Experiment studies of gender stereotypes in advertising since 1990
| Name | Stereotype Component | Participants | Study performed in (country) | Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richins (1991) | Female physical | Women | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of self-satisfaction | |
| Martin and Kennedy (1993) | Female physical | Women (preadolescent, adolescent) | USA | Stereotyped portrayals raise comparison standards, but do not affect self-perceptions |
| Jaffe and Berger (1994) | Female role | Women | USA | An egalitarian positioning of female portrayals in advertising is favored over a superwoman or traditional positioning in terms of affect and purchase inteterest |
| Garst and Bodenhausen (1997) | Male role | Men | Less traditional men’s gender role attitudes are more traditional following exposure to traditionally masculine models, but remain unchanged after exposure to androgynous models | |
| Martin and Gentry (1997) | Female physical | Women (preadolescent, adolescent) | USA | Through social comparison, girls’ self- perceptions and self-esteem may be affected. Motive for social comparison moderates results. |
| Lavine et al. (1999) | Male/female physical, role | Men and women | USA | Ad attitudes are higher for nonsexist (nonstereotyped) ads. Attitude toward feminism moderate results. Both men and women report larger body size discrepancies following exposure to sexist ads |
| Gulas and McKeage (2000) | Male/female physical, role | Men (students) | USA | Stereotyped portrayals of men and women have a negative impact on men’s self-evaluations |
| Bower (2001) | Female physical | Women | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of model and product evaluation | |
| Morrison and Shaffer (2003) | Male/female Role (endorser) | Men and women (students) | USA | Traditional participants respond more favorably to stereotyped ads; non- traditional participants respond somewhat more favorably to nontraditional ads (ad attitude, product attitude, purchase intention). Self-referencing moderates the results |
| Lorenzen et al. (2004) | Male, physical | Men (students) | USA | Men’s self-rated body satisfaction decreased (did not change) after viewing images of muscular (average) men |
| Halliwell and Dittmar (2004) | Female physical | Women | Stereotyped portrayals lead to higher levels of body-focused anxiety (moderated by internalization of thin ideals) but has no impact on advertising effectiveness | |
| Orth and Holancova (2004) | Male/female, occupation | Men and women | Czech Republic | Men and women react differently (e.g. ad attitude, brand attitude, purchase intention) to non-/stereotyped portrayals, with the most favorable responses to exclusive portrayals of their own gender. Responses are affected by consumers' a priori attitude toward the sex role portrayal issue |
| Choi et al. (2008) | Female physical | Women (students) | Stereotyped portrayals lead to higher levels of presumed influence on others | |
| Harper and Tiggemann (2008) | Female physical | Women (students) | Australia | Stereotyped portrayals lead to higher levels of self-objectification and body dissatisfaction |
| Zawisza and Cinnirella (2010) | Male/female role, traits | Men and women respectively (2 studies) (students) | United Kingdom | For both male and female versions of the ads, the paternalistic ad strategies are more effective than envious ones, supporting the predictions of the stereotype content model |
| Buunk and Dijkstra (2011) | Female physical | Women (students) | The Netherlands | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of product attitudes. Moderated by gender-priming |
| Antioco et al. (2012) | Female physical | Women | France | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of self-esteem, model trustworthiness, brand attitude and purchase intention |
| Eisend et al. (2014) | Male/female role | Men and women (mostly students) | Germany | Ad attitude and brand attitude are increased for humorous stereotyped portrayals, especially non-stereotyped (compared to non-humorous). Women evaluate gender portrayals more favorably in humorous ads, especially for nontraditional stereotyping |
| Janssen and Paas (2014) | Female physical | Women | The Netherlands | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of ad attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intention. Consumers’ fashion leadership may moderate results |
| Lee (2014) | Male/Female Traits | Men and women | Taiwan | In political advertising, congruity between candidate gender and campaign theme enhances attitudes toward the political candidate and voting intentions in positive advertising, whereas complementarity enhanced persuasion in negative advertising |
| Baxter et al. (2016) | Male/Female role | Men and Women (parents) | Australia | Non-stereotyped portrayals of males lead to higher levels of advertising attitude, especially by consumers who hold a non-traditional (egalitarian) gender role ideology |
| Bian and Wang (2015) | Female physical | Women | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of model attractiveness. Moderated by brand and self-esteem | |
| Chu et al. (2016) | Male/female, role (endorser) | Men and women | Korea | Consumers’ ad attitude (toward non-stereotyped ads) depends on self-construal and need for uniqueness, with perceived novelty and cognitive resistance as mediators |
| Åkestam et al. (2017a) | Female physical, role | Women | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of ad attitude and brand attitude | |
| Åkestam (2018) | Female physical, role | Women | Sweden | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of ad attitude and brand attitude |
