Gender stereotyping in Hong Kong TV beer advertising: women's image in TV beer advertising

Abstract

This is an initial attempt to examine the conditions of gender stereotyping in TV beer advertising in Hong Kong, with the main focus on the gender-stereotyped women in the advertisements. Furthermore, this study also attempts to explore whether audiences will have stronger agreement on the gender-stereotyping messages if they watch the TV beer advertisements more frequently. Western-based literature was used to form the theoretical framework in the study. At the same time, interviews with male and female drinkers in Lan Kwai Fong and Knutsford Terrace in Hong Kong were conducted to provide empirical data. And the responses of the interviewees were used to analyze the conditions of gender stereotyping in TV beer advertising, the relationship between the frequency of watching TV beer advertising and the degrees of agreeing on the gender-stereotyping messages in the advertisements, and to comprehend the audiences’ responses to gender-stereotyping messages on TV. Results show that, gender stereotyping exists in TV beer advertising. The characteristics of men and women are divided into two different ways. Moreover, the research also shows that the more the audiences watched the advertisements, the stronger agreements they made to the gender-stereotyping messages in the advertisements. Moreover, it also shows that men and women had different responses to gender-stereotyping. Men are more likely to agree on the gender-stereotyping messages in TV beer advertisements.