that it is most common not to make an argument at all, with
both males (62.7%) and females (86.8%). Men were more likely
than women to offer any sort of argument.
Africa: In South Africa (Furnham & Spencer-Bowdage, 2002)
men were more likely to offer a factual argument (39.6%) while
women (78.6%) are more likely to not make an argument at all. In
Mauritius (Furnham & Hussain, 2009) men were just as likely to
offer a factual or opinion argument but women (60.7%) were
more likely to offer an opinion argument.
gical Associations.
220 A. Furnham and S. Paltzer Scand J Psychol 51 (2010)
In all the studies that had the option of ‘‘none’’ for argument
type, women were more likely than men to not even present an
argument (reason) for choosing the product. This suggests that
women, in such advertisements as those for body products and
clothing, are more likely to only be shown as ‘‘models’’ than
men are. There were only nine studies that analyzed argument
type in the advertisements. Across countries, factual arguments
are most commonly presented by men. Six of the nine studies
showed males with higher proportions of factual arguments, two
showed about the same proportion between men and women, and
only one study of Chinese advertisements in Hong Kong found
the opposite with females presenting a higher proportion of fac-
tual arguments than men. There was a difference, however, when
it came to ‘‘opinion’’ arguments. This is not so much an argu-
ment as to give a person opinion that is favorable to the brand.
Of the nine studies; five of them found that men had a higher
proportion of opinion arguments, one found that men and women
showed the same proportion, and three found that women pre-
sented more opinion-based arguments. Studies in Mauritius,
Serbia, and Japan found that women presented more opinion
arguments while studies in New Zealand, Poland, South Africa,
Turkey, and Hong Kong found that men present a higher propor-
tion than women.
Reward type
This category speaks to the way in which the advertisement pro-
vides a specific portrayal of what sort of rewards are to be
obtained from purchasing that brand.
Europe: The most common reward type for women in Poland
was social/self-enhancement (37.7%), almost nearly double the
amount of men portrayed with this reward type. The same was
seen in Turkey with 44.4% of women and only 16.1% of men
with social/self-enhancement rewards. In Serbia, women were
most portrayed with practical rewards (65.8%) while men were
portrayed with pleasure rewards (45.9%).
Asia: In Hong Kong, women were more likely to be associated
with practical rewards (33.3% for English and 41.4% for Chinese)
than men (23.5 for English and 29.5% for Chinese). Men were
only more likely to be associated with pleasure rewards in Chi-
nese advertisements (56.8%). In Japan (Furnham & Imadzu,
2002), women were depicted with social/self-enhancement
rewards more than men (30.97 vs. 23.5%).
Australasia: In New Zealand, there was not a difference seen in
any categories of reward type. Men and women were as likely to
be associated with practical (13.7 vs. 13.2%) and pleasurable
(29.4 vs. 31.6%) rewards.
Africa: Furnham and Spencer-Bowdage (2002) showed that
women in South Africa were portrayed more with social/self-
enhancement rewards (53.6%) while men were portrayed most
with practical rewards (29.2%). In Mauritius (Furnham & Huss-
ain, 2009), women were most often associated with practical
rewards (46.4%) while men were most associated with pleasurable
rewards (70.6%, more than double the 28.6% of women with
pleasurable rewards).
� 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation � 2010 The Scandinavian Psycholo
Results suggest that more often, the reward type that women
advertised was under the category of ‘‘social/self enhancement.’’
This speaks to the fulfilling of self-esteem needs. The idea is that
the product brings benefits to the way people feel more confident
when having the product or using the service. Further, others rec-
ognize this brings social rewards of acceptance and recognition.
This was found in seven of the ten studies. Only two studies were
similar for both males and females and only Bulgaria presented
males advertising social/self enhancement reward more than
women. It is generally equal between male and female central fig-
ures for pleasure reward type; however, there are a few studies
that have found differences between proportions of males and
females where the reward type is pleasure.
Product type
This presents a particular problem for researchers as the number
of products and services advertised is very great indeed. Content
analyses have to try to find categories which may be very broad
or narrow. Further legislation, cultural tradition and availability
means that there are large differences in what is advertised, when,
and to whom. It is possible to very crudely devise products
broadly aimed at women, those aimed at men and those neutral.
Europe: The only significant difference in Spain (Valls-Fernandez
& Martinez-Vicente, 2007) was seen in body products with
women shown more (41.9%) than men (25.1%). Royo-Vela,
Aldas-Manzano, Kuster & Vila, 2008) also did not find significant
results in most categories. Body products were also seen three
times as much with women (31.4%) as with men (12.0%) in Aus-
tria. Results in Bulgaria show that men were more commonly seen
with ‘‘away (not used at home)’’ products (16.2 vs. 3.3%). Uray
and Burnaz’s (2003) results revealed that women were twice as
likely to advertise body products (30.4 vs. 15.1%), while men
were almost twice as likely to advertise food products (17.1 vs.
8.9%). In Serbia, women were much more frequently portrayed
with home products (20%) than men (1.3%). In Poland, like the
rest of Europe, men were often advertising food products (36.8%)
when compared to women (22.6%), while women were three
times more likely to be shown with body products (29%) than
men (10.5%).
Asia: In Japan (Furnham & Imadzu, 2002), the only difference
was seen in the home category where 19.35% of women and 9%
of men advertised home products. Men and women were just as
likely to advertise body products and it was the most common
product advertised for both sex (28% of males and 30.97% of
females). There was a difference between English and Chinese
advertisements in Hong Kong. In English advertisements, men
were equally likely to advertise body products (7.8 vs. 6.7%)
while in Chinese advertisements women advertised body products
more than double that of men (24.1 vs. 11.4%). Men were less
likely to advertise food products (9.8 vs. 16.7%) in English but
were more likely to advertise them in Chinese (52.3 vs. 41.4%).
In Singapore, there were no men that advertised domestic prod-
ucts and there were also no women who advertised auto/sport
products, compared to 18.2% of men. In daytime advertisements
in Singapore, 14% of men advertised body products, but 0% did
gical Associations.
Scand J Psychol 51 (2010) TV commercial sex roles stereotyping 221
so in primetime advertisements, compared to around 25% of
women which remained steady.
