Product Purchase Decision-Making

Behavior and Gender Role

Stereotypes: A Content Analysis of
Advertisements in Essence and
Ladies Home Journal, 19901999
Teresa Mastin
Department of Advertising, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, Michigan, USA

Alison Coe, Sheri Hamilton, and Shiela Tarr

Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA
In this study, product categories advertised most and least often by women only, by men only, and by both women and men were examined in
2 womens magazines, 1 that targets a Black female audience, Essence,
and 1 that targets a White female audience, Ladies0 Home Journal. The
goal was to determine if the magazines readers are being exposed to
images that send a message that specific product purchase decisionmaking behavior is gender based. A content analysis of over 14,000 advertisements revealed that advertisements fail to portray women as
either capable of or having the need to make a wide range of product
purchase decisions. Most advertisements printed in the magazines featured women making purchase decisions for products that pertain to the
appearance of themselves, their children, or their homes. In contrast,
the magazines featured few advertisements for financial services and
technology products, both of which are important product purchase decisions made by females in general and by female heads of households
in particular. Womens magazine advertisements continue to subject
women to traditional, patriarchal defined images of womens lives
rather than reflections of their daily experiences and aspirations.
Alison Coe, Sheri Hamilton, and Shiela Tarr were Middle Tennessee State
University graduate students during the data collection phase of this study.
A version of this manuscript was presented at the Association for Education in
Journalism and Mass Communication, Miami, FL, August 2002. This research was
supported in part by a MTSU 2002 Summer Faculty Research Grant, and in part by a
summer research grant from Cornell University, Department of Communication,
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Address correspondence to Dr. Teresa Mastin, Department of Advertising, 309
Com Arts Bldg., Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1212. E-mail:
mastinte@msu.edu.
The HowardJournal of Communications, 15: 2297243, 2004
Copyright # Taylor & Francis Inc.
ISSN: 1064-6175 print = 1096-4349 online
DOI: 10.1080/10646170490521167

229

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T. Mastin et al.

KEYWORDS product purchase decision-making, womens

magazines, advertisements, gender roles, content analysis

he advertising industry generates more than $180 billion a year. It has been estimated that, on average, most people see 3,000 advertisements each day, and each
person spends approximately 3 years of his or her life watching advertisements
(Killing us softly 3, 2000). Thus, it is understandable that advertising critics argue that (a)
advertisements are deeply woven into the fabric of American culture, both drawing on
and redirecting commonly held perceptions and beliefs; and (b) advertisements have a
major role in both shaping and mirroring society (Cortese, 1999; Entman & Rojecki,
2000; Jewell, 1993; Kassarjian, 1969; McLaughlin & Goulet, 1999; Schudson, 1984).
More specifically, advertisements shape society by using stereotypical images to establish shared experiences among consumers, and advertisements mirror society by promoting stereotypes, biases, and the dominant values of patriarchal society (Cortese, 1999;
Entman & Rojecki, 2000; Wiles,Wiles, & Tjernlund, 1995). Advertising images are often
assimilated into peoples learned expectations of individuals comprising various groups,
and therefore have the ability to influence individualsperceptions of and interactions with
others. In particular, advertising images can reflect, reinforce, and perpetuate sexist and
racist attitudes, opinions, and behaviors already engrained within a given society.
This study focuses on advertisements in womens magazines. Womens magazines
bring an estimated 40 million women to advertisers each month. Although these magazines are first and foremost vehicles of consumerism, many women name them as authoritative information resources tailored especially for their needs such as in the areas of
health information and home maintenance (Assessing the odds, 1997; Gerlach, Marino,
Weed, & Hoffman-Goetz, 1997; Wilson & Blackhurst, 1999; Women prefer womens and
home magazines, 2001; Zipperer, 1997).
Furthermore, womens magazines history of complimentary advertising increases
the likelihood that readers will attend to advertisements.That is, a fair amount of womens
magazineseditorial copy blatantly directs readers to the advertisements. In fact, womens
magazines intense competition for readers during the decade of the 1990 s resulted in
the magazines actually increasing the level of cooperation and cross-promotions with
advertisers (Womens magazines proliferate and focus, 2001). In addition, womens
magazines are typically kept around for future reference and passed along to others
(McCraken, 1993).
In this study we analyze how advertisements in womens magazines reflect womens
product purchase decision-making behavior. Specifically, we examine product purchase
decision-making behavior as a function of gender in two womens magazines, one that targets a Black female audience, Essence, and one targets a White female audience, Ladies
Home Journal. We consider product categories advertised most and least often promoted
by women only, by men only, and by both women and men in womens magazine to determine if an overall message is being sent that specific product purchasing decision-making
behavior is gender based, and if there are significant differences in the magazines as a
function of the primary racial group targeted.
This study will serve as a benchmark study regarding gender-based product purchase
decision-making behavior during the last decade of the 20th century according towomens
magazines advertisements. It is important that womens portrayals as product purchase

