Gender portrayal in HK children’s TVC

1. Gender portrayal in HK children’s TVC Kara Chan HK Baptist University HKU0301

2. Gender role socialization • Socializing agents: parents, schools, books, songs, television and the movies • Children watched a lot of TV • TV rating for 5-6pm weekday = 15 • TV rating for 7-10:30pm weekday = 30 • Children enjoyed food/drink and toys TVC Chan (2000) • TV and its advertising provide information about gender roles HKU0301

3. Previous studies • studies of gender role stereotyping of children commercials dated from 70s • Patterns: (70s to early 90s) • male dominance in number and in voice-over; authoritative in product endorsement; in outdoor setting; more cuts, loud music and active playing • Females in home setting; more fades and dissolves, soft music and quiet play, less active • In toys commercials: different play styles (take on the role of the toy vs interacting with the toy); different linguistic themes (power vs motherhood and beauty) HKU0301

4. .. Previous studies • Methodological difficulties for time series analysis due to differences in coding systems and sample profile • Similar results in Australia, Britain, Canada and Italy • Browne (1998) argued that gender stereotyping would be influenced by a country’s religious orientation, urbanization, and the availability of education for women HKU0301

5. Hong Kong environment • Urbanized city • Availability of education for women • Female labor participation rate 50% (57% in US) • Children population: 12% (830,000) • Laws protecting women from gender bias in terms of education, employment and pay package • Shopping is easy even for young consumers • HK children spent less on entertainment, clothing and play items, but more on stationeries HKU0301

6. Hong Kong culture • East meet west • More collective, higher power distance • Similar to US in terms of masculinity index (measuring prevailing role division between husband and wife) • Generally accepted that the gender role ideology would be more traditional • Survey of HK young people indicated their aspiration for egalitarian role sharing in their marriage HKU0301

7. Research question • How males and females are portrayed in Hong Kong’s children commercials? • Are there differences in gender portrayal of commercials for male-gender-typed and female-gender-typed products • Method: Content analysis of TVC HKU0301

8. sample • N=137, unduplicated • 11 weekdays and weekends in TVBJ and ATVC in Feb, March, April, September and October (both peak and non peak toy commercials seasons) • Children hours: cartoon programs • Eliminate commercials for adult products and public service announcements HKU0301

9. Two levels of coding • Each commercial, code: • Product, product gender-type, sex composition, sex of voice-over, location of setting • Each central character (a child, adult, or cartoon human character appears most), up to two CCs, code: • Sex, age, activity, whether he/she is an authoritative character • ¼ of sample coded by a second coder, intercoder reliability ranged from 0.8 to 1 HKU0301

10. Product Category Frequency Percent Snacks/food Toys Drinks Character toys and dolls Fast Food Entertainment Stationery Others (schools, medicine etc.) 55 16 14 13 12 12 7 8 40.1 11.7 10.2 9.5 8.8 8.8 5.1 5.8 Table 1. Sample profile (N=137) HKU0301

11. Product gender-type Sex composition of the commercial Male (N=23) Female (N=4) Neutral (N=110) Total (N=137) Human: Males only Females only Both sexes 30% 0% 0% 0% 75% 25% 15% 14% 33% 18% 13% 27% Non-human: cartoons, puppets, animals, 9% 0% 18% 16% No human characters 61% 0% 18% 26% Chi-square=40.3; significance<0.001; expected frequency for some cells were less than 5. Table 2. Sex composition by product gender-type HKU0301

12. Sex of voice-over Product gender-type Male (N=23) Female (N=4) Both (N=110) Total (N=137) None 0% 0% 6% 5% Male 100% 25% 56% 63% Female 0% 75% 21% 19% Both 0% 0% 17% 13% Chi-square: 24.0; significance<0.001; expected frequency for some cells were less than 5. Table 3. Sex of voice-over by product gender-type HKU0301

13. Central characters • 80 commercials with CC • 120 CC • 67 male CC (56%), 53 female CC (44%) • 16 authoritative figures, 9 males, 7 females HKU0301

14. Type of activity Male character (N= 67) Female character (N=53) Passive 27% 38% Active 27% 23% Aggressive 5% 0% Anti-social 1% 0% Obedient 0% 0% Eating & drinking 28% 30% Others 12% 9% Chi-square: 7.1; Not significant at 0.05 level. Table 4. Activity by sex of central characters HKU0301 Table 5. Location by product gender-type

15. Location and setting Product gender-type Male (N=23) Female (N=4) Neutral (N=110) Total (N=137) Indoor 13% 75% 33% 31% Outdoor 9% 25% 19% 17% In and outdoor 0% 0% 8% 7% Fantasy 57% 0% 34% 36% Unidentified 22% 0% 6% 9% Chi-square: 18.3; significance<0.05; expected frequency for some cells were less than 5. Table 5. Location by product gender-type HKU0301

16. discussion • females not under-represented • Female characters equality likely to be active and authoritative • Overall speaking: less gender stereotyped in Hong Kong than US • Types of products advertised and the proportion of toys commercials • Relative small size of the children’s market and lower level of segmentation • General aspiration for modernization and westernization HKU0301

17. Further research • A greater sample (especially for female-gender-typed products) • Interviewing creative personnel of children commercials and clients’ preferences • Whether international campaign more gender stereotyped or local campaign more gender stereotyped? • Comparing children commercials in China, Taiwan, and HK HKU0301