Africa: In South Africa (Furnham & Spencer-Bowdage, 2002),
42.9% of females advertised body products, more than four times
that of men (10.4%). Men were three times more likely to adver-
tise financial and other services (29.2 vs. 10.7%). In Mauritius,
the difference was even higher for services with 41.2% of men
and 0% of women. Women advertised home and body products
over 50% of the time while men advertised these products less
than 6% of the time, with zero body product advertisements. A
new category, finance and real estate, was also advertised by
17.6% of men and 0% of women.
Australasia: Men were more likely to advertise auto/sport prod-
ucts (21.6%) when compared to women (0%) and women were
more likely to advertise body products (23.7 vs. 13.7%). How-
ever, food was the most common product advertised by both men
and women (31.4 and 31.6%).
America: Bresnahan et al. (2001) found the most common prod-
ucts advertised by men were food (32%) while women advertised
health (27%) products the most.
The most prominent gender difference in type of product adver-
tised with the central characters as either male or female came in
the ‘‘body’’ category. Most studies had at least a 15% difference
between males and females. There was only one study done that
did not find a difference between men and women and that was
done in Hong Kong.
Many studies added different types of products making compar-
isons difficult, yet it is possible to conclude the self-evident point:
that the sex of the central role of the character reflects the gender-
linked nature of the product. The body, home and food products
have more females while car, sport and alcohol products have
more males in the central role.
Background
This refers to the social and physical setting of the advertisement.
It nearly always refers to the other (often non-speaking) people in
the background being predominantly males, females or children.
Europe: In Poland, no men were shown with children in the back-
ground, compared to 9.7% of women. There were only 7.1% of
men but 20.9% of women with children backgrounds in Serbia as
well. Other types of backgrounds showed different results depend-
ing on the country. With mixed backgrounds, males were more
likely to be depicted in them in Poland (36.8 vs. 22.6%) while, in
Serbia, females were more likely to be depicted with a mixed
background (40 vs. 24.35%). In Turkey, males were more likely
to be seen with male backgrounds (41.1 vs. 17.9%). The opposite
was found in Poland where more females (9.7%) than males (0%)
were depicted with a male background.
Asia: In Korea, men were seen more often in mixed (17.5%) and
mostly male (29.4%) backgrounds, while women were seen more
with mostly children backgrounds (14.8 vs. 4.1%). Studies in
Japan and Hong Kong (Chinese only) actually found men more
likely to be seen with children in the background than women (7
� 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation � 2010 The Scandinavian Psycholo
vs. 4.52% in Japan and 11.4 vs. 3.4% in China). In both English
and Chinese advertisements in Hong Kong, 0% of women were
shown with a mostly male background while 20–25% of men
were shown in this type of background.
Australasia: The study in New Zealand showed women most
with a male background (28.9%) and also were more likely than
men to have a mixed background (18.4 vs. 9.8%). Men were also
more likely than women to be seen in a female background (17.6
vs. 5.3%).
Africa: In Mauritius, men were most commonly seen in a male
background (29.4%) while 0% of women were portrayed in a
male background. There were no men shown with a background
of children while 17.9% of women had children in the back-
ground. In South Africa, the opposite was found with male back-
ground, 28.6% of females were presented with a male
background, compared to only 6.3% of males.
The majority of central characters, around 40–50%, in most
studies still were not shown with anyone in the background.
There is large variation in whether male and female central fig-
ures are shown with either mostly male or female background
characters. However, there was a clear distinction with regard
to children in the advertisement background. Men were rarely
shown with children in the background and two studies from
Mauritius and Poland did not find any advertisements that
showed the male central figure with children while women
were shown 10–20% of the time with children in the back-
ground.
Location
Location refers much more specifically to the physical environ-
ment in which the advertisement is shot. This can be a home and
work setting, outside pursuing leisure activities, etc.
Europe: In Serbia and Austria there were not any significant dif-
ferences. However, in Serbia, both males (87.8%) and females
(82.9%) were presented in ‘‘leisure settings’’. This was a much
higher proportion than all other studies. The largest difference in
Europe occurred in Poland where 41.9% of women were in pri-
vate residences while 52.6% of men were in leisure settings. In
Spain (Valls-Fernandez & Martinez-Vicente, 2007), most men
(49.5%) were in occupational settings, compared to 30% of
women. Bulgaria presented a similar pattern with more males in
occupational settings (24.3 vs. 10%) and more females in private
residence settings.
Asia: There was no significant difference in Taiwan, yet in
Malaysia and Japan (Bresnahan et al., 2001), there was approxi-
mately double the amount of women in private residences than
men (27 vs. 13% in Malaysia and 41 vs. 23% in Japan). A large
proportion of men and women were shown in leisure settings in
Hong Kong, between 70 and 80% in both English and Chinese
advertisements, while women were shown more in occupational
settings in Chinese advertisements (17.2 vs. 0%). In Korea, men
were also shown more in private residences than women were
(37.2 vs. 21.3%). The study in Singapore found an effect of time.
During the daytime, men were more likely to be seen in private
gical Associations.
222 A. Furnham and S. Paltzer Scand J Psychol 51 (2010)
residences (42.9 vs. 16.6%) while during primetime this reverses
(0% of males and 28.6% of females).
Australasia: In Australasia, the most common location for men
was outdoors (37.8%) while private residence (i.e. home) was the
most common for females (32.8%). In New Zealand women are
also seen more in private residence than men (34.2 vs. 15.7%).
Both men and women are most commonly seen in leisure settings
but the proportion is higher for males (54.9 vs. 44.7%).
Africa: In one study in South Africa (Milner, 2005), there were
not significant differences between males and females. However,
in another study in South Africa (Furnham & Spencer-Bowdage,
2002), women were portrayed more in private residences than
men (21.4 vs. 6.3%). The largest difference was seen in Mauritius
where 60.7% of women were seen in private residences while
41.2% of men were portrayed in an occupational setting, com-
pared to 0% of women. Men were also more likely than women
to be portrayed in occupational settings in Ghana (17.7 vs. 3.3%)
and Kenya (25.9 vs. 18.8%) (Milner, 2005). The majority of men
in Ghana were portrayed in outdoors settings (46.8%), compared
to 24.6% of women.