Gender Role Stereotypes

231

decision makers in advertisements featured in womens magazines be examined in this

manner because of the power advertisements have both in shaping and reinforcing societal
roles and their power in developing and solidifying perceptions of groups in society.
Several societal changes related to work and family structures provide a context for
this examination of advertisements in womens magazines. By 1999, 60.2% of women
aged 16 and over were participants in the labor force, although a majority of women continued to be employed in traditional female occupations
administrative and service.
Furthermore, more women are marrying later in life. In 1998, the median age at first
marriage for women was 25 years old as compared to 1970 when the median age was
20.8 years of age. Additionally, between 1970 and 1998, the percentage of women aged
30 to 34 who never married more than tripled from 6.2% to 21.6%, and in the 35 to 39
age group, the percentage of women never married rose from 5.4% in 1970 to 14.3% in
1998 (Spraggins, 2000). Moreover, the U.S. divorce rate continues to approach 50%
(U.S. Divorce Statistics, 2000).
The increasing numbers of women in the work force, a larger percentage of women
either marrying later in life or never marrying, and the high U.S. divorce rate are all factors that contribute to a substantially larger number of female heads of households. More
specifically, the number of female-headed households rose from 10.7% in 1970 to 17.8%
in1998. Moreover, during1998
46.7% of Black families and 14% of White families were
led by women (Spraggins, 2000).

Literature Review
Goffmans (1978) seminal study of gender portrayals in magazine advertisements
indicates that these advertisements are laden with messages about cultural norms and
values. Womens portrayals in advertisements are universal, typically portraying women
in stereotypical and limiting ways. For example, in an examination of advertisements
printed in magazines popular in the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States,
researchers found that role portrayals of men and women depicted cultural biases and
stereotypes. Advertisements in all three countries magazines more often portrayed men,
as compared with women, in working roles, and men were more often portrayed as highlevel executives (Wiles et al., 1995).
Furthermore, advertisements are one means by which women are educated regarding
the ideal female image. Some advertisements objectify women, sending a message that if
they are to reach the constructed unattainable ideal, they must silence their voices, don
childlike qualities, and relinquish power to men (Courtney & Lockeretz, 1971; Killing
us softly 3, 2000;Wiles et al.,1995). In essence, sexist advertisements portray women in outdated and sometimes demeaning roles (Lazier & Kendrick, 1989).
Using Goffmans (1978) gender analysis categories as a theoretical base, Kang (1997)
content analyzed advertisements printed in three womens magazines (i.e., Vogue, Mademoiselle, and McCalls) in 1979 and 1991 to compare gender-based behavior patterns. She
found that women continued to be portrayed in advertisements much the same as they
were in the Courtney and Lockeretz (1971) seminal study in which women featured in
magazine advertisements were (a) rarely shown working outside the home, (b) rarely portrayed as professionals, (c) often shown as dependent on men, (d) frequently portrayed
as sex objects, and (e) typically promoted low-cost, every day items.

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T. Mastin et al.

Courtney and Lockeretz (1971) compared female and male portrayals in working and
non-working roles in the following general audience magazines: Life, Look, Newsweek,
The New Yorker, Saturday Review, Time, U.S. News & World Report, and Readers Digest. In
regard to product categories promoted by women and men, the researchers found that
women were portrayed as independent decision makers for inexpensive products that pertained to their person, their children, and their homes (i.e., cosmetics, food, cleaning products, etc.) When there was a major purchasing decision (e.g., furniture), a man was
often featured either alone or with a woman. Furthermore, there were several product
categories for which if women were featured, men were also included (i.e., tobacco,
alcohol, travel, automobiles, and banking).
The foregoing descriptions of how women are portrayed in advertisements are significant. Consistent, stereotypical portrayals of women in advertisements can have a negative effect on women in regard to their self-concepts, their achievement aspirations, and
their self-images (Ford,Vooli, Honeycutt, & Casey, 1998).

