Gender role stereotyping in radio advertisements: a portuguese and cross- national analysis

Downloaded By: [B-on Consortium - 2007] At: 17:07 4 April 2008 Gender Role Stereotyping in Radio Advertisements: A Portuguese and Cross-national Analysis Felix Net0 and Ana Santos Most previous research into gender role stereotypes in the mass media has concentrated on television or print. Using content analysis, gender role stereotyping in radio commercials was examined. The goals of the study were to: (1) provide current data on level and content of gender stereotyping in Portuguese radio advertising; (2) compare levels of stereotyping in three countries. One hundred and sixty six advertisements were content analyzed into nine categories referring to the central figure, credibility, role, location, argument, reward, product, accent, and narrator. As previously found, male and female characters were portrayed in different ways particularly on credibility (males as authorities, females as users), role (males as celebrities/ narrator, females as dependent), location (males in occupational setting more than females), and narrators (females as characters more than males). The patterns of bias in Portuguese radio commercials are consistent with, though less marked than, those in television commercials. Concerning the crossnational analysis, results showed more similarities than differences. The mass media impact on our daily lives in a variety of ways, often without our conscious awareness. We are bombarded by visual and auditory stimuli from the media throughout the day. We hear music, news, and advertising at our office desks, in elevators, while jogging or driving to and from school or work. Advertisements in buses and subways shout out the newest, best, modern, and most efficient products and services available. Critical theory and cultural studies emphasize the central role of advertising in the formation of our symbolic reality (Kellner, 1995; Schudson, 1993). In Western culture, socioeconomic reality and the symbolic reality presented by Felix Net0 (Ph. D., Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales [Paris], 1980; Universidade do Porto, 19851, is Professor of Social Pshchology at Faculdade de Psicologia e de Cidncias de EducagBo, Universidade do Porto, Portugal. His research interests include cross-cultural psychology, migration, and gender. Ana Santos (MS, Faculdade de Psicologia e de Cihncias da EducagBo, Universidade do Porto, Portugal, 1992), teaches developmental psychology at lnstituto Superior de Saljde do Porto, Portugal. Her research interests include gender and health. Downloaded By: [B-on Consortium - 2007] At: 17:07 4 April 2008 132 Journal of Radio StudiesIVol. 11, No. 1, 2004 the advertising world are related. Kellner (1995) observed that "all ads are social texts that respond to key development during the period in which they appear" One specific area of value transmission in advertising has been the study of gender role portrayals (Courtney & Whipple, 1983). Researchers' interest in this area results from a variety of factors, the most important being that marketers use gender as a primary segmentation variable and that social scientists use advertisements to examine gender stereotyping in the media. Gender stereotypes (Neto, 1997; Neto, Williams, & Widner, 1991) are as present in print media as they are in auditory and visual media. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the monitoring of contemporary media by extending attention to a form of broadcasting that has been little studied: radio. With the rise of television following the Second World War, there was fear that radio might disappear. Radio survived as the result of an extraordinary adaptation: The medium entirely changed its format, to supplement rather than directly compete with TV. People listen when they wake up in the morning, while they are working, driving, eating, playing, and today, surfing the net. But when evening comes, and they settle down in their living rooms, the radio dial is turned off in favor of the TV. Nevertheless, radio remains one of the most massive of our mass media forms in terms of the ownership sets. Radio is available in virtually every location and at any time of the day or night. It can be a group or solus activity. The intensity of listening covers a wide spectrum, from passive listening to other people's sets and their choice of stations throughout to a personal, trusted relationship with its user. Radio has always been of key importance to its listeners and is growing in importance as an advertising medium (Robinson, 2000). Ad avoidance was lowest for radio (Speck & Elliot, 1997). Findings suggest that radio carries informative advertisements, more than magazines and television, and equally with newspapers (Pasadeos, Shoemake, & Campbell, 1992). But consumer studies show that radio advertisements are perceived as less informative than newspaper advertisements (e.g., King, Reid, Tinkham, & Pokrywczynski, 1987). The first radio broadcasts in Portugal took place in 1925, but the Portuguese