Hong Kong Baptist University
HKBU Institutional Repository
Department of Communication Studies Journal
Articles
Department of Communication Studies
2014
How Chinese young consumers respond to
gendered advertisements
Kara Chan
Hong Kong Baptist University, [email protected]
Yu Leung Ng
Hong Kong Baptist University
Jianqiong Liu
Hong Kong Baptist University
This document is the authors' final version of the published article.
Link to published article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/YC-09-2013-00398
Citation
Chan, Kara, Yu Leung Ng, and Jianqiong Liu. "How Chinese young consumers respond to gendered advertisements." Young Consumers
15.4 (2014): 353-364.
This Journal Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication Studies at HKBU Institutional Repository. It has
been accepted for inclusion in Department of Communication Studies Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of HKBU Institutional
Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected].
How Chinese young consumers respond to gendered advertisements
Kara Chan
(Corresponding author)
Professor
Department of Communication Studies
Hong Kong Baptist University Email:
[email protected]
Yu Leung Ng
Research Assistant
Department of Communication Studies
Hong Kong Baptist University
Jianqiong Liu
MA in Communication Graduate
Hong Kong Baptist University
Published in
Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers
15(4), 353-364
YC gendered ads final with visual.doc
1
How Chinese young consumers respond to gendered advertisements
Abstract
Purpose ― The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of advertisements
with different female role portrayals in a second-tier city with “first-class opportunities”.
Chinese girls and women represent a huge market for personal as well as household goods.
Design/methodology/approach ― An experimental study was conducted using a
convenience sample of 216 male and female participants aged 17 to 21 in Changchun,
China. Participants were asked to respond to print advertisements using traditional and
modern female images including housewife, cute female, female with classical beauty,
sporty, career-minded, and neutral (tomboy).
Findings ― Results revealed that female participants responded more favorably towards
advertisements using female images than male participants. There was no difference in
the responses to the six different female images among both male and female participants.
Research implications ― Young consumers in China are not sensitive to the different
female images used in the print advertisements. Advertisers can therefore enjoy flexibility
in the selection of female gender roles for advertisements.
Originality/value ― Little is known about how marketers and advertisements can best
communicate with young adults in China using advertisements with different female
images. This study fills this literature gap.
Key Words: Gender roles, consumer perceptions, China, experimental design,
advertising effects
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Introduction
“When I look at ads in China, I think about how marketing and people meet. Last year
when I saw an ad in my local building, I thought this is amazing. This ad shows a woman
who is driving a car. It was the first time that I saw an ad that does not have a man. The
ad does not feature a parent as the ad does not have a child. This woman was making
choices on her own and she is obviously so proud of herself. And she is surprisingly
ALONE,” customer insights specialist Mary Bergstrom said (TEDxTalks, 2013).
With the influx of the western culture and the support of government policy and law,
the status of women in China has been changing in recent decades. Females in China now
enjoy greater opportunities in education and work, as well as freedom of marriage. The
male-to-female ratio for the age group 15 to 24 is 1.12 in 2013 (Central Intelligence
Agency, 2014). The outnumbering of boys over girls has revolutionized the traditional
power balance between men and women. When looking for a spouse, girls are holding the
“upper hand” (Bergstrom, 2012). Nowadays, more and more Chinese females step out of
home, and devote themselves into personal careers and social affairs. Altogether 64
percent of Chinese females aged 15 years or more participated in the labor force in 2012
(The World Bank, 2013). This percentage is greater than many developing countries such
as India (29%) and South Africa (44%), as well as many developed countries such as
United Kingdom (56%) and United States (57%) (The World Bank, 2013). Career
development has brought economic independence for females. Chinese women are able to
manage their finances. They do not need to always obey the decisions of males (Fan,
2013). As females represent a huge market for both personal as well as household
products, more and more marketers begin to target female audience.