Theoretical Concept
Identity theory, which emerged from symbolic interactionism, maintains that it is
through interaction that shared meanings are constructed. An individuals perceived
social location is in reference to others. That is, individuals react to reality based on the
meaning they give it, and their reality is constantly modified as they interact socially (Blumer, 1969; Charon, 1995). Connell (1987, 1990) argued that gender identity is an individuals most significant social identity. Individuals use other people and the media
as information resources to both maintain and validate existing identities(Snow,
1983).Moreover, the medias central position in everyday life ensures that the symbols distributed by the media become interaction points for individuals operating within a given
society (Milkie, 1994).
In U.S. society, hegemonic masculinity and femininity are thoroughly embedded in
both society and the mass media. The culturally sanctioned form of masculinity is constructed as dominating, unemotional, and work-place oriented, whereas femininity is
constructed as compliant, nurturing, empathetic, and directly linked with home life
(Connell, 1987). Traditionally, the masculinity gender identity has been associated with
the family and home life only in terms of how well men provide for their families. However, Gerson (1993) maintained that the male role in regard to family and home is changing as a result of the increasing number of women in the labor force. In particular, she
noted that men have become more nurturing and are more often involved with both childcare and household responsibilities.
However, Vigorito and Curry (1998) found that in popular magazines, traditional
hegemonic gender identity continues to be reflected in advertisements directed toward
men. More specifically, popular magazines directed toward male audiences more often
reflected and reaffirmed traditional, hegemonic notions of masculinity and femininity.
That is, advertisements directed toward men focused primarily on their occupational
roles, family concerns were secondary, and although the number of women in the work
force has increased substantially over the past 30 plus years, women were more often portrayed in either model or consumer roles.
Contemporary employment, marriage, and divorce statistics indicate that women
are responsible for making a wide range of purchasing decisions. Therefore, advertising

Gender Role Stereotypes

233

images printed in womens magazines that portray product purchase decision-making

behavior as either primarily male- or female-based may subtly encourage female readers
to idealize a life that espouses dependency on men despite documented decreasing marriage rates and dismal divorce statistics. That is, advertisements in womens magazines
that portray specific purchasing decision making behavior as gender-based is not only in
stark contrast with the daily reality of many women, such advertisements may also serve
to perpetuate patriarchal-sanctioned gender roles.
Identity theory proposes that identity is both derived from and reinforced by the
communication stream in society of which mass-mediated communication is both influential and far-reaching (Milkie, 1994; Snow, 1983). Thus, if changing societal gendered
responsibilities are not aptly reflected in womens magazine advertisements, women in
particular and society in general may perceive a more limited range of societal roles for
women, which may negatively impact their aspirations and expectations.

Research Questions
Previous research has consistently documented gender-based stereotypes in advertisements and provided evidence that such stereotypes can negatively impact womens lives.
Building on the premise that advertising image portrayals serve as a powerful socialization
force, this study adds to the body of researchby examining whether womens magazine advertisements reflect the changing gender structures of work and family in society. More specifically, we examine product categories advertised most and least often by women only, by men
only, and by both women and men in two womens magazines to determine if womens magazine readers are being exposed to images that send a message that specific product purchase
decision-making behavior is gender based. Unlike previous studies, this study compares product purchase behavior in a magazine that caters to a Black female audience, Essence, with
a magazine that caters to aWhite female audience, LadiesHomeJournal.
We pose the following research questions:
RQ1: What product categories were advertised most and least often by female
model(s) only, by male model(s) only, and by both female and male models
in Essence magazine during the 1990s?
RQ2: What product categories were advertised most and least often by female
model(s) only, by male model(s) only, and by both female and male models in LadiesHomeJournal magazine during the 1990s?
RQ3: Did the product categories advertised most and least often by female model(s) only, by male model(s) only, and by both female and male models differ in Essence and LadiesHomeJournal during the 1990s?

Method
Content analysis was the method used to address the research questions. Essence and
Ladies Home Journal magazines were chosen to allow comparison of a high-circulation
magazine that targets a Black female audience with a high-circulation magazine that
targets a White female audience (see the appendix for a profile of both magazines).

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T. Mastin et al.

