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Women in Advertisements: A comparison of the portrayal women in alcohol advertisements vs. cleaning product advertisementsBrigid GorhamElon UniversityAbstractThis study contrasted the portrayal of women in television commercials for alcohol with women in cleaning product commercials. Research was conducted in the form of content analysis for different brands from both alcohol and cleaning product industries. The study found that cleaning product advertisements show far less variation in female characters, who are almost always dressed conservatively, and that they almost never target males. Alcohol commercials featured women in a wider range of roles, but these characters were more likely to be wearing revealing clothing and flirting. Overall, notable differences were discovered in every category of content analyzed, and some categories showed striking differences that cannot be simply explained by differing target markets. Not only were characters different in the two categories of commercials studied, but the gap between stereotypes of conservative mother or wife and revealing, sexual young adult raise a question about the perception of women in our society. IntroductionThe portrayal of women in advertisements has been a controversial topic since the 1960’s. Consumers in the late 1960’s and 1970’s openly criticized advertisements for only showing women in a few, narrowly defined roles when, in reality, women actually played a vital part in a many important aspects of society. Today ads feature women in a wider variety of characters, but the issue remains controversial. An article in The New York Times published an article in 2010 reviewing a study that stated advertisements make women feel ugly (Pamela). As the American public became more comfortable with more tolerant or racy television shows and pop culture, ads followed suit. With an overwhelming amount of advertising being projected upon the public, some advertisers use sex as a tactic to grab the consumer’s attention (O’Guinn, Allen & Semeik, 2009). Although women can be seen in many different ways in modern ads, these characters are often still stereotyped. There are two prominent stereotypes of women today: the housewife and the sex symbol. While criticism of the housewife image has largely subsided, the use of this character in ads today is still extremely prominent. However, other stereotypes have emerged. In her book, Feminism and Pop Culture, Andi Zeisler (2008) writes “the mother figure is sexless; the cheerleader hypersexual,” (p. 9). Using women for sexual appeal has become more explicit over the years and contrasts interestingly with the housewife image. Advertisements of one particular category, household products, have remained almost completely unchanged since the 1950’s (Neuhaus, 2011, p.12). People in ads for household cleaning products have almost always been white, middle aged, middle class women. “Advertising is our only truly widespread—that is, viewed by men, women, and children of all races and classes—popular cultural expression about housework,” and therefore both influences and reflects the nation’s view of housework as a gendered role (Neuhaus, 2011, p. 8). Women have made incredible advancements in society, but have the media kept up with the changing times? We are exposed to more advertisements every day, and these sensory experiences certainly have an effect on us. People of all ages see these ads too, so for young girls who are seeing these contrasting female roles. Stereotypical advertisements have been proven to effect women’s thoughts and perceptions, and therefore affect their desires and ambitions (Davies, 2001). This gives advertising agencies an incredible amount of control on our society, and makes the stereotyping of women an important topic to study. If these advertisements are not just selling products but changing the way the U.S. public things and behaves, they should be much more careful of stereotyping. This study will contrast the portrayal of women in television advertisements for household products with the portrayal of women in alcohol advertisements to see how much they actually differ. These two genres of advertisements depict women in two vastly different, incredibly narrow characters. American’s are increasingly surrounded by advertisements in every medium, but this study will focus on TV ads because the most advertising dollars are spent on this medium. Literature ReviewMany studies have examined the portrayal of women in U.S. television advertising. In the late 1960’s and into the 1970’s, during the second wave of feminism, advertisements were the target of harsh criticism for their narrow stereotyping of women who were shown only in the home. Even until the 1980’s, women were shown in places of work far less often than men and were more likely to be cast as consumers (Kerin, 1979). However, with a study that shows correlation between stereotypical advertisements and women’s ambitions and perception of themselves, gender stereotypes are not something to be overlooked (Davies, 2001). The resilience of the housewife stereotype has intrigued scholars for decades, but the ad industry has certainly evolved. Jessamyn Neuhaus’ intricate dissection of the evolution of the housewife image in advertisements brings up interesting details about this stereotype since 1940 and points out that it must reflect a valid aspect of U.S. society, or at least how it is we perceive to be (2011). Feminists are concerned with different issues, like sexual objectification of women in pop culture, including advertisements (Zeisler, 2008). Americans are exposed to an increasing number of ads on a daily basis through a growing number of media. Advertisers sometimes use the idea that sex sells to break through the immense amount of ads to grab the consumer’s attention (Sheehan, 2004). This appeals to the natural urges of humans. The alcohol industry, more than any other industry, uses sex in advertisements