Uses of sex appeals in prime-time television commercials

Carolyn A. Lin

Over the years, much work has addressed the impact of physical attractiveness on communication effectiveness and attitude change. However, the manner in which sex appeals are presented in TV commercials (Downs & Harrison, 1985; Lovdal, 1989; Soley & Kurzbard, 1986) has received relatively little attention. In particular, researchers have yet to fully examine the ways males are portrayed in television commercials.

Unlike magazines, television is subject to indecency restrictions in the U.S., owing to its ubiquitous reach. Hence, the latitude for sexiness in television commercials is much narrower than that in magazine advertisements (Lin, 1997). Since magazine advertisements became much "sexier" between the 1960s and 1980s (Schorin & Vanden Bergh, 1985; Soley & Kurzbard, 1986; Soley & Reid, 1988; Sullivan & O'Connor, 1988), it's useful to see how sexy American television commercials have become in the 1990s.

Courtney and Whipple (1983) suggest that a number of factors need to be considered when studying gender stereotyping or sexism in television commercials, including verbal and nonverbal cues, the context of the scene and the like. The same concern applies to the study of sex appeals as well. This study will examine how primetime television commercials presented sex appeals as portrayed by male and female models. In particular, the investigation centers on the physical characteristics and individual behaviors of models appearing in the advertisement.

Understanding Sex Appeals

The use of sex appeals in commercials dates to the dawn of advertising (Trachtenberg, 1986). Although this study does not address the effects of physically attractive presenters, their widespread use reflects Madison Avenue's faith in the effectiveness of such appeals (Beatty, 1996).

A considerable body of evidence documents the importance of physical attractiveness in determining communication effectiveness and attitude change (e.g., Chaiken, 1979). According to early work, physical attractiveness elicits positive emotional responses during initial contacts (Byrne, 1971; Miller, 1970). Attractive persons are typically rated as more desirable, socially acceptable, respectable, and influential than their less attractive counterparts (Adams, 1977; Berscheid & Walster, 1974; Debevec, Madden & Kernan, 1986; Kleck, Richardson & Ronald, 1974). Patzer (1985, p. 10) further suggests that "the physical attractiveness of a communicator determines the effectiveness of persuasive communication, and ultimately, physical attractiveness of the communicator influences overall marketing outcomes."

Even with these strong theoretical assumptions, and evidence of the power of physical attractiveness on communication outcomes, the impact of physically attractive models on consumer purchase behavior remains unclear (Joseph, 1982). In particular, nudity and erotic content was found to increase consumer attention to an ad, but not necessarily enhance recall or positive attitudes toward a brand (Alexander & Judd, 1986).

Additional evidence also suggests that, as the levels of nudity or erotism increase, the intended communication effects either turn negative or dissipate (LaTour, Pitts, & Snook-Luther, 1991). This is consistent with an earlier study, which found better brand recall was associated with the stimulus of non-sexual illustrations, as opposed to more sexual illustrations (Steadman, 1969).

LaTour et al. (1991) sought to explain what helps determine the effect of a nudity stimulus on a consumer's cognitive response (or ad impression). They found that cognitive response toward female nudity is mediated by multidimensional arousal factors which, in turn, interact with the demographic characteristics of consumers. In a similar vein, Eagly, Ashmore, Makhijani and Longo's (1991) meta-analysis suggests a rearticulation of this attractiveness stereotype, arguing that media influences should be placed in the context of such mediating factors as message targeting and context (e.g., Craig, 1992) as well as message content.

Caballero, Lumpkin and Madden (1989) also found little support for the assumption that using physically attractive spokespersons helps solidify purchase decisions. Alternatively, Kahle and Homer (1983) suggested that physically attractive celebrity endorsers elicited better brand recall than unattractive celebrity endorsers. Kamins (1990) further confirmed the effectiveness of using attractive celebrity spokespersons, as they create a more positive attitude toward ads featuring an "attractive" product.

It appears that the effects of sexual images on cognitive reaction cannot be evaluated without considering certain intervening consumer attributes such as gender, age, level of product involvement and emotional arousal (which tends to be rather individualized). According to Plutchik and Kellerman (1980), there are strong emotions of pleasure and love associated with sexual behavior. Zeitlin and Westwood (1986, p. 14) conclude that emotional arousal can enhance communication effectiveness, as when joy and acceptance "draw the viewer toward the stimulus advertisement and the brand." They identified sexual motivation as one of eight common patterns of emotional communication in television.

The inconsistency between cognitive and affective responses toward nudity or erotic ads can be partially explained by differences in the experimental subjects, the sampling method, the types of ads used and the experimental procedures adopted to conduct these experiments. However, The contradiction between theory and inconclusive empirical findings makes it difficult to determine the direct impact of sex appeals on consumer purchase behavior. As pointed out by Zeitlin and Westwood (1986), the effective manipulation of human emotions via advertising is still not well understood among practitioners.

