Title: Male preference in television advertisements for financial services: a content analysis (2011 vs. 2018)

Authors: Namrata Sandhu

Addresses: Chitkara Business School, Chitkara University, Chandigarh-Patiala National Highway, NH-64, Tehsil Rajpura, Patiala, Punjab – 140401, India

Abstract: This study utilises the expectancy theory framework to examine the distribution of gender roles in Indian television advertisements for financial services. The study also uses a short-term longitudinal framework (2011 vs. 2018) to assess changes in gender role portrayals in television advertisements for financial services. Content analysis of taped television commercials for financial services across four content analytic measures: gender of voice-over, gender of dominant product user, gender of dominant character, and gender of decision-maker revealed male preference in advertisements for financial services. The study also revealed that the incidence of male gender roles in advertisements for financial services has declined from 2011 to 2018. Implications are discussed. This study is one of the few studies that examine gender stereotypy in advertisements for financial services in a country that is culturally distant from other countries in which most of the studies on advertising/marketing of financial services have been previously conducted.

Keywords: gender; gender role; gender portrayal; stereotype; advertisements; commercials; financial services; expectancy theory; content analysis; television.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2023.133272

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2023 Vol.34 No.3, pp.368 - 390

Received: 19 Jun 2019
Accepted: 01 Apr 2020
Published online: 11 Sep 2023 *

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