broadcasting company, "Emissora Nacional" was created only in 1935. Currently the radio equipment tax is high in Portugal. It is believed that most of the Portuguese people have at least one radio set, and of these, a significant percentage possesses a car radio. This is a more recent phenomenon that is gradually becoming frequent. The number of local radios proliferated significantly in the past 2 decades. The majority of these radios are connected with the national radio system for receiving news, important football games, and other significant events. Advertising in these media is almost exclusively for the local commerce. The average radio audience in Portugal also varies during the day and according to the days of the week (Brochand, Lendrevie, Rodrigues, & Dionisio, (p. 334). Downloaded By: [B-on Consortium - 2007] At: 17:07 4 April 2008 Net0 & SantodGENDER ROLE STEREOTYPING 133 1999). From Monday to Friday, the average radio audience rate is placed around 9.0%. This value decreases to 6.5% on Saturdays and to 6.0% on Sundays. The hours of higher audience rates are between 8:OO and 8:30 a.m. (covering commuting times to work by car), between 11:30 a.m. and midday and between 4:OO and 4:30 p.m. (During this period radio is mainly heard by people that work at home and by students.) In 1998 radio represented 8.0% of the total advertising investments. During the 1970s and 1980s, Portugal experienced substantial increases in the proportion of women in the workplace. In 2000, the female employment rate was 44.9% (Instituto National, 2001). In the context of the European Union, Portugal is one of the countries with the highest female activity employment rate. The Government strengthened legislation to prohibit gender discrimination and appointed a ClDM (ComissBo para a lgualdade e Direitos da Mulher) whose office constitutes the governmental mechanism to assure equality of opportunities and rights. Surveys of family roles indicate some shifts in the patterns of the division of household labor. In 1997-1998, women constituted 56.0% of students enrolled in college. In sum, in recent decades Portugal has experienced ideological, political, and economic pressures concerning gender roles similar to those of other Western nations, and in this context it is of interest to assess the extent to which the mass media have responded to developments in the surrounding society. Portuguese radio is listened to in Portugal and by large populations in other countries (African countries speaking Portuguese and Portuguese emigrants around the world). The purpose of this research is to explore the nature of gender stereotypes in Portuguese radio advertising and to compare the extent of gender-role stereotyping in Portuguese commercial radio content with that recently analyzed in Portuguese commercial television content (Neto & Pinto, 1998) and with commercial data from two other countries, Australia and Great Britain. The research reported here contributes to the literature by updating prior research and testing its generalizability with a cross-country comparison. Television commercials have been studied in detail because, in America, they can occupy as much as one fifth of total broadcasting (Courtney & Whipple, 1983). McArthur and Resko (1975) found that overall men appeared more often than women in television advertisements and that men and women differed in terms of credibility (men being authorities and women users), role (women portrayed in terms of their relationship to others and men in a role independent of others), location (men shown in occupational settings and women in the home), persuasive arguments (men gave more "scientific" arguments than women), rewards (women were shown obtaining approval of family and males, while men obtained social and career advancement), and product type (men were authorities on products used primarily by women). Recognition of the potential influence of television commercials on gender-role development has Downloaded By: [B-on Consortium - 2007] At: 17:07 4 April 2008 134 Journal of Radio StudieslVol. 11, No. 1,2004 spurred a continuing interest in monitoring the degree of gender-role stereotyping in commercials during the past 3 decades (Furnham & Mak, 1999). Net0 and Pinto (1998) examined the portrayal of men and women in a sample of Portuguese television commercials. Three hundred and four evening commercials were content analyzed. The attributes of each of their central figures were classified into 11 categories: gender, mode of presentation, credibility, role, location, age, argument, reward type, product type, background, and end comment. The results indicated that men and women appearing in this sample were not portrayed in independent ways. The nature of these associations were systematic and in line with traditional gender-role stereotyping. These findings revealed that Portuguese television commercials manifest traditional gender role stereotypes very similar to those found in studies conducted in Western countries. It is interesting to note, however, that sex stereotyping appears