Women constitute the main consumer segment for which the majority of products are
3
advertised as well as the most common representation in advertising (Hung and Li.,
2006). Many studies have been done to investigate the female images in advertising
(Bretl and Cantor, 1988; Furnham and Voli, 1989; Allan and Coltrane, 1996; Hung et al.,
2007; Wu and Chung, 2011), and how the audience respond to the advertisements using
different female images (Hogg and Garrow, 2003; Rouner et al., 2003; Orth and
Holancova, 2004a; Bakir et al., 2008; Khan, 2011). Most of these studies analyzed the
gender portrayals in advertisements using content analysis. Some of these studies had a
focus on cross-culture comparison (Siu and Au, 1997; Cheng, 1997; Furnham et al., 2000;
Theodoridis et al., 2013). Content analysis has its limitation that it does not provide
information about how the consumers interpret the gendered images in the
advertisements. In other words, content analysis can only reveal what it is, but not why it
is. The present study can illuminate the advertising effects of advertisements with
different gender portrayals using experimental design. With the improvement of women’s
status and the integration of traditional and modern values, the study is considered timely
about how Chinese young consumers respond to the advertisements using female images
and which types of female images are most appealing to them.
Literature Review
Cultural Transformation and Status of Women in China
Li (1988) noted that the traditional Confucian China is one of the few societies in history
that have prescribed for women a lowly status and treated them routinely in a brutal way.
Women were seen as subordinations of men. “Women rule inside and men rule outside”
referred how women should position themselves in the society and in the home. The
feudal ethics called “the three obedience” shackled women: a woman should obey her
4
father in youth, her husband in maturity, and her son in old age (Su, 1996, pp. 18-19).
Chinese women were traditionally subjected to “the four virtues”. She was expected to
exhibit proper virtue, proper speech, proper countenance and proper merit. The “three
obedience and the four virtues” is a common four-character phrase throughout the
Chinese imperial period.
Contemporary China advocates that men and women should be equal politically,
economically, educationally and socially. The Democratic Revolution in 1911 kindled a
feminist movement which focused on equal rights for men and women and participation
by women in political affairs. These movements promoted the awakening of Chinese
women (Information Office of the State Council, 1994). Women’s status began to
improve since then (Li, 1988). In 1949, after the establishment of People’s Republic of
China, the achievement of female emancipation and equality between men and women
was set as one of the goals of Chinese Communist Party. The All-China Women’s
Federation was established to improve females’ conditions and strive for sex equality (Li,
1988). In 1949, the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative
Conference was convened in Beijing. Altogether 69 women presenting the conference
accounted for 10.4 percent of the delegates. They represented women throughout the
country in discussing matters of vital events for the country’s construction. After
Chairman Mao Zedong advocated that women can hold up half of the sky, women
become the masters of new China as the citizens of the country (Li, 1988; Information
Office of the State Council, 1994; Wu and Chung, 2011).
The improvements were not limited to the political field. Women have gone out of
home to devote themselves into a career. The female labor participation for the age group
5
16 to 59 in China was 69.9 percent indicating that nearly 70 percent of rural and urban
women participated in paid work (Hui, 2010). Chinese females represent a major
consumer segment that marketers should pay great attention to.
Gender Roles in Advertising
Advertisers often adopt gender role stereotyping as a communication strategy to build
identification with the consumers (Hovland et al., 2005). Content analyses of media
including television programs, television commercials and print advertisements have
indicated that females were portrayed in stereotyped roles and were underrepresented
over the past few decades (Furnham et al., 2000; Furnham and Paltzer, 2010). Fourteen
content analyses from 11 countries between 1975 and 1999 that investigated gender role
portrayals in television advertisements were reviewed. Results showed gender stereotypes
that males were presented as the authoritative central figures and breadwinners mostly,
while females were mostly presented as product users and homemakers (Furnham and
Mak, 1999). An updated meta-analysis of 30 content analyses of television
advertisements from 2000 to 2008 in 24 countries found that males were portrayed as
professional roles, while females were portrayed as dependent customer roles (Furnham
and Paltzer, 2010).