As a group, U.S. Black and White women have different employment and marriage
experiences. Traditionally, a larger percentage of Black women have been in the work
force and more Black women are heads of households (Hooks, 1981; Jewell, 1993; Wilson,
2003), and thus are more likely to be solely responsible for product purchase decisions.
Both magazines have high name recognition and are counted among the top womens
magazines for the audiences they target. Essence began publication in 1970 and has a
monthly paid circulation of approximately 1million, and targets primarily a middle-class
African American female audience. The median annual household income of Essence
readers during the 1990 s was approximately $41K (Essence media kit, 2001). LadiesHome
Journal has been in publication since the late 1800s, and currently has a monthly circulation of more than 4 million.The magazine is one of the most conservative womens magazines and promotes traditional family values (McCraken, 1993). The median annual
household income for Ladies Home Journal readers during the 1990s was approximately
$50K (LadiesHomeJournal media kit, 2001).
An examination of product categories advertised as a function of gender in a womans
magazine directed toward a Black female audience and one directed toward aWhite female
audience will provide insight into messages sent to Black and White women regarding
gender-based product purchase decision-making behavior.

Coding Instrument
The unit of analysis was an advertisement. A census of advertisements, one-half page
or larger, printed in Essence and LadiesHomeJournal fromJanuary1990 through December
1999 was examined. Advertisements were counted each time they appeared.
All coders were female, 2 Blacks and 2 Whites. Before coding the entire sample of
advertisements, the 4 coders coded approximately 20% (n 48) of the magazines and
obtained an average inter-coder reliability statistic of .98, for all variables using Holstis
(1969) inter-coder reliability formula.Whenthere was a disagreement about how an advertisement should be coded, the coders discussed the advertisement to reach agreement.
A total of 21,329 advertisements was coded. However, only advertisements that featured human models were included in the sample. This resulted in a sample size of 14,316
advertisements: 7,904 in Essence and 6,412 in LadiesHomeJournal.
Product categories were examined as a function of gender to determine if there were
differences in the products women only, men only, and both women and men advertised
most and least often in the two magazines. More specifically, existing research found that
product purchase decision-making behavior is often portrayed in advertisements as
gender-based (Courtney & Lockeretz, 1971; Kang, 1997). In this study, we consider product purchase decision-making behavior as a function of gender and race. For example,
do men more often promote products for which purchasing decisions are traditionally
believed to be made by males? Are there differences in the gender of models featured in
product advertisements printed in a magazine that targets a Black female audience compared with a magazine that targets aWhite female audience ?
Fifteen product categories were established based on products that appeared frequently in Essence and Ladies Home Journal and based on product categories used
in previous research studies that examined womens magazine advertisements (Bowen
& Schmid, 1997; Courtney & Lockeretz, 1971; Kunz & Fleras, 1998; Taylor, Lee, & Stern,
1995). The 15 product categories, listed alphabetically, follow:

Gender Role Stereotypes

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

235

Beauty
Children-related
Cleaning
Fashion=accessories
Financial services
Food=drink, non-alcoholic
Healthcare
Leisure
Major home appliances and furniture
Pet-related
PSAs government=education=memberships
Retail stores
Technology
Tobacco=alcohol
Transportation

Four product categories
financial services, major home appliances and furniture,

technology, and transportation
were labeled as product purchase decisions traditionally
believed to be made by men based on the results of previous research studies (Courtney
& Lockeretz, 1971; Kang, 1997).
Basic descriptive and parametric statistics were used to analyze the data.

Results
Frequencies
A total of 14, 316 advertisements, one-half page or larger, printed in the two womens
magazines, from 1990 through 1999, that included human models were examined (i.e.,
Essence, 7,904; Ladies Home Journal, 6,412). Both magazines advertisements focused primarily on beauty and fashion products, almost 50% for Essence, and almost 40% for
LadiesHomeJournal (seeTable 1).
The product category advertised most often in Essence was fashion=accessories, 2,249
ads, or 28.5% of total Essence advertisements, followed by beauty products, 1,664 ads, or
21.1% of total Essence advertisements. Less than 2% of Essence advertisements featured
either financial services, major home appliances and furniture or technology products.
Almost 7% of Essence advertisements featured transportation-related products (seeTable1).
The product category advertised most often in LadiesHomeJournal was beauty products1,581ads, or 24.7% of total LadiesHomeJournal advertisements, followed by fashion=
accessories, 889 ads or13.9% of total LadiesHomeJournal advertisements. Less than 2% of
LadiesHomeJournal advertisements featured financial services, technology, or transportation advertisements (seeTable 1). Slightly more than 4% of LadiesHomeJournal advertisements featured major home appliances and furniture (seeTable 1).
The first research question considered product categories advertised most and least
often by female model(s) only, by male model(s) only, and both female and male models
during the1990 s in Essence. For 9 of the15 product categories, a larger percentage of advertisements printed in the magazine featured female model(s) only: beauty, children-related,

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T. Mastin et al.