America: In the United States (Bresnahan et al., 2001), women
are shown double the amount of time as men in private residence
(27 vs. 13%) while men are shown more often than women out-
doors (29 vs. 18%).
Most studies in countries showed women in a private residence
(the home) setting approximately one-third of the time, while
some studies found women in private residence settings in up to
60% of the advertisements analyzed. It seems that men, as the
central character, were shown much less in private residences
except in a few studies in Singapore and Korea where approxi-
mately 40% of the men were shown in private residences. This
suggests possible differences in culture that has an effect on
whether men and women are shown in a household setting since
both of these studies are done in similar cultures. Studies in Hong
Kong and Taiwan also showed a much smaller difference between
men and women in the proportion of time shown in private
residences.
DISCUSSION
It is perhaps rare to see one content analytic system and method
endure for so long to be replicated so widely particularly as this is
‘‘expensive’’ research in terms of data gathering and analysis.
This may be seen as a comment on the parsimoniousness of the
content analytic categories or the fact that television advertise-
ments are fairly universal in content and invariant over time.
However, this has allowed for essential, albeit somewhat crude,
comparisons of studies for over 30 years.
This discussion will consider four things: first, the durability
and change in television advertising and more specifically content
categories used in this research; second, cultural specificity and
universalism in the research findings; third, patterns of change
over time and fourth, the theoretical framework that guides this
research.
It is apparent from the Appendix that while there remains con-
siderable overlap in the coding categories used in the studies,
� 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation � 2010 The Scandinavian Psycholo
there is also variability. Comparing many studies to the original
McArthur and Resko (1975) paper it seems that subsequent
researchers have tended to do three things: add categories, split
categories and very occasionally, drop categories. In the original
paper there were eight content analytic categories. Very few have
been dropped (one example is punishments threatened or incurred
for not using the product). Many researchers have added consider-
ably to the different sub-categories. Thus age of the central figure
and end comment have been added.
However, what is perhaps most noticeable is how many more
distinctions have been made within content category. This has
occurred particularly for credibility and reward type. Thus the cat-
egories have slowly evolved rather than radically changed, which
is testimony to comprehensiveness of the original study (McAr-
thur & Resko, 1975). It has also meant that it has been possible to
do various comparative reviews such as that of Furnham and Mak
(1999) and this study.
One criticism of this research, however, is the rather limited
imagination shown by researchers in what other issues they may
have considered. One issue is humor while another is sex. There
is now considerable interest from media psychologists of the
effect of sex and violence in television advertising. Bushman and
Bonacci (2002) have shown that attempts to include sex and vio-
lence in advertising and programming to make products and
brands more ‘‘attention grabbing’’ and memorable does not work.
This work has been confirmed by Parker and Furnham (2007)
who have found that ‘‘sexual’’ advertisements were no better
recalled than ‘‘non-sexual’’ advertisements for similar products.
Research has also focused on the efficacy of using humor in
advertisements which is fairly widespread (Furnham et al., 1998).
It is apparent that there are various types of humor in television
advertisements such as visual versus verbal humor, aggressive
versus sexual humor as well as the use of irony or role reversal to
make situations funny. It is perhaps surprising, then, that these
content analytic studies do not seem to have categories referring
to the use of humor, sex or violence.
Another perhaps more serious issue is the problem or product
category or type. It is quite clear that there are universal patterns
in how advertisers would choose to advertise products like soap
or beer; fast foods or cars. Further, many products are clearly sex-
related in the sense that they are more frequently bought by males
and females. Some studies have looked exclusively at certain
types of products. Thus Aronovsky and Furnham (2008) looked
specifically at advertisements for food products in Britain. They
found similar sex differences in daytime and evening commercials
with very clear and stereotypic differences in role, age, product
appeal and end product. They argued that their results revealed
advertisers’ awareness of a day-time female audience which
reflected a greater proportion of non-stereotypic female depic-
tions. They noted that it would be particularly interesting to look
at portrayals in fast food and confectionary products. Furnham
and Li (2008) looked at food and beverage advertisements aired
in Hong Kong. They found more evidence for sex role stereotypes
in Western-made as opposed to Chinese-made advertisements but
overall relatively little evidence of sex-role stereotypes. Certainly
examining sex role stereotypes for advertisements for very spe-
cific categories of products or services seems the way to proceed
in this area.
gical Associations.
Scand J Psychol 51 (2010) TV commercial sex roles stereotyping 223
Advertisements have changed over time with technology and
fashion. In some countries they tend to be getting shorter with the
use of many more animated techniques. Equally some products
tend to be advertised less, either because they have been con-
strained or banned (alcohol, tobacco, children’s toys), while new
electronic gadgets, like mobile phones, have been invented (Furn-
ham, 2004). For researchers to capture changes and subtleties in
advertising it seems necessary to revisit and revise the established
content analytic categories. While some would of necessity endure
it seems sensible to add others which reflect changes in the genre.
Changes in media consumption has greatly affected the number
and type, but perhaps not so much the content of television adver-
tisements.
Equally, although many advertisements contain surprisingly
little speech few researchers have analyzed it to see if the person
in the central role differs in their type of language and speech as a
function of their gender. This may include an analysis of accent,
as well as vocabulary, pace of speech, etc. The use of language
and speech has been much more carefully scrutinized in written
(newspaper, magazine, billboard and flyer) advertisements than on
television. Indeed it is noticeable how visual all the content ana-
lytic categories are. A good example of this was the Japanese
study by Arima (2003) who included a category called ‘‘Angle of
Camera’’ and another called ‘‘Camera Work’’.
Thus it would seem that although this research has continued,
indeed accelerated, for over 30 years there has been relatively lit-
tle imaginative growth in the content categories that reflect the
more subtle and contemporary aspects of television advertise-
ments.