Uses of Sex Appeals

Despite uncertainty over their effectiveness, the use of sex appeals is still considered an effective method in the advertiser's arsenal, since one of the major goals of advertisers is to attract consumer attention to an ad (Reid & Soley, 1983). In the handful of studies analyzing television commercials for sex appeals or portrayals of male models, we see a dearth of work extending through the 1990s. Content analyses of television commercials are also relatively few, as compared with those of magazine ads. Nevertheless, based on the existing literature, there seems to be a thematic parallel between magazine and television ads in the portrayals of gender roles and sex appeals for both genders. An examination of the magazine literature, then, should help illuminate these techniques of gender representation.

A study of women's ads from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s found that females were more likely than males to be presented in seductive fashions or appear nude (Soley & Kurzbard, 1986). In fact, Soley and Reid (1988) revealed that models of both genders appearing in magazine ads wore much more suggestive clothing in 1984 than in 1964. Although Soley and Kurzbard (1986) note that some of the revealing portrayals of women reflect fashion trends, they concluded that male advertising practitioners are more likely than their female counterparts to view "sex appeals" as appropriate selling devices. The use of sex appeals has thus increased over time, particularly for women, keeping pace with the liberalization of social mores concerning sexuality.

Offering a more deterministic view, critics decry these female "attractiveness stereotypes" as symptomatic of a male-dominated media elite that creates portrayals in line with their fantasies about women (e.g., Barthel, 1988; Brownmiller, 1984). This traditional woman-as-sex-object profile may hence reflect an hegemonic ideology that reinforces the primacy of men in society (Dow, 1990; Gitlin, 1994). Ironically, this tendency to treat women as alluring sex objects even transcends the pages of Ms., despite a stated policy to refuse advertising or products that are harmful or insulting to women (Ferguson, Kreshel, & Tinkham, 1990). In fact, the past decade has seen an intensification in the pace of the sexual revolution. Print ads appearing in popular general interest magazines seem to push the limits of eroticism and nudity for both male and female models, either singularly (Kolbe & Albanese, 1996) or concurrently (Soley & Kurzbard, 1986; Soley & Reid, 1988). Perhaps the most outspoken critic of this trend, Kilbourne (1989), maintains that these ads are highly exploitative of women. Insofar as female models are presented as young, beautiful and untainted sexual objects that owe their physical attributes to the products (e.g., Downs & Harrison, 1985), then women may go to desperate lengths to change their physical appearance to conform to an ideal that is impossible to sustain (i.e., youthful look, blond hair, small waist, shapely breasts and buttocks). Empirical evidence suggests that exposure to such attractiveness stereotypes can make women feel less adequate about their own physical appearance (e.g., Kamins, 1990; Lafky, Duffy, & Berkowitz, 1996).

Similarly, from the 1950s through the late 1970s, television advertisements portrayed women as decorative, domestic, dependent on men and primarily concerned with personal beauty (Caballero, Lumpkin, & Madden, 1989; Courtney & Whipple, 1983; Ferrante, Haynes, & Kingsley, 1988; Knill, Persch, Pursey, Gilpin, & Perloff, 1981; Leigh, Rethans, & Reichenbach, 1987; Lovdal, 1989; McArthur & Resko, 1975; Schneider & Schneider, 1979; Sullivan & O'Conner, 1988). In particular, women are more likely to appear in sexy "cheesecake" caricatures, much more likely to appear as sex objects than their male counterparts (Rak & McMullen, 1987; Sullivan & O'Conner, 1988). More recent work suggests that, although differences persist in these gender role portrayals, that gap has narrowed over time (Bretl & Cantor, 1992).

Pushing the bounds of conventional portrayals, some of these sexy ads even feature sexually intimate images between models of the same gender (as in a Calvin Klein ad, where two near-nude male models embrace each other). Calvin Klein ads appearing on MTV (cable) and print have also generated controversy (Signorielli, McLeod, & Healy, 1994), with critics suggesting that they border on child pornography. Even so, broadcast television commercials still tend to present subtle sexual innuendo, avoiding explicit sexual behaviors, in order to comply with FCC content regulations (Beatty, 1996).

In fact, according to Reid, Salmon and Soley (1984), only 7.7% of television commercials featured in a Clio Award ceremony presented less-than-fully-dressed models. Nevertheless, females no longer hold an exclusive franchise on sex symbol portrayals. Attractive male models are now explicitly displayed as sex objects in thinly clad clothing, rather than as the traditional "competent" or "take-charge" decision-makers of past decades (Ingrassia, 1994). This is best evidenced by a 1994 Diet Coke commercial, which depicts a bare-chested, muscular construction worker as the sexy bait for a group of female office workers.

Based on the above literature review, it is clear that changes in social perception and acceptance about explicit expression of sexuality with both genders have occurred during the past decade. However, the conventional norm in advertising - which casts such sexual expression primarily upon women rather than men - may still exist in the 1990s. To explore the relationship between model gender and sex appeal portrayals in the 1990s during American primetime television, the following hypotheses were posited.

H1: Women are more likely than men to be portrayed in an idealized and revealing fashion in their physical characteristics.

H1a: Women will be younger than their male counterparts.

H1b: Women are more likely than men to project an idealized physical shape.

