HKU03011 Gender portrayal in HK children’s TVC Kara Chan HK Baptist University

HKU03012 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

HKU03013 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)

HKU 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

HKU03015 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

HKU03016 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

HKU03017 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

HKU03018 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

HKU03019 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

HKU Table 1. Sample profile (N=137) Product CategoryFrequenc y Percent Snacks/food Toys Drinks Character toys and dolls Fast Food Entertainment Stationery Others (schools, medicine etc.)

HKU Table 2. Sex composition by product gender-type 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% 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.

HKU Table 3. Sex of voice-over by product gender-type Sex of voice-over Product gender-type Male (N=23) Female (N=4) Both (N=110) Total (N=137) None 0% 6%5% Male100%25%56%63% Female0%75%21%19% Both0% 17%13% Chi-square: 24.0; significance<0.001; expected frequency for some cells were less than 5.

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

HKU Type of activity Male character (N= 67) Female character (N=53) Passive27%38% Active27%23% Aggressive5%0% Anti-social1%0% Obedient0% Eating & drinking 28%30% Others12%9% Chi-square: 7.1; Not significant at 0.05 level. Table 5. Location by product gender-type Table 4. Activity by sex of central characters

HKU Location and setting Product gender-type Male (N=23) Female (N=4) Neutral (N=110) Total (N=137) Indoor 13%75%33%31% Outdoor9%25%19%17% In and outdoor0% 8%7% Fantasy57%0%34%36% Unidentified22%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

HKU 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

HKU 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