to be much less prevalent in children's advertisements (Furnham, Abramski, & Gunter, 1997; Neto, submitted). In the context of a review of television studies, Durkin (1985) suggested that regular monitoring of the media would be useful to chart continuities and changes over time and to provide a basis for examination of the relationships between the media and their societies. Furnham and Schofield (1986) pointed out that there is an additional need to investigate the contents of other primary mass media, such as radio, which accounts for a large proportion of many people's daily media usage. These authors compared the extent of gender role stereotyping in commercials on British radio with that of commercials on television content by Manstead and McCulloch (1981) using the original coding categories. They found that in radio advertisements, men were more often portrayed as "authorities on products" and women as "users" of products; men were more likely to be portrayed as "narrators or celebrities" than women; and women were more likely to be portrayed in the "home" than men. Manstead and McCulloch (1981) found significant differences in nearly all of their eight content-analytic categories, whereas Furnham and Schofield (1 986) found significant differences in less than half of the categories and concluded that, compared with advertisements on British television, British radio advertisements were gender role stereotyped in fewer dimensions. Hurtz and Durkin (1997) have pointed out that this has been the only radio-based gender role content analysis. They replicated the study using 100 Western Australian radio advertisements. They found that males were more often central characters; more often in authority roles. Females were most often portrayed in dependent roles and in their home, while they were portrayed as customers or girlfriends in the workplace. Only one of their analyses yielded a different pattern from the Furnham and Schofield (1986) data: In the British data, females were more likely to portray "characters" than males, whereas the reverse was true for the Australian data. Downloaded By: [B-on Consortium - 2007] At: 17:07 4 April 2008 Net0 & SantodGENDER ROLE STEREOTYPING 135 Furnham and Thompson (1999) updated the Furnham and Schofield (1986) study. They examined the portrayal of men and women in two different samples of British radio advertisements. One hundred advertisements from each radio station were content analyzed. On both radio stations women were significantly more likely to be portrayed promoting products for self-enhancement and with bodily health, domestic products, and food. Even less study appears to have been done on gender roles on radio than in other mass communication media; the studies previously reviewed have shown that men and women are also portrayed in stereotypical fashion suggesting that radio is consistent with other media in their role stereotyping. Yet compared with similar studies of television advertisements, there were fewer significant differences in the portrayal of male and female characters. Because the effects of stereotypes have been suggested to be detrimental (e.g., Jennings, Geis, & Brown, 1980), the extent of their presence in other cultures warrants examination. As the previous studies on gender role stereotyping in radio advertisements have been conducted among Anglophone countries, the current study has been conducted in a country with a different language, Portuguese, to examine in this cultural context the generalizability of the previous findings. The issue of cross-national variation in gender stereotyping in radio advertising has been particularly neglected. Comparisons of stereotyping across nations contribute to a better understanding of stereotyping and its relationship to cultural factors. Thus this study focuses also on cross-national similarities and differences in gender-role portrayal in radio advertisements comparing findings of the current study with earlier advertising research in Australia and Great Britain. Two kinds of previous evidence allow us to expect more cross-cultural similarities than differences in gender stereotyping in radio advertising among the three countries. The first previous evidence indicates many cross-cultural similarities in the traits ascribed to men and women (Williams & Best, 1990). For example, the mean common variance among all possible combinations of the 25 countries in this large cross-cultural study was 42.0%, and the common variance between Portuguese data and those from the 25 countries was 61 .O% (Williams, Best, Ward, & Neto, 1990). The second previous evidence indicates that clear patterns arise that attest to the universality of sex-role stereotyping in television commercials from 14 studies conducted in Australia, France, Denmark, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Portugal, and the United States (Furnham & Mak, 1999). In light of previous research the following hypotheses are proposed: (a) Gender stereotyping in Portuguese radio advertisements is consistent with that of Portuguese television advertisements. (b) In comparison with Portuguese television advertisements, Portuguese radio advertisements are gender-role stereotyped on fewer dimensions. This Downloaded By: [B-on Consortium - 2007] At: 17:07 4 April 2008 136 Journal of Radio StudiesIVol. 