Table 1 Magazines Advertisements By Category, 19901999

Category
Beauty
Children-related
Cleaning
Fashion=accessories
Financial services
Food=drink,
non-alcoholic
Healthcare
Leisure
Major home appliances
& furniture
Pet-related
PSAs govt=edu=
memberships
Retail stores
Technology
Tobacco=alcohol
Transportation
Total

No. of Essence ads (%)

1,664
134
96
2,249
119
500

(21.1)
(1.7)
(1.2)
(28.5)
(1.5)
(6.3)

No. of Ladies Home

Journal (%)
1,581
161
289
889
33
860

(24.7)
(2.5)
(4.5)
(13.9)
(0.5)
(13.4)

275 (3.5)
811 (10.3)
23 (0.3)

866 (13.5)
691 (10.8)
274 (4.3)

5 (0.1)
296 (3.7)

74 (1.2)
109 (1.7)

618
94
485
535
7,904

(7.8)
(1.2)
(6.1)
(6.8)
(100.0)

175
21
277
112
6,412

(2.7)
(0.3)
(4.3)
(1.7)
(100.0)

Note. Italicized categories are those for which product purchase decisions are traditionally
believed to be made by men.

cleaning, fashion=accessories, healthcare, major home appliances and furniture, retail

stores, and tobacco=alcohol. Only one product category featured slightly more male model(s) only as compared with female(s) only models
technology. Male model(s) only were
featured in 33 ads, or 35.1% of total technology-related advertisements. In comparison,
there were 32, or 34.0%, female(s) only technology advertisements, and 29, or 30.9%,
technology advertisements that featured both female(s) and male(s) models (seeTable 2).
Advertisements in five product categories featured in Essence more often included both
female and male models: financial services; food=drink, non-alcoholic; leisure; pet-related;
and transportation. Although the largest percentage of financial services advertisements,
48 ads (40.3%), more often featured both female and male models, female model(s) only
were featured in 47 or 39.5% of total financial services advertisements.
The second research question pertained to product categories advertised most and
least often by female model(s) only, by male model(s) only, and both female and male
models during the1990 s in LadiesHomeJournal.Thirteen of the15 product categories were
more often promoted by female model(s) only in advertisements printed in LadiesHome
Journal. None of the product categories featured in the LadiesHomeJournal featured male
model(s) only most often (seeTable 3).
Product categories advertised in Ladies Home Journal that more often featured both
female and male models were financial services
13 ads or 39.4% of total financial
services advertisements
and transportation
52 ads or 46.4% of total transportation
advertisements. There was only a slight difference in the number of female model(s) only
and male model(s) only financial services ads, 11 or 33.3%, and 9 or 30.8%, respectively.
There was a more pronounced difference in the number of female model(s) only and male

Gender Role Stereotypes

Table 2

237

Essence Product Categories as a Function of Gender

Product category

Female
model(s)

Male
model(s)

Beauty Products
1,381 (83.0) 58 (3.5)
Children-related
70 (52.2) 20 (14.9)
Cleaning products
58 (60.4)
8 (8.3)
(home=clothing)
Fashion=accessories
1,872 (83.2) 50 (2.2)
Financial services
47 (39.5) 24 (20.2)
Food=drink
178 (35.6) 139 (27.8)
non-alcoholic
Healthcare
227 (82.5) 10 (3.6)
Leisure
211 (26.0) 149 (18.4)
Major home appliances
17 (73.9)
2 (8.7)
& furniture
Pet-related
1 (20.0)
0 (0.0)
PSAs govt=
143 (48.3) 55 (18.6)
educ=memberships
Retail stores
366 (59.2) 34 (5.5)
Technology
32 (34.0) 33 (35.1)
Tobacco=alcohol
234 (48.2) 38 (7.8)
Transportation
156 (29.2) 131 (24.5)
Gender totals
4,993 (63.2) 751 (9.5)

Male and female

models

225 (13.5)
44 (32.8)
30 (31.3)

1,664 (21.1)
134 (1.7)
96 (1.2)

327 (14.5)
48 (40.3)
183 (36.6)