With regard to gender beauty type, the three most popular beauty types in U.S.
magazine advertisements were classic/feminine, exotic/sensual, and trendy beauty types
(Englis et al., 1994). Different types of beauty exist across print media and television
disproportionately (Englis et al., 1994). A previous study of female images in magazine
advertisements showed that Western models were more often shown in sensual/sexy
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beauty type whereas Asian models (Singapore and Taiwan) were more often portrayed in
classic beauty type (Frith et al., 2004). A recent content analysis of women’s roles
portrayed in China found that women were featured predominantly in decorative roles in
international women’s magazines. The combination of fashion and beauty advertisements
and editorial content kept alive the female decorative roles in selling products to female
consumers (Feng and Karan, 2011). On the other hand, local women’s magazines
portrayed females as fashionable consumers and devoted wives and mothers. The
portrayal was in line with family-centered lifestyle of traditional Confucian (Feng and
Karan, 2011). It is argued that female roles and beauty types are established by cultural
perspectives and social norms. These factors affect females’ self-image greatly (Fung,
2002; Solomon et al., 1992).
The Responses of Audiences to the Gendered Advertisements
Many previous studies paid attention to the audiences’ responses to the advertisements
portraying female images. The results indicated that the audience would apply various
approaches to interpret the gendered advertisements; different cultural backgrounds lead
to different responses to the gendered advertisements; and the audience’s gender and age
have impact on the responses to the gendered advertisements.
Kilbourne (1986) tested two advertisements among 101 respondents and found that
advertising evaluations and purchase intentions were higher among those who viewed the
ad with a female model in a professional role than those who viewed the ad with a female
model in a housewife role.
Grazer and Kessling (1995) conducted an experimental study among 230
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undergraduate male students at an Eastern university in U.S., to investigate the effects of
sexual themes in printing advertisements on brand recall and purchase intention.
Altogether 12 print advertisements for jeans and another 12 print advertisements for
liquor were chosen. The advertisements were categorized according to four levels of
sexual intensity (asexual, low, moderate, high). The results showed that use of sexual
themes in print advertisements aroused favorable responses among male respondents. The
advertising with lower levels of sexual intensity may not be attractive. However, higher
levels of sexual intensity may distract audience’s attention to the sexual contents, instead
of the promoted products. The study was not able to identify a common level of sexual
intensity for maximum effectiveness for both product categories.
Orth and Holancova (2004b) conducted an experimental study about consumers’
responses to magazine advertisements portraying different gender roles for a cell phone
service in the Czech Republic. Altogether 320 participants, aged 18 to 35 years old, were
recruited. Female and male models in the advertisements were featured in an
occupational setting or in a non-occupational setting. The effectiveness of advertisements
was measured in approval, disapproval, surprise, attitudes towards advertisements, brand
attitudes and purchase intention. The results indicated that females and males showed
significantly difference in emotion and attitudes towards the advertisements. Both
females and males tended to prefer portrayals of their own gender. Females disliked the
advertisements portraying females in roles superior to males. The significant different
responses were attributed to participators’ prior attitudes toward gender role.
The above three studies examined only one theme in the advertisements (i.e. sexual
theme in Grazer and Kessling’s (1995) study and career theme in Kilbourne’s (1986) and
8
Orth and Holancova’s (2004b) study). The participants were all young adults. The
comparison of advertisements on adolescents’ attitudes toward advertisements with more
than one theme as well as brand images and purchase intention were unknown. This
study aims at filling this literature gap.