11, No. 1,2004 hypothesis is in line with previous research. For example, Furnham and Schofield (1986) concluded that "in comparison with British television advertisements, British radio advertisements are sex-role stereotyped on fewer dimensions" (p. 169). (c) Gender stereotyping in radio advertisements are more similar than different among countries. METHOD Sample of Commercials Advertisements were recorded randomly (just one radio station was recorded at each time period) from three different national radio stations (Radio Renasceya, Radio Cidade, Radio Comercial) between the times of 7:30-9:30 am., 2:30-4:30 p.m., and 7:30-9:30 pm., from January 31, 2000, until February 18, 2000. The stations were chosen because they were the most popular commercial radio broadcasters in the country in the most recent trimester of 1999, according to Bareme-Radio from Marktest. This agency has contributed to the knowledge of the behavior of Portuguese people about radio since January 1994. A total of 446 advertisements was initially recorded but 280 of these were repeats of advertisements already recorded and were therefore excluded from the sample. The final sample of 166 advertisements was used for coding. Coding Procedure We conducted content analysis to gain basic information on the content of the commercials in radio's programs. Content analysis is a procedure for classifying qualitative information to obtain data amenable to quantitative manipulation. This method was chosen because it is deemed best at giving "a scientific, quantitative, and generalizable description of communications content" (Kassarjian, 1977, p. IO). Variables were drawn from previous research on gender stereotyping in commercials. Before being included on the coding form, they were pretested to ensure that they adequately reflected the content of the commercials. The coding system employed was modeled closely on that used by McArthur and Resko (1975), Furnham and Schofield (1986), Hurtz and Durkin (1997), and Furnham and Thompson (1999). Two trained coders, one male and one female, independently coded the characteristics of each central figure presented in the commercials. They both coded 100% of the advertisements and the overall error rate of discrepancies was 5.0%. This high level of agreement was similar to previous radio content analyses (Furnham & Schofield, 1986; Furnham &Thompson, 1999; Hurtz, & Durkin, 1997). For each specific variable, the percentage of agreement was as follows: 100% for central figure, accent, and narrator, 97% for credibility, 94% for arguments, 93% for reward type and Downloaded By: [B-on Consortium - 2007] At: 17:07 4 April 2008 Net0 81 SantodGENDER ROLE STEREOTYPING 137 product type, 90% for location, and 88% for role. The characteristics of each central figure depicted in the advertisements were coded according to the sex of the central figure and the eight variables of credibility, role, location, arguments, reward type, product type, accent, and narrator. Adults playing a central role, namely main speaking parts, in an advertisement were classed as central figures. No more than two central figures were depicted, those featured most prominently were selected for further coding. The nine attributes presented in Table 1 are: Central Figure (whether key person in the advertisements was male or female); Credibility Basis (whether central figure in advertisements was a product "user," an "authority" or information source, or neither of these things); Role (whether central figure in advertisements was "dependent," "narratorlcelebrity," "professional," or "other"); Location (whether central figure in advertisements was depicted in "home," "occupational setting," or "other"); Arguments (whether central figure in advertisements presented "scientific" or factual evidence, "non-scientific" or opinions or testimonials, and "none"); Reward Type (whether central figure in advertisements presented main emphasis on "self-enhancement," "practical," "social or career development," and "other;" Product Type (whether central figure in advertisements involved "bodylhomelfood," "autoltechnicalloccupational," "entertainmentAeisure," and "other;" Accent (whether central figure in advertisements used "standard" Portuguese spoken in Portugal, "Brazilian" Portuguese spoken in Brazil, and "other;" Narrator (whether central figure in advertisements was "character," and "neutral" or narratodpresenter. RESULTS The results will be presented in two steps. First, we will present the Portuguese data. Second, these Portuguese data will be compared with data from Australia and Great Britain previously collected (Furnham & Thompson, 1999; Hurtz & Durkin, 1997). National analysis The total number of male and female central figures for the three Portuguese stations were calculated. The results from each of the categories rated are described in terms of their significance using a chi-square test with Yates correction when appropriate. Central Figures. Of 233 central figures recorded, 184 were males and 49 were females (79% males vs. 21% females), an association that was statistically significant (x2 = 78.22, df= 1, p < 0.001). Ninety five of the 166 commercials had only one central figure. Table 1 shows the breakdown according to gender by the major categories of the variables. Credibility Basis. Two hundred and four central figures were coded either as an authority or user of the product. Both males and females were more likely Downloaded By: [B-on Consortium - 2007] At: 17:07 4 April 2008 138 Journal of Radio StudieslVol. 