Abstract
We replicated the studies of O'Donnell and O'Donnell (1978) and Lovdal (1989) to analyze trends in gender representation in television commercials. A total of 757 commercials in Spring 1998 were recorded and analyzed for type of product, gender of the product representative, and gender of the voice-over. Similar to previous studies, findings indicated that men were underrepresented in commercials of domestic products, and women were underrepresented in commercials of nondomestic products. In fact, this form of gender bias was higher compared to Lovdal's data. Findings also revealed a decrease in the percentage of male voice-overs from about 90% to 71%.
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Bartsch, R.A., Burnett, T., Diller, T.R. et al. Gender Representation in Television Commercials: Updating an Update. Sex Roles 43, 735–743 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007112826569
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007112826569