Hung et al. (2007) conducted a study about the modern woman images in Chinese
magazine advertising and Chinese females’ perceptions of the new woman images in the
advertisements. The female images of 427 advertisements in Chinese magazines were
categorized into four types, which were developed from Venkatesan and Losco (1975):
flower vase, strong woman, cultured nurturer and urban sophisticate. The results showed
that the urban sophisticate was the most foreign modern woman image, which were
associated with global brands and global magazines. Besides, five advertisements
featuring the four types of female images were chosen, and 14 Chinese women were
interviewed to examine their interpretation of these modern female images in the
advertisements. The results indicated that Chinese females accept modern values such as
independence. They interpret the modern female images with some Chinese
characteristics, such as collective morality. The meaning of “gentleness” is different from
the traditional interpretation among the female interviewees. It embodies females’
maturity and learning, being calm and brave when facing hardship.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of advertisements using
different types of female images and how it is related to the changing values about gender
role. The contributions of this study are twofold. First, it is the first study conducted in a
9
second-tier city in China. Review of literature found that most of the studies investigating
gender role in advertising are conducted in the first-tier cities in China, such as Shanghai
(Hung and Li, 2006; Chan and Ng, 2013). First-tier cities in China including Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen were the research focus because of their high per
capita gross domestic product and well-developed consumer market. Nowadays, second
tier cities in China have been enhanced by great amounts of investment, new
infrastructure and import of talents. These cities have become growth powers of the
economy. As a result, second-tier cities in China should be considered as “first-class
opportunities” for marketers (Mullich, 2011). Advertising environments of first and
second-tier cities are different in terms of amount of advertising exposure and advertising
creativity. A previous study found that children in first-tier cities enjoyed television
advertising more than children in second-tier cities. The authors attributed the difference
to the higher level of advertising creativity of commercials broadcast in first-tier cities
(Chan and McNeal, 2004).
Second, responses to gendered ads among both female and male young adults were
tested. Most of the previous studies on the topic focus on how females perceive the
gender role in advertising. This study tries to add males as respondents to test how they
respond to advertisements using female images. This study can provide advertisers with
useful insights into what types of female images should employ to appeal to the
contemporary Chinese young consumers in a second-tier Chinese city with high
economic growth potentials.
Hypotheses
The current study examines whether young consumers’ attitudes toward the portrayal of
female role in advertisements vary by gender. As females are more likely to believe in
10
gender equality and prefer seeing female characters in advertisements, we hypothesized
that:
H1: An advertisement using a female character will have more favorable advertising
effect among female participants than among male participants.
The portrayal of traditional female roles in advertisements that were depicted with
words such as soft, loyal and good at housework were still the ideal wife images of males
in China (Hung and Li, 2006). On the other hand, a survey found that adolescent girls in
Shanghai express strong desires to live out their dreams and gain career success (Chan
and Ng, 2013). Advertisements using traditional stereotypes of females were found not
effective to communicate to the young females in China (Cheng and Wan, 2008). As a
result, it is hypothesized that:
H2: An advertisement using traditional female roles (i.e. housewife, cute, and classic)
will exhibit more favorable advertising effect among male participants than female
participants.
H3: An advertisement using contemporary female roles (i.e. career woman, sporty, and
tomboy) will exhibit more favorable advertising effect among female participants than
male
participants.
Methodology
We adopted a 2 X 6 factorial research design. The two independent variables were gender
of the participants and types of female images used in the advertisements. The first factor
was manipulated at two levels (females, males). The second factor was manipulated at six
levels, representing six different types of female images, including housewife, cute,
classical, career, sporty, and tomboy. Three dependent variables were used to measure
11
advertising effectiveness, including attitudes towards advertising (AAd), brand image (BI)
and purchase intention (PI).
Participants
The participants of this study were 216 Chinese aged 17 to 21 residing in Changchun, the
capital city of Jilin Province in mainland China. Most of them (86.7%) were the residents
of Changchun. All the respondents were studying in the third grade of a high school
affiliated with a public university in Jilin (equivalent to grade 12 in the US education
system). The mean age of the sample was 18.7. Six participants did not report their
gender. The sample had equal numbers of 105 male and 105 female participants.
Half of the participants (44.8%) reported a household monthly income that was under
RMB 5,000 and only one-sixth of the sample (16.3%) had household income of RMB
10,000 or above. According to the findings from China Household Finance Survey, the
average household disposable income of mainland Chinese cities was RMB 6,662 per
month in 2012 (China Household Finance Survey, 2013). Therefore, the household
monthly incomes of most participants were below the national average.
Procedure
This study used a convenience sample. Four teachers from different classes of a high
school offered help to distribute the paper questionnaires during class break. Voluntary
and anonymous participation was guaranteed. There were altogether six sets of
questionnaires, each with one version of the six printed ads using different female images.
The teachers were asked to distribute the questionnaires in such a way that the first student
received a questionnaire with the first female type. The second student received a
questionnaire with the second female type and so on. The distribution process ensured
12
random assignment to the different stimulus. The data collection was conducted in March
2013. Consents were obtained from the school’s authority and teachers to conduct the
study. Obtaining parental consent was not mandatory in social science studies in China.