2,249 (28.5)
119 (1.5)
500 (6.3)

38 (13.8)
451 (55.6)
4 (17.4)

275 (3.5)
811 (10.3)
23 (0.3)

4 (80.0)
98 (33.1)

5 (0.1)
296 (3.7)

218
29
213
248
2,160

(35.3)
(30.9)
(43.9)
(46.4)
(27.3)

618
94
485
535
7,904

(7.8)
(1.2)
(6.1)
(6.8)
(100.0)

Note. w2 28; N 7; 904 2020:6; p < :001: Numbers in parentheses are percentages.

model(s) only transportation-related advertisements, 36 ads or 32.1%, and 24 ads or

21.4%, respectively (seeTable 3).
The final research question probed differences in the product categories advertised in
Essence and Ladies Home Journal magazines. For both magazines, female model(s) only
were featured more often in 9 of the 15 product categories: beauty, children, cleaning,
fashion=accessories, healthcare, major home appliances and furniture, PSAs, retail stores,
and tobacco=alcohol. A majority of these products are clearly related to the appearance
of women, their children, or their homes (see Table 4). Of the 9 product categories,
2
major home appliances and furniture and tobacco=alcohol
were reported in
previous research as typically advertised by both female and male models.
For both magazines advertisements, two product categories (i.e., financial services
and transportation) traditionally advertised by male model(s) only were more often promoted by both female and male models.The other product category traditionally thought
of a male-dominated purchase decision
technology
was advertised slightly more often
by male model(s) only in Essence and more often by female model(s) only in LadiesHome
Journal. In particular, 13 (61.9%) of the 21 technology advertisements printed in Ladies
HomeJournal featured female model(s) only, 5 ads (23.8%) featured male model(s) only,
and 3 ads (14.3%) featured both female and male models.
In comparison, Essence readers were provided with more technology advertisements
that featured female model(s) only, 32 versus the 13 provided in LadiesHomeJournal. However, Essence readers were exposed to 33 technology advertisements that featured male
model(s) only, whereas LadiesHomeJournal readers were exposed to only 5 advertisements
that featured male model(s) only (seeTables 2 and 3).

238

Table 3

T. Mastin et al.

Ladies Home Journal Product Categories as a Function of Gender

Product category

Female
model(s)

Male
model(s)

Beauty Products
1411 (89.2) 30 (1.9)
Children-related
77 (47.8) 37 (23.0)
Cleaning products
192 (66.4) 62 (21.5)
(home=clothing)
Fashion=accessories
769 (86.5) 30 (3.4)
Financial services
11 (33.3)
9 (27.3)
Food=drink
372 (43.3) 265 (30.8)
non-alcoholic
Healthcare
531 (61.3) 122 (14.1)
Leisure
349 (50.5) 88 (12.7)
Major home appliances 121 (44.2) 43 (15.7)
& furniture
Pet-related
46 (62.2)
6 (8.1)
PSAs govt=educ=
50 (45.9) 18 (16.5)
memberships
Retail stores
129 (73.7) 13 (7.4)
Technology
13 (61.9)
5 (23.8)
Tobacco=alcohol
203 (73.3) 23 (8.3)
Transportation
36 (32.1) 24 (21.4)
Gender totals
4,310 (67.2) 775 (12.1)

Male and female

models

140 (8.9)
47 (29.2)
35 (12.1)

1581 (24.7)
161 (2.5)
289 (4.5)

90 (10.1)
13 (39.4)
223 (25.9)

889 (13.9)
33 (0.5)
860 (13.4)

213 (24.6)
254 (36.8)
110 (40.1)

866 (13.5)
691 (10.8)
274 (4.3)

22 (29.7)
41 (37.6)

74 (12)
109 (1.7)

33
3
51
52
1,327

(18.9)
(14.3)
(18.4)
(46.4)
(20.7)

175
21
277
112
6,412

(2.7)
(0.3)
(4.3)
(1.7)
(100.0)

Note. w2 28; N 6; 412 1233; p < :001: Numbers in parentheses are percentages.

