Images of Men and Women in Mobile Phone Advertisements

The study presented analyzes gender stereotypes in print ads for mobile communication systems in popular magazines intended for men, women and general readership. Depictions of women and men are both addressed. A total of 288 depictions are examined using Goffman’s (1979) framework for content analysis. Additional criteria taken for analysis are the setting in which men and women are depicted and the different types of magazines. Comparisons are drawn between the authors’ own findings and those of other authors. It is shown that certain means of emphasizing stereotypes (such as Feminine Touch) are still widely used, at least in mobile phone advertising, while others have decreased in frequency since Goffman’s time (here, an example is Function Ranking).

Publisher: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Dresden International Congress Centre, Dresden, Germany
Year of Publication: 2008