The usual practice is to obtain consent from school’s authority and teachers to conduct the
study. They serve as gate-keepers in vetting the questionnaires and the purpose of the
study. Respondents were informed that they were invited to participate in a scientific
research and their participation was voluntary. If they had questions about the study, they
were invited to contact one of the authors (through the telephone number or the email
address stated in the questionnaire).
Stimulus materials
Six fictitious print advertisements in full color A4 size, each with a central female
character in medium shot and an Evian bottled water next to her, were constructed. The
translated headline was “The unique and balance choice”. The Chinese body copy
consisted of 56 words explaining that Evian bottled-water was made with mineral water
in France and was good for health. The advertisements were constructed based on a
similar visual layout of a soft drink advertisement found in the internet. The six different
female images were selected by two of the authors from the internet, including images of
a housewife, a cute woman, a classical woman, a career woman, a sporty woman and a
tomboy. The first three images represent traditional female images and the latter three
images represent contemporary female images. Chan and Ng (2012) conducted a
psychographic segmentation study among adolescent girls and adopted six female
images. They are cute, sporty, successful, homemaking, gorgeous and sexy. The female
images adopted in this study included five types, i.e. Cute, sporty, career, housewife, and
gorgeous (gorgeous and classic are interchangeable) from Chan and Ng’s (2012) study.
13
Though Europeans are more tolerant of nudity in advertising (Levine, 1990), sexy and
erotic images can be offensive to Chinese consumers, especially for the young ones. We
therefore did not include sexy female image.
There have been some female celebrities showing themselves as a tomboy in public
these years. For example, Li Yuchun, the winner of a popular TV talent show “Super Girl”
in 2005, is a famous idol. She has short hair and dresses up in tomboy style. Many fans
like to follow her style (Jakes, 2005). As a result, this study added the tomboy female
image.
Bottled water was selected, as it is a gender-neutral product category that young people
were familiar with. An imported brand was featured because young Chinese consumers,
especially the 1980s generation, were very interested in foreign brands (Tai and Tam,
1997). Because of the premium price and the limited financial means of the young
consumers, we have an opinion that Evian may not be a familiar brand among our sample.
If Evian is not a familiar brand, the perceptions about brand attributes are more likely to
be derived from the advertisements being tested. Measuring their responses to gendered
ads is therefore insightful. Despite the economic gloom in western countries, China
remains the only large economy to continue experiencing economic growth that favors
the bottled water market. China’s bottled water industry has grown rapidly in recent years,
as the quality of tap water in China is still far behind western standards (Weston, 2009).
14
Evian water has been advancing faster in China than in other markets in the world (China
Distribution and Logistics, 2013). It is appropriate for a fast growing brand to test its
potential in a second-tier city in China.
As the focus of the study was to test audience responses to female images of different
gender roles, only one female image was shown in each of the advertisement. It is not the
purpose of this study to compare the advertising effect of an advertisement with a woman
alone and a woman with other persons.
Manipulation checks
To ensure that manipulation of the six advertisements using different female roles were
effective, three males and three females were showed the six female images and were
asked to describe the female personalities. Interview results showed that the manipulation
were successful. They described the housewife as caring and warm, the cute woman as
young and energetic, the classical woman as noble and elegant, the career woman as
strong and professional, the sporty woman as healthy and sporty and the tomboy as
gender neutral and rebellious. A matching test of the six female images was conducted.
All the six participants were able to match the six female images with the six descriptions
such as “a housewife” and “cute woman” correctly.
Participants were also asked to indicate whether the mineral water product of brand
“Evian” is perceived as a male product, a female product or a gender neutral product.
Four out of six participants considered the brand “Evian” a gender neutral product and
the remaining two found it a female product.
15
Dependent variables
Three dependent variables, attitudes towards the advertisements (AAd), perceived brand
image (BI) and purchase intention (PI), were used to measure the advertising effectiveness.