Over 20 years ago researchers started looking at sex-role stereo-
typing in TV advertisements as a function of time of day (Harris
& Stobart; 1986; Livingstone & Green, 1986). The central idea
was that the size and composition of the audience changed
throughout the day and that advertisements reflected that differ-
ence. This was not only related to the product and who it was
aimed at (i.e. children, men, housewives) but how the advertise-
ment was conceived, particularly if it appealed to a wide range of
people (especially foods, soft drinks, etc.).
Researchers have worried about channel equivalence when
doing this sort of work (Furnham & Mak, 1999). However, it may
be just as interesting to do more research on within country chan-
nel differences showing how similar products are very differently
portrayed on different channels. Most studies have attempted to
examine advertisements on major national channels whose market
share is declining along with television viewing in younger
people.
Perhaps the most striking feature of all this work is the compar-
ative absence of theoretical frameworks and equally of hypothesis
testing. Many researchers do a content analysis of a country’s tele-
vision, e.g. Bulgaria (Ibroscheva, 2007), Spain (Valls-Fernandez
& Martinez-Vicente, 2007), Singapore (Lee, 2003) or Turkey
(Uray & Burnaz, 2003) and although they may derive and test
various hypotheses about sex role differences in certain categories
they rarely provide a cultural framework.
While it is interesting to see this research it is rarely theory dri-
ven. There are exceptions. Hence Milner (2005) uses Hofstede’s
(1998) theory of culture difference to test gender role stereotyping
in three African countries. Milner and Collins (2000) continued
� 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation � 2010 The Scandinavian Psycholo
this research comparing four countries (Sweden, Russia, the USA
and Japan) which were placed on a masculine-feminine contin-
uum derived from Hofstede’s theory. Interestingly, many of their
theory-derived hypotheses were not supported. However, most do
little but compare countries (Furnham & Spencer-Bowdage, 2002)
or update studies (Bartsch, Burnett, Diller & Rankin-Williams,
2000).
A theoretical framework would allow for much better research
and hypothesis testing. This would allow, for instance, for the
assertion that in terms of the content categories there would be
universal similarities in how the different genders were repre-
sented in advertisements while in other categories there would be
specific and predictable differences. Thus, for instance, it may be
possible to argue that there would be near universal gender role
differences in credibility and age but fewer in reward and product
type. To be parsimonious, however, the theoretical framework
would have to account for social and economic difference
between cultures. Indeed, anthropological theories may be particu-
larly fecund for this sort of research.
The results of this content analysis reflect these issues. Most
studies are descriptive rather than hypotheses testing. However, it
is possible to group countries on certain categories and then do a
content analysis. These studies were grouped by continent but it
could be done by other variables like Hofstede’s masculinity ver-
sus femininity dimensions. Thus, one could contrast advertise-
ments from highly masculine countries like Japan and Austria
with those described as much more feminine like Sweden and
Thailand. Although this was done in a preliminary analysis no
clear patterns emerged. Indeed, there appear to be more evidence
of universalism than culture specificity in this area.
It is no doubt the growth of television in many countries and
concern with its short- and long-term effects that have led
researchers to continue to do comparative studies of gender repre-
sentations. Thus in a typical cross-cultural study Kim and Lowry
(2005) note that in Korea television commercials are a ‘‘lagging
social indicator’’ because although the role of women has changed
dramatically in that society, television images portrayed in adver-
tisements do not reflect the current situation. There are no doubt
over 50 that have drawn inspiration from early studies like that of
McArthur and Resko (1975). They have looked at cross-national
differences, changes over time, time of day and channel differ-
ences. There seems to be a decline in gender-role stereotyping in
Western countries but this is restricted to certain categories. This
difference in credibility, role and age seems to be declining but
that for product type is not.
What the research area still lacks is the development of more
subtle coding categories as well as theoretical frameworks to
make specific predictions about cultural or temporal differences
and even to make predictors about future developments. Future
research should also look at how television has changed over the
years.
Perhaps the most obvious change has been the growth of chan-
nels available in most countries as well as relative ease through
satellite connections to receive ‘‘foreign’’ television from other
countries. This has fragmented the national audience and seen the
growth of very specific channels specializing in everything from
news to sport, and weather to classical films. Most of these are
commercial and are liberally interspersed with advertisements.
gical Associations.
224 A. Furnham and S. Paltzer Scand J Psychol 51 (2010)
The question is how advertisements differ as a function of chan-
nel. This is no doubt a past function of the size and demography
of the audience which would no doubt relate to products adver-
tised. However, it remains of interest how sex-roles are portrayed
perhaps on channels clearly aimed at quite different audiences
such as shopping and cooking channels versus science, history or
geography channels.
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gical Associations.
226 A. Furnham and S. Paltzer Scand J Psychol 51 (2010)
APPENDIX: THE DATA FROM THE DIFFERENT STUDIES
Various countries
� 2010 The Authors. Journal c
New Zealand,2000
ompilation � 2010 The Scandina
Sweden,2000
vian Psychological Asso
Russia,2000
ciations.
United States,2000
Japan,2000
(Furnham &Farragher)
(Milner &Collins)
(Milner &Collins)
(Milner &Collins)
(Milner &Collins)
M
FM
F M F M F M F (N = 51) (N = 38)AttributesMode of presentation
Voice-over Visual/others Visual silence 41.2 47.4 Visual voice 58.8 52.6 Visual/music Credibility User 74.5 63.2 54.2 80.0 92.9 90.0 49.2 64.1 79.4 95.2 Authority/other 19.6 15.8 45.8 20.0 7.1 10.0 50.8 35.7 20.6 4.8 User and authority Neither Other 5.9 21.0 Role Autonomous 70.5 50.0 Dependent Interviewer/narrator Professional/other Celebrity Other/unknown 4.0 7.9 Familial 25.5 42.1 Age Young 39.2 55.3 35.1 77.9 62.8 81.6 49.4 63.6 46.2 70.9 Middle-aged 56.9 39.5 50.5 20.3 37.3 18.4 42.1 30.8 39.4 26.5 Old 3.9 5.3 14.4 1.9 0.0 0.0 8.5 5.6 14.4 2.6 Middle-aged and old Argument Factual/scientific 13.7 5.3 Opinion/nonscientific 23.5 7.9 Other Opinion/none None 62.7 86.8 Reward type Social approval Social/self-enhancement 5.9 10.5 Practical 13.7 13.2 Pleasure 29.4 31.6 Product benefits Financial 5.9 2.6 Other/none 45.1 42.1 Product type Body 13.7 23.7 Home Food 31.4 31.6 Domestic 5.9 7.9 Auto/sports 21.6 0.0 Services 5.9 5.3 Other 21.6 31.6 Background Mostly female 17.6 5.3 Mostly male 19.6 28.9 Mixed 9.8 18.4 Mostly Children 13.7 15.8 None 39.2 31.6Scand J Psychol 51 (2010) TV commercial sex roles stereotyping 227
APPENDIX: Continued.