11, No. 1,2004 Table 1 Comparisons of Characteristics of Men and Women in Ads in Portugal, Australia, and Great Britain (Numbers Represent Absolute Frequencies) Portugal Australia GB Men Women (N = 233) Men Women (N = 153 ) Men Women (N = 254) 1. Credibility User Authority Other 18 14 148 24 18 11 J = 20.1*** 22 17 73 9 25 7 2 = 16.6*** 24 9 161 41 15 4 n.s. 2. Role Dependent Narratorlcelebrity Professional Other 10 14 110 17 52 8 12 10 2 = 34.6*** 9 8 52 13 44 6 15 6 J = 9.9* 0 2 161 39 17 2 22 11 J = 12.0** 3. Location Home Occupational setting Other 9 9 122 20 53 20 = 15.0"' 10 8 48 14 62 11 J = 7.4* 0 2 19 5 181 47 2 = 7.5* 4. Argument Scientific Nonscientific None 19 5 107 10 58 23 n.s. 43 12 35 10 42 11 n.s. 126 26 45 17 29 11 n.s. 5. Reward type Self-enhancement Practical Sociakareer development Other 12 9 79 16 13 2 80 22 n.s. 14 6 43 8 23 8 40 11 n.s 6 10 69 11 43 13 82 20 = 19.2*** 6. Product type Bodylhomelfood Auto/technicalloccu pational Entertainmentlleisure Other 34 14 78 16 61 14 11 5 n.s. 37 10 35 5 32 9 16 9 n.s. 26 17 84 12 63 13 27 9 x' = 19.1*** 7. Accent Standard Other 131 41 53 8 n.s. 104 33 16 0 n.s. 180 48 20 6 n.s. 8. Narrator Character 57 28 37 4 34 9 *p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < .001 Downloaded By: [B-on Consortium - 2007] At: 17:07 4 April 2008 Net0 & SantodGENDER ROLE STEREOTYPING 139 to be shown as "authorities" than "users." Males were much more likely to be shown as authorities than females. Eighty percent of the males were presented as authorities and only 10% as product users, whereas 29% of females were shown as product users and 49% as authorities. A significant association between gender and credibility basis was found (x2 = 20.12, df = 2, p < 0.001). Role. The four categories "spouse," "parent," "home-maker," and "girlfriend" were pooled into one dependent category because of low numbers in these roles (Furnham & Schofield, 1986). The "narratorkelebrity" category was kept separate, as was the "professional" category. The "worker" category was included in the other category due to low numbers. A significant association between gender of central figure and role was found in advertisements (x2 = 34.62, df = 3, p < 0.001). Results indicated that females were far more likely to be portrayed as dependent roles than males, with 29% of the women and 5% of the men in such roles. Males were also more likely to have a role of narratorkelebrity than females were (60% vs. 35%). Location. Analysis of a 2 X 3 contingency table relating gender of central figures to location category revealed a significant association (x2 = 15.00, df = 2, p < 0.001). Females were presented more often in the home (18%) than males (5%), whereas males were presented more often in an occupational setting (66%) than females (41%). Argument. Analysis of a 2 x 3 contingency table relating gender of central figure to type of argument did not show an overall significant effect (x2 = 4.29, df = 2, p > 0.05). Males and females were equally likely to use scientific arguments (10%). About one third of the sample's contributions involved no arguments at all. Reward. Analysis of a 2 X 4 contingency table relating gender of central figures to reward type was carried out but was not found to be statistically significant (x2 = 7.58, df = 3, p > 0.05). However, females were rewarded more in the "self-enhancement" category than males (18% vs. 7%). Males were shown to be rewarded slightly more than females in the "practical" category (43% vs. 33%). Product. Because of low frequencies, the categories "body," "home," and "food" were pooled, as were "auto," "technical," and "occupational." The two categories "entertainmentlleisure" and "other" were kept separate. Analysis of a 2 x 4 contingency table relating gender of central figure to product again proved not to be significant (x' = 4.08, df= 3, p > 0.05). However, females were more likely than males to appear in commercials for "body," "home," and "food" (29% vs. 19%). Males appeared slightly more than females in commercials for "auto, technical or occupational products" (43% vs. 33%). Accent. Analysis of a 2 x 3 contingency table relating gender of central figure to type of accent revealed no statistically significant association (x' = 3.18, df = 2, p > 0.05). The accent is equally likely for both genders of central figures.