both in print and on TV to sell its products (Sheehan 2004). However, studies have shown that while using sex appeal to advertise to men is effective, it is not for women (O’Guinn, 2009). Instead, romance is used to attract women. On the other hand, ads for household products logically target women since they have been proven to make the majority of purchases of consumer goods (Zeisler, 2008). Andi Zeisler’s book on feminism and pop culture assesses how the media portray women since World War II and how feminists have attempted to fight any stereotype the media force upon them. Zeisler also makes note of the drastic difference in sex appeal between the housewife and the provocative female (2008). Women fought against being categorized and forced into a housewife role. This resulted in “virgin-whore dichotomies,” which are still reign today (Zeisler, 2008, p.133). Perhaps as a result of women attempting to gain control of their sexuality, the media quickly caught on and has not stopped since. What is actually “sex” in advertising can be difficult to define. Tom Reichert and Jacqueline Lambiase’s studies on sex in advertising offer helpful insight into terms and definitions for looking at and analyzing advertisements for sexual content (2003). For example, types of sex in advertising can be nudity, sexual behavior, physical attractiveness, sexual referents, and sexual embeds (Reichert, Lambiase, 2003). Not all advertisements stereotype, and some do more severely than others. Often times, themes in the type and severity of stereotyping can be seen when commercials are separated by product type. The majority of research on female stereotyping in commercials was done in the 1970’s and 1980’s after the second wave of feminism to both explore those advertisements and investigate whether the advertising industry adjusted to the times. Housewife and sex symbol are two drastically different stereotypes of women that lead young girls to believe they should be involved and sex and submissive to men while middle aged women should be mothers and housewives happily taking care of their families and homes. It does not make sense that advertisements portray the same gender in such different ways, and surely confuses some of their audience. By narrowly defining the roles that certain demographic groups can play, advertisements send out the message that these people should not venture outside of what is normal and socially accepted (Sheehan, 2004). Advertising is a form of pop culture, and thus reflects what most consumers think about their own society at the time (Zeisler, 2008).TheoryGeorge Gerbner’s cultivation theory relates to this perception of society through the media. Gerbner’s study discovered that although people who are heavy TV users who watched a lot of crime programs didn’t necessarily act differently from those who didn’t watch a lot of violent TV programs, they did perceive the world to be more dangerous (Rosenberry, 2009)(Gerbner et al., 1980). According to this theory, if people see women portrayed a certain way over and over again, they will soon believe this to be true. Gerbner has two processes that go along with his theory, the first being mainstreaming, where large groups of people share a common perception as a result of their exposure to television (Rosenberry, 2009, p.65). The second part of this theory is resonance, which means that messages have more of an impact on those whose lives are similar to what is portrayed on the TV (Rosenberry, 2009) (Gerbner et al., 1986). This explains why two stereotypes of women might be so drastically different and yet both are ingrained in U.S. society. The sheer repetition over decades has changed our perception of women, changed our view of housework as a gendered role, and other products like alcohol becomes a means of gaining sexual attractiveness. The literature and theory referenced above allowed me to define my research question that will be the driving force behind this study. RQ1: To what extent do women characters in alcohol TV ads differ from women characters in cleaning product TV ads?MethodsIn order to achieve a comprehensive overview of advertisements in two product categories, this study applied content analysis. Content analysis is a research technique for “objective, systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication,” (Rosenberry & Vickers, 2009, p. 42). Content analysis is a good technique when comparing two similar mediums in a systematic and qualitative manner; therefore, this method makes the most sense to compare the same aspects of two different categories of commercials. Additionally, commercials contain an incredible amount of information and elements. “A major benefit of content analysis is its data-reduction capacity: the ability to take large amounts of material and organize it into fewer categories for more manageable analysis,” (Rosenberry & Vickers, 2009, p.42). First, commercial content will be split into categories and then further broken into specific aspects of these groups. Once all commercials are properly coded for content, the content will be analyzed by comparing the results from both the category of alcohol and that of cleaning products. SamplingThe unit of analysis in this content analysis is one commercial spot. Sampling will include commercials from different brands in two product categories: alcoholic beverages and household cleaning products. Specific brands to be sampled for alcohol products were chosen from different types of alcohol to get the best representation of advertisements for the industry. To investigate these advertisements, this study will examine ads for specific brands in each category. The brands for cleaning products will be Tide, Mr. Clean, Febreze, Cascade, Swiffer, Downy, Gain, Snuggle, Clorox and Scrubbing Bubbles. Brands for alcohol advertisements will include Absolut, Smirnoff, Grey Goose, Budweiser, Bud light, Bud Platinum, Bailey’s, Heineken, Jim Beam and Miller Light. A total of 30 commercials from alcohol and 30 