The scales used to measure the attitudes toward the advertisements and toward the brand
were seven-point semantic differential scales. Most of the scales were coded in a way that
higher values indicated more positive responses. Three of the scales were coded reversely,
in which higher values indicated more negative responses, to avoid participants’ invariant
responses. The purchase intention were measured on a 5-point scale, which was from 1
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The scale’s items were chosen from previous
studies to ensure the validity and reliability. Attitude toward the advertisements was
measured by a scale used by Chan and Han (2014). Brand image was measured by a scale
developed by LaTour and Rotfeld (1997). Purchase intention was measured by a scale
developed by Baker and Churchill (1977). The Alpha values were all above 0.70 (AAd:
0.89; BI: 0.77; PI: 0.84). The questionnaire was constructed in Chinese. One of the
authors translated the English scale to Chinese. The translation was examined by another
researcher to ensure it was valid.
Results
Two-way ANOVA was adopted to investigate how Chinese consumers perceive the
advertisements using different types of female images. Responses to six advertisements
using six different female images were measured among male and female participants
(see Table 1).
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Hypothesis testing
Hypothesis 1 focuses on the effects of gender of the participants on their attitudes
towards advertisement embedded with a female character. The results showed main
gender effect on the three dependent variables. There was marginally significant gender
effect on attitudes towards the advertisements (F1, 190 = 3.58, p = 0.060, η2p = 0.02).
Female participants (M = 3.21) reported a higher attitudes towards the advertisements
than male participants (M = 2.82). In addition, results revealed significant gender effect
on perceived brand image (F1, 186 = 6.38, p = 0.012, η2p = 0.03). Female participants (M =
4.08) perceived a more favorable brand image than male participants (M = 3.64). At last,
gender had main effect on purchase intentions (F1, 194 = 5.03, p < 0.05, η2p = 0.03).
Female participants (M = 2.71) reported a higher purchase intention than male
participants (M = 2.46). As a result, hypothesis 1 is supported that an advertisement
embedded with a female character has more favorable advertising effect among female
participants than among male participants.
Hypotheses 2 and 3 pertain to the effects of types of female images in the
advertisements on their attitudes towards advertisement embedded with a female
character. However, the main effect of ad type was not significant. There was no
significant difference in attitudes towards the advertisements (F5, 190 = 0.73, n.s.),
perceived brand image (F5, 186 = 0.33, n.s.), and purchase intention (F5, 194 = 0.08, n.s.)
among the six ads. No post hoc Tukey contrasts showed significant difference between
the six ad types on the three dependent variables. The interaction effect of gender of
participants and ad type was also not significant on attitudes toward the advertisements
(F5, 190 = 0.29, n.s.), perceived brand image (F5, 186 = 0.50, n.s.), and purchase intention
17
(F5, 194 = 0.48, n.s.). As a result, hypotheses 2 and 3 are not supported.
Discussion
The status of females in China has received improvement in education opportunities,
marriage and economic dependence. Female consumers are able to enjoy tremendous
freedom in consumption and career choices. Females in China represent a huge market
for both personal and household products. More and more marketers are interested in
targeting Chinese female audience. Because second-tier cities in China are “first-class
opportunities” for advertisers and marketers, this study investigates the effectiveness
of advertisements with different female role portrayals in Changchun. A better
understanding of how Chinese females’ response to various types of advertising
images can help marketers and advertisers to relate to the consumers in an effective
manner.
With regards to gender, the results showed that females have a more favorable attitude
for advertisements embedded with female images than males. The results suggest that
advertisers can gain approval of female consumers if the advertisement features female
characters. Comparing with Chinese males, any of the six tested female images used in
the advertisement are more likely to gain liking among Chinese females. Advertisements
portray in traditional females such as housewife, cute girl or classic woman can
oftentimes be as effective as advertisements portray contemporary female such as career
women, sporty woman or tomboy among female audience.
With regards to types of female images in the advertisements, participants, both males
and females, responded more or less the same to all sex types of advertisement. To be
specific, males do not have a more favorable attitude for an advertisement using
traditional female roles. Females do not have a more favorable attitude for an
18
advertisement using contemporary female roles. It indicates that young consumers in our
sample are not sensitive to the different female images used in the print advertisements.
