| Character age, sex, ethnicity, product type, primary setting, occupation, and traits were investigated for age and gender stereotyping of primary characters (N = 532) in a content analysis of 360 prime-time television commercials from four broadcast stations. Loglinear analysis of category frequencies showed that representation by age and ethnicity fit patterns reported in earlier research, with White characters overrepresented and older characters underrepresented in comparison to their presence in the population. Results for product type, occupation, and setting showed that characters were presented in ways that fit traditional sex and age stereotypes, as predicted. Specifically, in comparison to male characters and younger characters, female characters and older characters were presented more often with domestic products, in lower status occupations, and in home settings. Characters' portrayal of 5 stereotypical gender and age traits (warmth, competence, vitality, health, and mental orientation) were rated on 5-point scales. Multivariate analysis of variance of the trait ratings provided no support for the hypothesis that age traits would be stronger in the portrayal of older characters, particularly older female characters, than would gender traits. However, main effects of character age and sex suggested that age stereotypes play a stronger role in the portrayal of characters than do gender stereotypes. |