cleaning commercials will be analyzed. These brands represent different kinds of products and that are owned by different parent companies since there are many large conglomerates in both product categories. All advertisements will have been aired on TV between the years 2009 and 2012. Commercials will be searched on the brand’s respective YouTube channel where applicable, or on their website. The commercials will be coded for content, then compared and analyzed to find any similarities, differences, or trends. Ads will be viewed in groups of category and brand, for example all bud light commercials will be viewed one after another. The coder will watch the ad once without coding, and then re-watch the commercial as many times as necessary to code for categories of content previously stated. The coder will code them in the order in which they appear in the advertisement. CodingThe coding categories for this research are based on previous studies that have analyzed television ads successfully, including those of Neuhaus (2010), Mastro (2003), Ganahl, et al. (2003), Mastro et al. (2003) and Dean (2011). For each commercial this study will analyze the following categories for each main female character featured: (1) character role; (2) what the character is wearing; (3) actions; (4) makeup; (5) setting of the ad; (6) age; (7) any close ups of specific body parts; (8) character importance. These categories are both mutually exclusive and exhaustive and therefore will yield proper results that can be analyzed and compared to discover to what extent female stereotypes differ in cleaning product advertisements and alcohol advertisements. FindingsThis study found that there are some noteworthy differences between female characters in alcohol advertisements and cleaning product advertisements. Overall, alcohol advertisements showed far more diversity among roles for females while advertisements for cleaning products had no variations in some cases. A certain level of differentiation between these two categories is expected since each product is marketed to a different target audience (Dean, 2011). However, this cannot account for all differences since neither product is exclusively sold to a specific age group, gender, or type of person. ClothingOne of the clearest differences between the two kinds of commercials was clothing worn by women. In cleaning advertisements, women were shown wearing long pants and a conservative top 96.7% of the time. This is a very high number, and shows just how narrow some of these commercial depictions can be. Some of the outfits in these commercials were almost completely identical regardless of brand. Surely everyone who uses paper towels and laundry detergent does not wear khaki or jean pants with a conservative shirt or sweater every time they clean. In contrast, 36.7% of women in alcohol ads wore a revealing dress and 26.7% wore pants with a revealing shirt, for a total of some 63% of total studied advertisements featuring women dressed with revealing clothing. Women in cleaning product ads were never shown in revealing clothing, and one featured a woman in shorts. Not only do the categories differ in the variables, but also the difference between conservative and revealing clothing further speaks to the different character types featured. To some extent this can be explained because people probably dress differently when cleaning their house than they do when they’re drinking and socializing. MakeupAnother interesting variable is that 100% of women in household cleaning product ads and 40% of women in alcohol ads were shown with minimal makeup. However, another 50% of women in the alcohol ads were shown with dark, heavy makeup. Again, the uniformity of the depiction of the female characters in advertisements for household products is proven. On the other hand, alcohol ads show a few different options, along with 6.7% of women in these ads who had on colorful, exotic makeup. Although this is not as clear a difference as clothing, there are still some notable differences if only in the varying of makeup in alcohol ads and the lack thereof in cleaning ads. SettingSetting plays a large role in the overall perception of an advertisement and was completely different for the two categories studied. Combining commercials with a setting in the kitchen, bathroom, or multiple rooms in the home, 90% of cleaning product commercials took place in the home, and still another 6.7% were set in the backyard of a home. However, since these products are used in the home, it only makes logical sense that these commercials would take place there. Still, this serves as a difference between the two commercials since only 10% of alcohol advertisements studied take place in the home. Instead, these ads take place in a bar or a club (43.4%). Character rolesThis study also found a difference in character roles. In cleaning product advertisements, 60% of women characters played the role of a mother and 16.7% played the role of a wife and 10% played the role of a homemaker. This is an extremely constricted role. Alcohol ads displayed a much wider variety of female characters ranging from girlfriend (6.7%), sex object (26.7%), socialite (13.3%), friend (16.7%), and a bar patron (13.3%). None was featured as a homemaker, wife, or mother. The only two variables in which the two categories of commercials overlapped were when the female character was a white-collar worker, and a narrator. These comparisons draw a strong contrast between the two categories of commercialsAgeFurthermore, this study discovered that the difference in general age of females in these two kinds of ads is different. Of all females represented in alcohol ads, 93.3% were young adults roughly between the ages of 18 and 34. The household-cleaning product commercials studied had 26.7% women who were young adults, but 66.7% were older, between the ages of about 35 and 50. This proves the tendency of alcohol advertisements to feature young females, while cleaning product ads cast