Male model(s) only were more often featured in children-related advertisements featured in LadiesHomeJournal, 37 (23%) of total children-related advertisements, than in
Essence advertisements, 20 ads (14.9%) of total children-related advertisements. Similarly,
male model(s) only were more often featured in Ladies Home Journal cleaning product
advertisements, 62 (21.5%) of total LadiesHomeJournal cleaning product advertisements,
compared with Essence, 8 ads (8.3%) of total Essence cleaning product advertisements
(seeTables 2 and 3).
However, a larger percentage of both male and female models were more often
featured in Essences children-related advertisements, 44 ads (32.8%), of total Essence
children-related ads, when compared with LadiesHomeJournals children-related advertisements, 47 (29.2%), of total LadiesHomeJournal children-related ads. A different picture
emerges when the two magazines cleaning products are compared. A much smaller
percentage of Ladies Home Journal cleaning products ads, 35 (12.1%) of total cleaning
product advertisements included both male and female models compared with Essence
cleaning products advertisements that featured both male and female models, 30 (31.3%),
of total Essence cleaning products ads (seeTables 2 and 3).

Discussion and Conclusion

The results of this study support previous research studies (Courtney & Lockertez,
1971; Kang, 1997) that concluded print media advertisements more often portray women
in traditional roles. As a whole, advertisements examined in this study, directed toward

Gender Role Stereotypes

Table 4

239

Magazines Differences as a Function of Gender

Female(s) only

Male(s) only

Female(s) and Male(s)

Essence
Majority of Advertisements
Product Categories
Beauty
Children
Cleaning
Fashion=accessories
Healthcare
Major home appliances
& furniture
PSAs
Retail stores
Tobacco=alcohol

Technology

Financial services
Food=drink, non-alcoholic
Leisure
Pet related
Transportation

Ladies
Home Journal
Majority of Advertisements
Product Categories
Beauty
Children
Cleaning
Fashion=accessories
Food=drink,
non-alcoholic
Healthcare
Leisure
Major home appliances
& furniture
Pet related
PSAs
Retail stores
Technology
Tobacco=alcohol

Financial services
Transportation

both Black and White female audiences, presented images that suggest women are primarily solely responsible for product purchase decisions for low-cost items that pertain
to the appearance of themselves, their children, and their homes. Such images are vastly
narrow and outdated.
That is, a majority of the advertisement images failed to portray the range of real-life
product purchase decisions made by women as reflected by the number of women, both
single and married, in the workforce and the number of female heads of households.
Moreover, most of the magazines advertisements did not reflect a trend reported by
Gerson (1993) that men and women are more often sharing childcare and household
responsibilities. Advertisements for children-related products and cleaning products
that featured both female and male models did not come close to approaching 50%.
Ladies Home Journal advertisements had a larger percentage of male model(s) only

240

T. Mastin et al.

advertisements that featured children-related and cleaning products; however, these ads
represented less than a quarter of total advertisements in each category. Essence, on the
other hand, featured a larger percentage of advertisements that featured both female
and male models for children-related and cleaning products, more than 30% of total
advertisements for both categories.
Of the 15 categories examined, only 4 were for products for which purchasing decisions are traditionally portrayed as made by men: financial services, major home appliances and furniture, technology, and transportation. These products were featured much
less often than products related to personal and home physical appearance. In fact, 0.5%
or less of LadiesHomeJournal total advertisements featured financial services and technology advertisements, whereas about 2% of Essence advertisements featured financial services products and slightly more than 1% featured technology products.
Not only are these miniscule percentages of financial services and technology advertisements disappointing, they indicate a failure of advertisers to recognize that women
make purchase decisions for these products and have the financial resources to purchase
them. For instance, advertisements placed in womens magazines that provide awareness
of and knowledge about financial services have tremendous potential to enhance womens
quality of life, both present and future, while also enhancing the bottom lines of companies providing the products.
It might be said that there has been some positive progress. The largest percentage of
both magazines financial services advertisements included both women and men. Perhaps these portrayals are an attempt to acknowledge that in most homes that include a
male and female, both parties work outside the home and therefore are likely to be
involved with financial services purchase decisions. However, it can also be argued that
such portrayals send a subtle message that a man should be involved in financial services
purchasing decision. If such a message is being transmitted, it is a disservice to the magazines primary target audiences, many of whom are heads of households.
Of course, the purpose of womens magazine advertisements is not to educate society
about appropriate gender roles but to stimulate product purchase. However, womens
magazines pervasiveness and their documented importance in the lives of many women
indicate they influence readers attitudes and beliefs regarding societal norms. Furthermore, mass media research provides strong evidence that the media influence the real
life expectations, attitudes, opinions, and behaviors of their audiences (Cortese, 1999;
Goffman, 1978; Killing us softly 3, 2000).
Consequently, a steady diet of advertising images
printed in womens magazines