Various countries
� 2010 The Authors. Journal
New Zealand,2000
compilation � 2010 The Scandinavia
Sweden,2000
n Psychological Associ
Russia,2000
ations.
UnitedStates, 2000
Japan,2000
(Furnham &Farragher)
(Milner &Collins)
(Milner &Collins)
(Milner &Collins)
(Milner &Collins)
M
FM
F M F M F M F (N = 51) (N = 38)End comments
Present 19.6 5.3 Absent 80.4 94.7 Setting Private residence 15.7 34.2 Occupational setting 21.6 15.8 Outdoors Leisure/unknown 54.9 44.7 Social Office Store Fictional Other 7.8 5.3Malaysia, 2001
Taiwan, 2001 United States, 2001 Japan, 2001 South Africa, 2002(Bresnahan, Inoue,Liu, & Nishida)
(Bresnahan, Inoue,Liu, & Nishida)
(Bresnahan, Inoue,Liu, & Nishida)
(Bresnahan, Inoue,Liu, & Nishida)
(Furnham &Spencer-Bowdage)
M
F M F M F M F M F(N = 52)
(N = 39) (N = 98) (N = 115) (N = 59) (N = 72) (N = 137) (N = 179) (N = 48) (N = 28)AttributesMode of presentation
Voice-over 81.0 19.0 81.0 19.0 69.0 31.0 68.0 32.0 52.1 2.6 Visual/others Visual silence 27.1 64.3 Visual voice 20.8 32.1 Visual/music Credibility User 29.2 82.1 Authority/other 41.7 7.1 User and authority Neither Other 29.2 10.7 Role Autonomous Dependent 31.3 78.6 Interviewer/narrator 50.0 3.6 Professional/other Celebrity 6.3 10.7 Other/unknown 12.5 7.1 Familial Spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend Parent Presenter Office worker Fiance(e) Homemaker Decorative Sex object228 A. Furnham and S. Paltzer Scand J Psychol 51 (2010)
APPENDIX: Continued.
� 2010 The Authors. Journ
Malaysia, 2001
al compilation � 2010 T
Taiwan, 2001
he Scandinavian Psycholo
United States, 2001
gical Associations.
Japan, 2001
South Africa, 2002(Bresnahan, Inoue,Liu, & Nishida)
(Bresnahan, Inoue,Liu, & Nishida)
(Bresnahan, Inoue,Liu, & Nishida)
(Bresnahan, Inoue, Liu,& Nishida)
(Furnham &Spencer-Bowdage)
M
F M F M F M F M F(N = 52)
(N = 39) (N = 98) (N = 115) (N = 59) (N = 72) (N = 137) (N = 179) (N = 48) (N = 28)Age
Young 47.8 70.4 Middle-aged 30.4 22.2 Old 21.7 7.4 Middle-aged and old Argument Factual/scientific 39.6 14.3 Opinion/nonscientific 20.8 7.1 Other Opinion/none None 39.6 78.6 Reward type Social approval Social/self-enhancement 16.7 53.6 Practical 29.2 14.3 Pleasure 20.8 28.6 Product benefits Financial Other/none 33.3 3.6 Product type Body 2.0 15.0 6.0 25.0 3.0 13.0 6.0 17.0 10.4 42.9 Home 6.0 8.0 8.0 17.0 2.0 4.0 8.3 0.0 Food 33.0 15.0 37.0 27.0 32.0 19.0 15.0 21.0 25.0 25.0 Domestic 9.0 19.0 Auto/sports 8.0 2.0 14.0 6.0 17.0 7.0 18.0 9.0 Services 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 29.2 10.7 Other 10.0 15.0 1.0 0.0 19.0 4.0 12.0 7.0 Away (not used at home) Home and away Restaurant/retail 2.0 0.0 2.0 2.0 7.0 7.0 3.0 1.0 Alcohol/tobacco 17.0 8.0 4.0 1.0 7.0 4.0 Finance/real estate 6.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 10.0 3.0 2.0 Slimming Baby care Health 10.0 8.0 12.0 27.0 16.0 14.0 Technical Non-technical Toiletries Electronics 12.5 7.1 Vehicles 12.5 0.0 Clothing and accessories 3.0 8.0 0.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 3.0 Cleaning products Transport Leisure/culture Telecommunications Organizations Media Technology 3.0 0.0 4.0 2.0 3.0 4.1 9.0 1.0 Background Mostly female 14.6 7.1 Mostly male 6.3 28.6 Mixed 8.3 14.3 Mostly children 4.2 7.1 None 66.7 42.9 End comments Present 75.0 60.7 Absent 25.0 39.3Scand J Psychol 51 (2010) TV commercial sex roles stereotyping 229
APPENDIX: Continued.
� 2010 The Authors. Jo
Malaysia, 2001
urnal compilation � 2010
Taiwan, 2001
The Scandinavian Psycho
United States, 2001
logical Associations.