This may be due to the fact that lifestyle advertisements are not prevalent in second-tier
Chinese cities. It may also be due to the low involvement of the product category being
tested. This can be good news to the advertisers. They can have greater flexibility to use
either traditional or modern female images in the advertisements to attract Chinese
females. The results were contrary to Cheng and Wan’s (2008) study that advertisements
using traditional role of females were ineffective to the Chinese females. The portrayals
of traditional female roles in advertisements may represent the ideal wife images of
males in China (Hung and Li, 2006). However, these images are ineffective to attract
male participants and increase their purchase intention. It is noted that advertisers
should not use female character only in the advertisements to target Chinese male
audience, even though traditional females were ideal wife of Chinese man.
Limitations and Suggestions for Future Studies
First, the respondents were all from Changchun, a second-tier capital city in northeastern
China. We may not generalize the result to consumers in other second-tier cities. Future
studies could extend the geographic scope to first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai
or third-tier cities or even rural provinces.
Second, because of ethical consideration, sexy female image was not used in the
present study as some participants were aged under 18 years. As Grazer and Kessling
19
(1995) found that use of sexual themes in print advertisements aroused favorable
responses among male respondents, further study in adults can add the seventh type of
sexy female image.
Third, mineral water as a gender neutral product was used in the current study. It is a
low-evolvement product, especially among adolescents and young consumers. They may
not be enthusiastic in reading the advertisements. Future studies could test a high
involvement product such as a mobile phone or a health product.
Furthermore, the tested product is a foreign brand. The participants may perceive a
higher price and therefore unwilling to purchase the brand. Future studies could choose a
domestic brand or a fictitious brand as stimulus. The study did not control the
respondents’ familiarity with the brand. Future studies should add this variable and
compare consumers’ responses among those who are familiar with the brand and those
who are new to the brand.
At last, it is not clear whether the results were due to the ads embedded with female
images or the ads embedded with female images alone. Further studies can compare the
advertising effect of ads with a female only, ads with two or more females and ads with a
female and a male together.
Summary
Women constitute the main consumer segment for the majority of advertised products.
Previous studies have been done to investigate the female images in advertising and how
the audiences respond to the advertisements posing sexy female images mostly. Most
previous studies analyzed the gender portrayals in advertisements of various media using
content analysis. However, little is known about how audience response to the
advertisements with different gender portrayals. Thus, with the improvement of women’s
20
economic status in China, the present study is considered timely to examine how Chinese
audience responds to the advertisements using female images. Results indicated that
females have a more favorable attitude for advertisements featuring female character than
males. The findings show that Chinese young consumers in the second-tier city are not
sensitive to the different female images used in the print advertisements. Advertisers are
suggested to develop an advertisement embedded with a female character when targeting
a product to Chinese women. Advertisers can enjoy flexibility to use either traditional or
modern female images in the advertisements to attract females in China.
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25
Table 1.
Means for Attitudes towards the Advertisements (AAd), Brand Image (BI) and Purchase Intention (PI) by Participants’ Gender and by
Types of Female Images in the Advertisement.
Types of female images
Traditional
Housewife
Cute
Classical
Contemporary
Career
Sporty
Tomboy
Total
Male
Female
AAd
Total
2.6
3.3
3.1
2.9
3.4
3.3
2.8
3.4
3.2
3.7
3.9
3.7
3.7
4.2
4.1
3.7
4.0
3.8
2.5
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.9
2.7
2.5
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.8
3.4
3.3
3.0
3.2
3.1
2.9
2.8
3.0
3.5
3.6
3.5
3.6
4.3
4.4
3.9
4.1
4.0
3.9
3.7
3.9
2.3
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.8
2.8
2.6
2.7
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
Male
Female
BI
Total
Male
Female
PI
Total
27
Appendix I Six Types of Female Images used in the Advertisements
Type 1: a career woman
Type 2: a cute woman
1
Type 3: a tomboy
2
Type 4: a housewife
3
Type 5: a sporty woman
Type 6: a classical woman
4