johnson and young

• aim

  to determine whether advertisers script television adverts differently for males and females of school age, linking toys to gender stereotypical roles
• research method

  content analysis - researchers coded filmed material shown in television adverts relating to boys and girls

  *discourse analysis - critically analyses the use of vocabulary, tone and other features of speech to interpret meaning
• sample

  *samples of children's television programmes in the cartoon genre were video recorded from commercial (for profit) networks, regional independent New England stations, and Nickelodeon in the fall (autumn) of 1996 and 1997 and again in the fall of 1999

  *15 30 min programmes recorded in 1996 and 1997 and 24 30 min programmes in 1999

  *total number of adverts included within the time boundaries was 478 (149 in 1996, 133 in 1997 and 196 in 1999)

  *range of adverts per programme was 8.2 to 8.9

  *no participant sample (content analysis)
• product categories for adverts

  1. food and drink (eg cereals, snacks, drinks)

  2. toys

  3. educational/public service (eg anti-drug campaigns)

  4. recreation (eg theme parks)

  5. video/film promotion

  6. other/miscellaneous (only in 1999)
• what commercials were selected as focus for analysis (how many)

  toy commercials, 188 in total (most open to gender elaboration)
• procedure

  *toy adverts were transcribed by their gender target audience using three categories

  *researchers identified gender in advert voice-overs as well as presence of gender exaggeration in voices (eg female voices being high-pitched and excited, while male voices were deep and powerful-sounding)

  *speaking lines of males and females were analysed, and the use of the word 'power' in male-orientated adverts was also analysed

  *they considered verb elements in 5 categories
• categories of toys adverts

  1. adverts targeted to boys in which boys were depicted

  2. adverts targeted to girls in which girls were depicted

  3. adverts targeted to both boys and girls either because both genders were featured or because there was no gender specific content.
• verb elements considered (5)

  1. action - verbs that relate to physical movement (eg crawl, fly, jump, race)

  2. competition/destruction - action verbs directly related to competition or destruction (eg crush, fire on, knock out, pounce, slam, stomp)

  3. power/control - verbs referring to target consumers or speakers in advertisement as possessing power over someone/something (eg control, defeat, rule, take)

  4. limited-activity - verbs not involving explicit action (eg beware, get, go, know, look, talk, wait, watch)

  5. feeling and nurturing - type of limited activity linked to emotions and caring (eg cuddles, loves, taking care of, tuck you in)
• results pt1 (overall + names of toys and types advertised)

  *boy-oriented adverts exceeded girl-oriented adverts and there were relatively few adverts directed to both boys and girls (gender non-specific) - in total, 54.8% (102) boy orientated, 33.0% (63) girl orientated, 12,2% (23) non-specific gender*names of toys:naming of toys reinforced opposing/polarised gender stereotypes e.g ‘Big Time Action Heroes’ and ‘Tonka Mega Crew’ stressed size as critical in male-oriented toys whilst ‘Juice ‘n Cookies Baby Alive’ and ‘Bedtime Bottle Baby’ signified parenting as a female-orientated quality*types of toys advertised:boy-orientated ads were dominated by action figures (eg Karate Fighters; Star Wars characters most common - 37% of boy toys) and by 1999 hand-held electronic games and computer-related toys. most girl-orientated ads were of 'posable figures' eg Barbie dolls and animal figures (44% of girl toys)*posable figures were depicted in scenes of limited activity, compared to action figures - reinforcement of stereotypical ideas regarding play activity of boys and girls
• results pt2 (voice overs and frequency of verb element type)

  *voice overs:adult actors provided voice-over for majority of adverts, with all boy-orientated and boy/girl-orientated adverts voiced by male. majority (89%) of girl-orientated adverts were voiced by female. exaggerated gender stylisation was used in commercials for both boy-oriented(deep, loud and aggressive voices)and girl-oriented(high pitched or sing-song voices)toys (80% for boys and 87% for girls), though this was not common in adverts for boy/girl-oriented toys
• results - voice overs more info

  *some ads contained more than 1 voice, so actors/voiceover would speak in turn during a conversation

  *over half the girl-oriented ads contained speaking turns, compared with less than a quarter of the boy-oriented ads - researchers suggest this presents young audience with verbal models which reinforce stereotypes in which females engage in talk, while males prefer action to words
• results pt 3 (feeling and nurturing verb elements)

  absent from boy-oriented adverts, but present in 66 girl-oriented adverts
• results pt 4 (competition/destruction verb elements)

  used in boy-oriented adverts over 12 times more than in girl-oriented adverts
• results pt 5 (limited activity verb elements)

  more present in girl-oriented adverts but occurred often in boy-oriented adverts
• results pt 6 (agency and control verb elements)

  more prevalent for boy-oriented toys than girl-oriented toys
• results pt 7 (action verb elements)

  least variation in frequency of use between boy- and girl-oriented adverts, but differences found in the images associated with each action verb - eg 'throw' 'take off' for boys, 'skip' 'twirl' for girls
• results pt 8 - adverts in which boys and girls were together

  *scripting displayed polarised views of gender behaviour - eg girls responded with affirmation to lines said by boys, showing boys as having positions of power within the group
• results pt 9 - use of word 'power' and 'powerful'


  *found in 1/5th of boy -oriented ads, but only used once in girl-oriented advert when it was part of the name of a toy manufacturer
• conclusions

  1. gender stereotypes underlie television adverts as they portray males and females through traditional gender stereotypical discourse

  2. reasons for gender-stereotypical portrayal might include reliance of historically successful marketing strategies and/or profitability in creating gender-specific consumer behaviour (ie creating markets for both male and female products)