Gender stereotypes in children's television commercials and the effects on consumer purchasing behavior

Abstract

This research presents an exploratory investigation on the extent of gender stereotypes portrayed in children's television commercials and the effects on consumer purchasing behavior. The author conducted two studies including a content analysis of viewing 75 children's television commercials, 25 boy, 25 girl, 25 neutral, and documenting evidence of roles, traits, activities, products, speaking parts and settings. Qualitative focus groups were then conducted to correlate the documented gender stereotypes with purchasing behaviors among children between the ages of 6–12. Major findings for this research revealed that there are many gender stereotypes in children's television commercials including the issue that male characters pitch more neutral products than female characters. Findings also revealed that gender stereotypes in commercials influence responsive behavior among boys and girls very differently.