Japan, 2001
South Africa, 2002(Bresnahan, Inoue,Liu, & Nishida)
(Bresnahan, Inoue,Liu, & Nishida)
(Bresnahan, Inoue,Liu, & Nishida)
(Bresnahan, Inoue, Liu,& Nishida)
(Furnham &Spencer-Bowdage)
M
F M F M F M F M F(N = 52)
(N = 39) (N = 98) (N = 115) (N = 59) (N = 72) (N = 137) (N = 179) (N = 48) (N = 28)Setting
Private residence 15.0 26.0 21.0 21.0 13.0 27.0 23.0 41.0 6.3 21.4 Occupational setting 13.0 10.0 3.0 0.0 15.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 12.5 7.1 Outdoors 29.0 13.0 29.0 29.0 29.0 18.0 33.0 28.0 18.8 10.7 Leisure/unknown 0.0 0.0 Social Office Store Fictional Other 43.0 51.0 47.0 50.0 43.0 52.0 42.0 29.0 62.5 60.7Serbia, 2002
Turkey, 2003 Japan, 2002 Hong Kong,2003 - EnglishHong Kong, 2003 -Chinese
(Skoric & Furnham)
(Uray & Burnaz) (Furnham & Imazdu) (Furnham &Chan) (Furnham & Chan)M
F M F M F M F M F(N = 74)
(N = 35) (46.5%) (53.5%) (N = 200) (N = 155) (63%) (36%) (60.3%) (39.7%)AttributesMode of presentation
Voice-over 81.0 71.4 67.0 34.19 60.8 26.7 68.2 24.1 Visual/others 19.0 28.6 39.2 73.3 31.8 75.9 Visual silence 47.9 47.6 6.5 16.77 Visual voice 52.1 52.4 26.5 47.1 Visual/music 0.0 1.94 Credibility User 10.8 17.1 53.4 74.4 19.5 46.45 19.6 26.7 25.0 51.7 Authority/other 89.2 82.9 13.7 3.6 45.5 27.74 80.4 73.3 75.0 48.3 User and authority Neither 29.5 16.1 Other 3.4 6.0 35.0 25.81 Role Autonomous Dependent 0.0 5.7 19.5 56.77 9.8 10.0 15.9 20.7 Interviewer/narrator 91.9 85.7 11.3 12.8 42.0 20.0 70.6 60.0 75.0 41.4 Professional/other 8.1 8.6 15.5 3.7 19.5 13.55 19.6 30.0 9.1 37.9 Celebrity 26.8 18.3 Other/unknown 2.1 0.6 19.0 9.68 Familial Spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend 6.3 6.1 Parent 9.9 11.0 Presenter Office worker Fiance(e) Homemaker 2.8 11.6 Decorative 24.6 28.7 Sex object 0.7 7.3 Age Young 12.2 34.3 45.2 60.1 41.5 76.13 13.7 33.3 36.4 79.3 Middle-aged 87.8 65.7 45.2 33.9 55.0 22.58 84.3 66.7 61.4 17.2 Old 0.0 0.0 9.6 6.0 3.5 1.29 2.0 0.0 2.3 3.4 Middle-aged and old230 A. Furnham and S. Paltzer Scand J Psychol 51 (2010)
APPENDIX: Continued.
� 2010 The Authors. Journal
Serbia, 2002
compilation � 2010 The
Turkey, 2003
Scandinavian Psychologic
Japan, 2002
al Associations.
Hong Kong,2003 - English
Hong Kong, 2003 -Chinese
(Skoric & Furnham)
(Uray & Burnaz) (Furnham & Imazdu) (Furnham &Chan) (Furnham & Chan)M
F M F M F M F M F(N = 74)
(N = 35) (46.5%) (53.5%) (N = 200) (N = 155) (63%) (36%) (60.3%) (39.7%)Argument
Factual/scientific 67.6 42.9 15.1 18.5 40.0 26.45 43.1 40.0 43.1 51.7 Opinion/nonscientific 32.4 57.1 28.8 20.8 22.5 30.97 65.9 48.3 Other 29.0 20.0 Opinion/none 56.9 60.0 None 56.2 60.7 8.5 22.58 Reward type Social approval 4.6 7.3 5.5 2.58 Social/self-enhancement 17.6 17.1 16.1 44.4 23.5 30.97 5.9 0.0 13.6 20.7 Practical 36.5 65.8 16.1 18.5 6.5 7.1 23.5 33.3 29.5 41.4 Pleasure 45.9 17.1 26.4 9.7 28.5 27.74 25.5 26.7 56.8 37.9 Product benefits 26.4 13.7 Financial Other/none 10.3 6.5 36.0 31.61 45.1 40.0 0.0 0.0 Product type Body 16.2 20.0 15.1 30.4 28.0 30.97 7.8 6.7 11.4 24.1 Home 1.3 20.0 23.3 27.4 9.0 19.35 0.0 6.7 4.5 10.3 Food 17.6 8.6 17.1 8.9 22.0 18.71 9.8 16.7 52.3 41.4 Domestic Auto/sports 2.7 0.0 13.0 4.2 Services 11.0 6.0 15.5 11.61 Other 62.2 51.4 4.8 5.4 8.5 8.39 82.4 70.0 31.8 24.1 Away (not used at home) Home and away Restaurant/retail Alcohol/tobacco Finance/real estate 2.5 2.58 Slimming Baby care Health Technical Non-technical Toiletries Electronics 8.0 6.45 Vehicles 6.5 1.94 Clothing and accessories Cleaning products Transport Leisure/culture Telecommunications Organizations Media 15.8 17.9 Technology Background Mostly female 2.7 0.0 10.0 22.4 8.5 14.19 7.8 40.0 0.0 44.8 Mostly male 10.8 2.9 41.4 17.9 12.5 4.52 21.6 0.0 25.0 0.0 Mixed 24.3 40.0 41.4 38.8 22.0 18.71 39.2 40.0 29.5 34.5 Mostly Children 4.1 5.7 7.1 20.9 7.0 4.52 9.8 13.3 11.4 3.4 None 58.1 51.4 50.0 58.06 21.6 6.7 34.1 17.2 End comments Present 79.7 77.1 93.8 96.4 55.0 40.0 68.6 76.7 100 100 Absent 20.3 22.9 6.2 3.6 45.0 60.0 31.4 23.3 0 0 Setting Private residence 5.4 5.7 30.8 57.7 21.5 33.55 9.8 16.7 11.4 13.8 Occupational setting 6.8 11.4 37.7 16.7 7.5 3.23 11.8 3.3 0.0 17.2 Outdoors Leisure/unknown 87.8 82.9 17.0 20.0 78.4 80.0 88.6 69.0Scand J Psychol 51 (2010) TV commercial sex roles stereotyping 231
APPENDIX: Continued.
