Journal of Mass Communication & Journalism

The Portrayal of Men and Women in British Television Advertisements: A Review of 7 Studies Published Over a 12 Year Period

Abstract

Adrian Furnham and Stephanie Paltzer

In 1999, Furnham and Mak [1] published a review of 14 content-analytic studies of sex roles stereotyping in television commercials. All these studies were based on the McArthur and Resko [2] content categories. This paper updates that review considering seven comparable studies done in Britain from 1989 to 2008 which were examined to look at changes over time. There was little evidence of changes in the way men and women were portrayed in television advertisements. Women tend to be portrayed as younger than men, users not authorities, and in the home rather than elsewhere. There seems little evidence of systematic linear changes in any of the twelve categories over the last decade. The popularity of, and the problems associated with, the research paradigm are considered.