that portray limited roles for women in society, experienced in conjunction with numerous
other traditional images of women prevalent in society may operate at a subconscious level
to reinforce and solidify a perception that there are a narrow range of societal roles that
are acceptable for women. For instance, the limited number of advertising images of
women making purchasing decisions for financial services and technology products may
serve as a proverbial straw that breaks the camels back by providing subtle, subconscious
reinforcement that women do not make such purchasing decisions.
Portraying women as either objects to be adorned or as home fixtures does little to
encourage them to explore the wide range of opportunities available outside the home.
This is especially true for women who do not have professional role models who are
female. Furthermore, these images provide women who have limited professional experience with little support in guiding their daughterscareer aspirations, which is of immense

Gender Role Stereotypes

241

importance when one considers that many women are choosing either to marry later in
life or not to marry, and the high incident of divorce.
Advertisements printed in Essence were slightly more reflective of the real-life product
purchase decision making experiences of its readers.That is, Essence advertisements, compared with LadiesHomeJournals, featured slightly more financial services, and technology
advertisements. However, it is important to acknowledge that both magazines provided
few financial services and technology advertisements, well under two percent of total
advertisements.
Identity theory maintains that gender identity is an individuals most significant
social identity and that the media are primary resources used by individuals to maintain
and validate their identity (Snow, 1983). This studys show that advertisements featured
in womens magazines during last decade of the 20th century provided a narrow range of
images of women in regard to product purchase decision-making behavior. According to
identity theory, advertisements found in womens magazines tell readers that women primarily make product purchase decisions for items that are related to the physical appearances of their families and their homes. Moreover, although more men may be taking on
more responsibilities related to children and the home, this behavior is not reflected in
advertisements found in the womens magazines examined in this study. In that the media
operate as a powerful socialization force and that the majority of women are in the workforce, it is imperative that women and men alike witness media images that present a more
balance view of women and men sharing responsibilities related to the family and home.
The results of this study provide evidence that advertisers make little distinction
between Black andWhite women in regard to product purchase decision making behavior.
That is, advertisements directed toward both female groups were more often for low-cost
products that enhance the physical appearances of their families and homes rather than
higher cost products that require specialized knowledge not traditional portrayed in
advertisements as had by most women (i.e., financial and technology). This finding
increases our understanding of how advertisements reflect and reinforce gender identity;
it also lends support to the notion that gender identity is the most significant social identity.
In this study gender identity appears to be more influential than race.This finding suggests
a future study designed specifically to determine whether gender or race is the most prevailing factor in advertisement portrayals (Snow, 1983). In particular, a valuable future study
would be to compare advertisements in a magazine directed toward Black women with
advertisements in a magazine directed toward Black men to consider the impact of race
and gender.
In addition, the results of this study serve as a record showing that during the last decade of the 20th century, advertisements in two popular female magazines
one directed
toward a Black audience and one directed toward a White audience
did not reflect the
wide range of womens product purchase decision-making behavior, but instead most
often provided traditional, stereotypically narrow, outdated images of said behavior.
There are several limitations in this study that must be addressed. First, although
content analysis can provide an in-depth comparison of advertisements printed in the
magazines examined, the research method does not tell us whether the advertisements
affected readers perceptions of gender-based product decision-making behavior. Future
studies surrounding this topic should examine how womens magazines advertisements
affect readers. In addition, it would be insightful to conduct a parallel study of popular
mens magazines.

242

T. Mastin et al.

Future studies should also investigate advertisers perceptions regarding women as

product purchase decision makers and how their perspectives influence the development
of the advertisements placed in womens magazines.

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Appendix: Magazines Profile

Full-page ad ratec
Magazine
a

Essence
Ladies Home Journal b

Circulation

4 color

Black=White

1,000,442
4,544,416

$ 49,100
$161,000

$ 32,710
$152,000

Note. Source: Bacons Magazine Directory (McFarland, 1998).

a
Provides Black women between 18 and 34 with news and information on entertainment,
social and business topics. Editorial covers health, beauty, and lifestyle updates, as well as
reporting on the financial, political and social issues pertaining to Black women today.
b
Focuses on the interests of todays at-home and working mother with features on decorating,
entertaining, news, fitness, nutrition, family relationships, and contemporary lifestyle trends.
c
Magazines advertising rates as listed in their 2001 media kits.