� 2010 The A
Serbia, 2002
uthors. Journal compilation �
Turkey, 2003
2010 The Scandinavian Psy
Japan, 2002
chological Associations.
Hong Kong, 2003- English
Hong Kong, 2003 -Chinese
(Skoric & Furnham)
(Uray & Burnaz) (Furnham & Imazdu) (Furnham &Chan) (Furnham & Chan)M
F M F M F M F M F(N = 74)
(N = 35) (46.5%) (53.5%) (N = 200) (N = 155) (63%) (36%) (60.3%) (39.7%)Social
Office 13.0 4.2 Store Fictional 8.9 11.9 Other 9.6 9.5 54.0 43.23Singapore, 2003
Singapore, 2003 Mauritius, 2009 Australasia,2004Kenya,2005
(Lee) – daytime
(Lee) - prime time (Furnham & Hussain) (Milner &Higgs) (Milner)M
F M F M FM
F M F (N = 7) (N = 12) (N = 11) (N = 35) (N = 17) (N = 28)AttributesMode of presentation
Voice-over 75.0 25.0 71.9 28.1 52.9 32.1 Visual/others 47.1 67.9 Visual silence Visual voice Visual/music Credibility User 85.6 33.3 54.5 45.7 29.4 67.9 38.2 61.8 Authority/other 0.0 2.9 70.6 32.1 52.6 47.4 User and authority 14.3 58.3 0.0 37.1 Neither 0.0 8.3 45.5 14.3 Other Role Autonomous Dependent 11.8 60.7 Interviewer/narrator 52.9 42.9 Professional/other 14.3 0.0 36.4 5.7 35.3 0.0 Celebrity 28.6 75.0 36.4 65.7 Other/unknown 28.6 8.3 27.3 2.9 Familial Spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend 28.6 0.0 0.0 8.6 Parent 0.0 8.3 0.0 5.7 Presenter Office worker Fiance(e) Homemaker 0.0 11.4 Decorative Sex object Age Young 51.3 59.0 Middle-aged 22.7 39.3 Old 26.1 1.6 Middle-aged and old Argument Factual/scientific 41.2 17.9 Opinion/nonscientific 47.1 60.7 Other Opinion/none None 11.8 21.4232 A. Furnham and S. Paltzer Scand J Psychol 51 (2010)
APPENDIX: Continued.
� 2010 The Authors. Journal
Singapore, 2003
compilation � 2010 The Sc
Singapore, 2003
andinavian Psychological Ass
Mauritius, 2009
ociations.
Australasia,2004
Kenya, 2005(Lee) – daytime
(Lee) - prime time (Furnham & Hussain) (Milner &Higgs) (Milner)M
F M F M FM
F M F (N = 7) (N = 12) (N = 11) (N = 35) (N = 17) (N = 28)Reward type
Social approval Social/self-enhancement 11.8 25.0 Practical 17.6 46.4 Pleasure 70.6 28.6 Product benefits Financial Other/none Product type Body 14.3 25.0 0.0 28.6 0.0 10.7 Home 5.9 42.9 Food 14.3 8.3 36.4 25.7 29.4 46.4 Domestic 0.0 8.3 0.0 5.7 Auto/sports 18.2 0.0 5.9 0.0 Services Other 0.0 8.3 9.0 8.6 41.2 0.0 Away (not used at home) Home and Away Restaurant/retail Alcohol/tobacco 18.2 0.0 Finance/real estate 0.0 5.7 17.6 0.0 Slimming 0.0 8.3 0.0 2.9 Baby care 0.0 8.3 0.0 2.9 Health 71.4 33.3 0.0 5.7 Technical Non-technical Toiletries Electronics Vehicles Clothing and accessories Cleaning products Transport Leisure/culture Telecommunications Organizations Media Technology Background Mostly female 5.9 32.1 Mostly male 29.4 0.0 Mixed 23.5 14.3 Mostly children 0.0 17.9 None 41.2 35.7 End comments Present 82.4 60.7 Absent 17.6 39.3 Setting Private residence 42.9 16.6 0.0 28.6 11.8 60.7 20.2 32.8 18.5 18.8 Occupational setting 14.3 0.0 54.5 11.4 41.2 0.0 7.6 4.9 25.9 18.8 Outdoors 37.8 13.1 11.1 12.5 Leisure/unknown 0.0 16.6 9.0 5.7 47.1 39.3 Social Office Store 3.4 13.1 11.1 0.0 Fictional Other 42.9 66.7 36.4 54.2 31.1 36.1 33.3 50.0Scand J Psychol 51 (2010) TV commercial sex roles stereotyping 233
APPENDIX: Continued.
� 2010 The Authors. Journal com
Ghana,2005
pilation � 2010
SouthAfrica,2005
The Scandinavian
Korea, 2005
Psychological Associations.
Poland, 2005
Spain, 2007(Milner)
(Milner) (Kim & Lowry) (Furnham & Saar) (Valls-Ferandez &Martinez-Vicente)M
F M FM
F M F M F(N = 469)
(N = 643) (42%) (58%) (50.6%) (49.4%)AttributesMode of presentation
Voice-over 20.5 9.8 Visual/others 79.5 90.2 Visual silence 33.3 51.7 Visual voice 47.6 41.4 Visual/music 19.0 6.9 Credibility User 42.9 82.8 Authority/other 26.2 14.2 38.1 13.8 User and authority Neither Other 19.0 3.4 Role Autonomous 57.9 19.4 Dependent Interviewer/narrator 27.3 11.5 31.6 32.3 Professional/other 27.1 13.4 Celebrity 3.4 3.7 Other/unknown 20.9 33.9 Familial 10.5 48.4 Spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend 17.7 13.1 Parent 3.2 12.1 Presenter Office worker Fiance(e) Homemaker 0.4 12.3 Decorative Sex object Age Young 23.9 48.2 42.1 67.7 61.5 71.6 Middle-aged 47.4 25.8 32.5 21.5 Old 10.5 6.5 6 6.9 Middle-aged and old 59.5 41.2 Argument Factual/scientific Opinion/nonscientific 26.3 19.4 Other 31.6 12.9 Opinion/none None 42.1 67.7 Reward type Social approval Social/self-enhancement Practical 21.1 37.7 Pleasure 31.5 22.6 Product benefits 26.3 19.4 Financial Other/none 21.1 19.4 Product type Body 10.5 29.0 25.1 41.9 Home 21.1 22.6 14.0 10.4 Food 36.8 22.6 31.1 29.3 Domestic Auto/sports 12 5.4 Services 10.5 6.5 Other 10.5 0.0 5.9 5.6234 A. Furnham and S. Paltzer Scand J Psychol 51 (2010)
APPENDIX: Continued.
