Gender stereotypes in original digital video advertising

Abstract

This exploratory study looks into gender stereotypes in original digital video advertising as an independent trend in the advertising industry worthy of a new avenue of research. Content analysis is performed on a judgemental sample of 324 original digital videos that have won awards from professional marketers. The results show that there is no statistically significant association between gender and any of the ten studied attributes (mode of presentation, credibility, role, age, argument type, reward type, product type, background, setting, and end comment). Although previous studies depicted men in male-authored science roles and with muscular physiques and women as objectified and a hypersexualized subordinate to the male, this research shows that women and men are equally portrayed in non-stereotypical activities and roles, However, central figures are more likely to be men than women, indicating a gender difference in terms of the assignment of main roles. This paper highlights the change in women’s roles as well as advertisers’ and marketers’ criteria for the content of original digital videos.