| Liljedal et al. (2020) | Male/female, occupation | Men and women | USA, Sweden, UK | Nonstereotyped occupational gender-role portrayals in advertising generate positive brand-related and social effects on respondents, regardless of their gender |
| Name | Stereotype Component | Participants | Study performed in (country) | Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female physical | Women | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of self-satisfaction | ||
| Female physical | Women (preadolescent, adolescent) | USA | Stereotyped portrayals raise comparison standards, but do not affect self-perceptions | |
| Female role | Women | USA | An egalitarian positioning of female portrayals in advertising is favored over a superwoman or traditional positioning in terms of affect and purchase inteterest | |
| Male role | Men | Less traditional men’s gender role attitudes are more traditional following exposure to traditionally masculine models, but remain unchanged after exposure to androgynous models | ||
| Female physical | Women (preadolescent, adolescent) | USA | Through social comparison, girls’ self- perceptions and self-esteem may be affected. Motive for social comparison moderates results. | |
| Male/female physical, role | Men and women | USA | Ad attitudes are higher for nonsexist (nonstereotyped) ads. Attitude toward feminism moderate results. Both men and women report larger body size discrepancies following exposure to sexist ads | |
| Male/female physical, role | Men (students) | USA | Stereotyped portrayals of men and women have a negative impact on men’s self-evaluations | |
| Female physical | Women | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of model and product evaluation | ||
| Male/female Role (endorser) | Men and women (students) | USA | Traditional participants respond more favorably to stereotyped ads; non- traditional participants respond somewhat more favorably to nontraditional ads (ad attitude, product attitude, purchase intention). Self-referencing moderates the results | |
| Male, physical | Men (students) | USA | Men’s self-rated body satisfaction decreased (did not change) after viewing images of muscular (average) men | |
| Female physical | Women | Stereotyped portrayals lead to higher levels of body-focused anxiety (moderated by internalization of thin ideals) but has no impact on advertising effectiveness | ||
| Male/female, occupation | Men and women | Czech Republic | Men and women react differently (e.g. ad attitude, brand attitude, purchase intention) to non-/stereotyped portrayals, with the most favorable responses to exclusive portrayals of their own gender. Responses are affected by consumers' a priori attitude toward the sex role portrayal issue | |
| Female physical | Women (students) | Stereotyped portrayals lead to higher levels of presumed influence on others | ||
| Female physical | Women (students) | Australia | Stereotyped portrayals lead to higher levels of self-objectification and body dissatisfaction | |
| Male/female role, traits | Men and women respectively (2 studies) (students) | United Kingdom | For both male and female versions of the ads, the paternalistic ad strategies are more effective than envious ones, supporting the predictions of the stereotype content model | |
| Female physical | Women (students) | The Netherlands | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of product attitudes. Moderated by gender-priming | |
| Female physical | Women | France | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of self-esteem, model trustworthiness, brand attitude and purchase intention | |
| Male/female role | Men and women (mostly students) | Germany | Ad attitude and brand attitude are increased for humorous stereotyped portrayals, especially non-stereotyped (compared to non-humorous). Women evaluate gender portrayals more favorably in humorous ads, especially for nontraditional stereotyping | |
| Female physical | Women | The Netherlands | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of ad attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intention. Consumers’ fashion leadership may moderate results | |
| Male/Female Traits | Men and women | Taiwan | In political advertising, congruity between candidate gender and campaign theme enhances attitudes toward the political candidate and voting intentions in positive advertising, whereas complementarity enhanced persuasion in negative advertising | |
| Male/Female role | Men and Women (parents) | Australia | Non-stereotyped portrayals of males lead to higher levels of advertising attitude, especially by consumers who hold a non-traditional (egalitarian) gender role ideology | |
| Female physical | Women | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of model attractiveness. Moderated by brand and self-esteem | ||
| Male/female, role (endorser) | Men and women | Korea | Consumers’ ad attitude (toward non-stereotyped ads) depends on self-construal and need for uniqueness, with perceived novelty and cognitive resistance as mediators | |
| Female physical, role | Women | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of ad attitude and brand attitude | ||
| Female physical, role | Women | Sweden | Stereotyped portrayals lead to lower levels of ad attitude and brand attitude | |
| Male/female, occupation | Men and women | USA, Sweden, UK | Nonstereotyped occupational gender-role portrayals in advertising generate positive brand-related and social effects on respondents, regardless of their gender |
Sharing content requires targeting cookies to be enabled. Please update your cookie preferences to use this feature.