� 2010 The Authors. Journal c
Ghana,2005
ompilation � 2010 T
SouthAfrica,2005
he Scandinavian Psy
Korea, 2005
chological Associations.
Poland, 2005
Spain, 2007(Milner)
(Milner) (Kim & Lowry) (Furnham & Saar) (Valls-Ferandez &Martinez-Vicente)M
F M FM
F M F M F(N = 469)
(N = 643) (42%) (58%) (50.6%) (49.4%)Away (not used at home)
Home and away Restaurant/retail Alcohol/tobacco Finance/real estate 9.5 6.5 Slimming Baby care Health Technical 44.8 29.9 Non-technical 55.2 70.1 Toiletries Electronics Vehicles Clothing and accessories Cleaning products Transport Leisure/culture Telecommunications Organizations Media Technology Background Mostly female 9.6 9.0 15.8 12.9 Mostly male 17.5 5.3 0.0 9.7 Mixed 29.4 20.2 36.8 22.6 Mostly children 4.1 14.8 0.0 9.7 None 39.4 50.7 47.4 45.2 End comments Present 42.1 19.4 Absent 57.9 80.6 Setting Private residence 12.9 19.7 35.5 41.4 37.2 21.3 5.3 41.9 30.4 46.5 Occupational setting 17.7 3.3 4.8 3.4 14.7 4.4 21.1 6.5 49.5 30.0 Outdoors 46.8 24.6 33.9 34.5 39.7 33.1 Leisure/unknown 52.6 25.8 7.4 8.8 Social 7.2 9.8 Office Store 1.6 3.3 12.9 10.3 Fictional Other 21.0 49.2 12.9 10.3 21.1 25.8 12.7 14.7Bulgaria, 2007 (Ibroscheva)
Austria, 2007 (Ahlstrand) Spain, 2008 (Royo-Vela, Aldas-Manzano, Kuster & Vila)M (N = 37)
F (N = 90) M (N = 117) F (N = 86) M (N = 179) F (N = 213)AttributesMode of presentation
Voice-over 21.6 0.0 70.6 22.9 Visual/others Visual silence 29.7 66.7 Visual voice 48.6 33.3 Visual/music Credibility User 45.9 78.9Scand J Psychol 51 (2010) TV commercial sex roles stereotyping 235
APPENDIX: Continued.
� 2010 The Authors. Journal comp
Bulgaria, 2007 (Ibroscheva)
ilation � 2010 The Scandinavian Psycho
Austria, 2007 (Ahlstrand)
logical Associations.
Spain, 2008 (Royo-Vela, Aldas-Manzano, Kuster & Vila)
M (N = 37)
F (N = 90) M (N = 117) F (N = 86) M (N = 179) F (N = 213)Authority/other
45.9 10.0 User and authority Neither Other 8.1 11.1 Role Autonomous 83.8 30.0 Dependent 2.7 45.6 Interviewer/narrator 16.2 5.8 Professional/other 12.8 15.1 17.9 11.2 Celebrity 2.6 7.0 6.1 4.2 Other/unknown 13.5 24.4 46.2 38.4 24.5 31.7 Familial Spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend 17.9 25.6 11.2 7.9 Parent 4.3 8.1 9.5 13.1 Presenter 7.3 4.7 Office worker 10.6 4.7 Fiance(e) 8.4 7.5 Homemaker 4.5 15.0 Decorative Sex object Age Young 62.2 81.1 27.4 61.6 Middle-aged 64.1 31.4 Old 8.55 7.0 Middle-aged and old 37.8 18.9 Argument Factual/scientific Opinion/nonscientific Other Opinion/none None Reward type Social approval 13.5 3.3 Social/self-enhancement 48.6 32.2 Practical 18.9 30.0 Pleasure 18.9 34.4 Product benefits Financial Other/none Product type Body 12.0 31.4 Home 4.3 5.8 Food 12.8 26.7 22.9 21.0 Domestic 59.5 65.5 Auto/sports 4.3 1.2 Services Other 42.7 18.6 10.1 13.0 Away (not used at home) 16.2 3.3 Home and away 24.3 31.1 Restaurant/retail 4.3 4.7 Alcohol/tobacco 6.0 7.0 3.9 4.7 Finance/real estate 13.7 4.7 Slimming Baby care Health Technical Non-technical Toiletries 6.1 17.3 Electronics Vehicles236 A. Furnham and S. Paltzer Scand J Psychol 51 (2010)
APPENDIX: Continued.
� 2010 The Authors. Journal com
Bulgaria, 2007 (Ibroscheva)
pilation � 2010 The Scandinavian Psych
Austria, 2007 (Ahlstrand)
ological Associations.
Spain, 2008 (Royo-Vela, Aldas-Manzano, Kuster & Vila)
M (N = 37)
F (N = 90) M (N = 117) F (N = 86) M (N = 179) F (N = 213)Clothing and accessories
3.9 3.3 Cleaning products 5.6 13.6 Transport 11.7 5.6 Leisure/culture 3.4 2.8 Telecommunications 10.1 3.3 Organizations 22.3 15.4 Media Technology Background Mostly female Mostly male Mixed Mostly children None End comments Present Absent Setting Private residence 21.6 36.7 23.1 27.9 Occupational setting 24.3 10.0 8.5 11.6 Outdoors 35.9 33.7 Leisure/unknown 45.9 48.9 Social Office Store Fictional Other 8.1 4.4 32.5 26.7