female’s of a wider variety of ages. Character importanceAnother interesting difference between these two categories of commercials is the level of character importance. In 28 of the 30 cleaning commercials studied, women played the role of the main character. For alcohol ads, however, only 9 of 30 were featured as the main character and instead 16 were background characters. ConclusionsAs stated previously, this study uncovered some clear differences between female characters in alcohol and household product commercials, which answers the research questions proposed at the beginning of this paper. Although many differences could be accounted for as a result of the two categories targeting different customers, the consistency and depth of these differences proves that there is some level of gender stereotyping in these advertisements. Since the same housewife image has been used unfailingly over the past five decades, it may speak to the definition of Gerbner’s cultivation theory in that Americans are exposed to this so often that it begins to change their perception. Therefore, women do actually purchase the large majority of household products and perhaps do most of the cleaning as well. As a result, advertisements target women since they are the largest demographic who purchase these products. This cycle continues and has the potential to increase in strength over time. This theory is further reinforced by a study done in 2001 specifically examined the effect of TV commercials that stereotype women. The paper, which includes results of five studies, showed that these commercials effected women’s aspirations and “achievement-related choices,” (Davies, 2001). Women exposed to more stereotypical advertisements were more likely to avoid math and quantitative terms items and instead highly preferred verbal domains. These women also had far less desire to become leaders or take on any leadership position and that this interest in leadership could be restored after they had viewed the stereotypic commercials. This study, along with Gerber’s cultivation theory lead us to believe that the media can have an impact on the way we think, and therefore effect what we think we can achieve. This may explain the everlasting housewife image, as females believe, after seeing the image repeated thousands of times their entire lives, that this is what they should be doing. Still, surely some men purchase these products, or would if advertised to properly, however none of the commercials found in this study targeted men. This could be an untapped target market for some brands, and one that their competitors are also completely ignoring. Yet none seem to have any interest in attempting reaching this group. The almost complete lack of alterations of clothing from commercial to commercial is striking. Although middle-aged women may purchase the majority of these products, they do not necessarily all dress the same, wear their makeup in the same way, and nearly all have children. Generally speaking, household cleaning product commercials pigeonhole women into an extremely well defined role of conservative mother, homemaker, and wife. The consistency of these commercials allows for us to see a stark difference between these advertisements and those of alcohol commercials. Alcohol commercials displayed a wider variety of roles for women. However these women, unlike those characters in cleaning commercials, were typically dressed in something revealing, and almost always young adults There is a large difference between the type of clothing worn by women in the two commercial categories.The overall role of females in alcohol ads is almost always different from that of the role of females in cleaning product ads. This cannot be simply described as a difference between target markets since mothers certainly consume alcohol, and mothers and wives are not the only people who use paper towels, laundry detergent, dish soap, and other cleaning products. Due to time, money, and resource restraints, this study was very limited in the amount of advertisements available for research. In the future, more time could be spent compiling commercials to be studied from television instead of from YouTube or respective websites of different brands. Additionally, other factors may be investigated in the future, such as comparing female characters with their male counterparts in these two categories of commercials, for I believe after completing this study that this is another point of difference between the two. This could also be the basis for another study that researches the changing stereotype of women throughout the course of her life. If young women are depicted in bars and clubs drinking and middle-aged women are depicted cleaning in the home, what other stereotypes exist for women of different ages and what effects do they have on women’s achievements and thoughts?ReferencesBarthel, D. (1988). 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Advertising to the American Woman (1900-1999). Colombus: OhioState University Press.Kerin, R. A., Lundstrom, W. J., Sciglimpaglia, D. (1979). Women In Advertisements:Retrospect and Prospect. Journal of Advertising 8(3) p. 37-42.Levy, J.C. (2006). Advertising to Women: Who are we in print and how do wereclaim our image? Journal of Creativity in Mental Health 2(4) p.75-86.Neuhaus, J. (2011). Housework and Housewives in American Advertising: Married tothe mop. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.O’Guinn T., Allen T., Semenik R. J. (2009) Advertising and Integrated BrandPromotion. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.Reichert, T., Lambiase, J. (2003). Sex in Advertising: Perspectives on the erotic appeal.New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.Tallim, J. (2005) Gender Messages in Alcohol Advertising. Media Awareness Network. Zeisler, A. (2008). Feminism and Pop Culture. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. ................
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