H1c: Women are more likely than men to appear in revealing clothing.

H2: Women are more likely than men to engage in sexually-oriented conduct.

H2a: Women are more likely than men to express physical innuendo.

H2b: Women are more likely than men to express verbal innuendo.

H2c: Women are more likely than men to engage in physical contact.

H3: Women are more likely than men to be shown in a sexually appealing manner.

H3a: Women are more likely than men to be shown as physically attractive.

H3b: Women are more likely than men to be shown as sexy.

H3c: Women are more likely than men to be shown as sex objects.

METHOD

A randomly chosen week, drawn from a randomly selected month, was utilized for the recording of primetime television commercials from the three major television networks. Random assignment was made to match up each evening with one of the three major television networks for recording purposes. The recording was done from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. during the second week of April, 1993. The randomly assigned recording schedule was as follows: NBC (Monday and Thursday) ABC (Friday and Saturday) and CBS (Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday).(2)

Overall, after excluding the redundant commercials and any commercials that did not feature adult models (e.g., commercials that used children, animals, animation or no endorsers), 505 coding units were coded and analyzed. Each adult male and female model that appeared as a stand-alone character was individually coded as a single unit. In cases where a group of models appeared together, displaying similar (e.g., sporting) behaviors, then all the male models or female models in the group were coded as a single unit. The racial background of models was as follows: Caucasian (89.3%), Black (10.1%), Hispanic (.2%), Native American (.2%) and Asian (.2%).

Four coders (two male and female communication graduate students) were trained together. Later, each coder coded 10% of the sample individually; the intercoder reliability was over 95% across all four coders. Then two coders, a male and a female, each did their coding separately for the entire sample. The inter-coder reliability ranged from 90% to 95% for different variables, using a simple agreement method of reliability calculation.(3)

Measurement

All variables examined in this study are defined below.

Physical Characteristics. These include such elements as the model's approximate age, physical shape and revealment. Age is reflected by commonly accepted measures, including "teens", "20's", "30's", "40's", "50's" and "60 plus".

Physical shape was measured on a four-point scale: "skinny" (or lean), "fit" (or slender), "full-figured" (or muscular) and "chunky" (or large) to reflect a continuous bodily shape/weight scale.

Clothing revealment is measured by the following categories: revealing the chest, waist, buttocks and legs (coded as either "1" or "0" to reflect the existence or nonexistence of a particular type of revealment). Then the total number of such acts was summed to create an "overall revealment score."

Sexually-Oriented Conduct. Three dimensions were applied.

The first dimension, physical innuendo, is assessed by the following activities - flirting, dressing, undressing, bathing or swimming. Each activity observed was assigned a score value of "1" and the non-occurrence of such activity was scored as "0". The sum total of all activity types was obtained to form a "physical innuendo score."

Similarly, verbal innuendo, the second dimension, is reflected by the following verbal expressions - containing a sexually-oriented statement, stating a sexual desire and implying physical intimacy (or sex). Each expression uttered was assigned a score value of "1", while the lack of an expression was scored as "0." The total sum score of all expressions was regarded as the "verbal innuendo score."

Finally, the third dimension, physical contact, is gauged by the following behaviors - hand-holding, fondling (oneself or the other person), embracing, kissing or implied sexual physical activity. Each behavior noted was assigned a score value of "1," as the absence of such behavior was coded as "0". The sum score of all behavioral types was treated as a "physical contact score.

Model's Sex Appeal. Three concepts, physical attractiveness, sexiness and status as a sex object were each measured on a three-point scale.

Table I. t-Test Results For Model Gender Comparison

                             Males          Females
                                                          F-Value,
Variables                  M     (SD)     M      (SD)       p

Physical Characteristics

Age                       3.40   (1.1)   3.04   (1.10)   .0003
Physical Shape            2.21   (.80)   2.83    (.73)   .000
Clothing Revealment        .08   (.39)    .27    (.64)   .000

Sexually-Oriented Conduct

Physical Innuendo          .07   (.27)    .09    (.31)   .433
Verbal Innuendo            .00   (.06)    .02    (.13)   .142
Physical Contact           .09   (.36)    .12    (.41)   .310

Sex Appeals

Physical Attractiveness   1.81   (.47)   2.10    (.60)   .000
Degree of Sexiness        1.35   (.65)   1.77    (.84)   .000
Sex Object                1.23   (.55)   1.63    (.78)   .000

Physical attractiveness is judged based on the physical beauty of the model - both face and body (including "not attractive", "attractive" and "very attractive").

Sexiness is gauged by the behavioral portrayal of the model's persona, conveyed through their verbal and nonverbal conduct (i.e., "not sexy", "sexy", "very sexy"); this should reflect the degree to which the model is treated in a sensuous manner. These measures were adapted from several past studies (see Kamins 1990; Kahle & Homer, 1983).

The sex object measure reflects whether the role of the model in the ad is that of a two-dimensional character whose demeanor embodies primarily a sexual enticement (ranging from "not at all" to "somewhat" and "definitely" a sex object).

Data Analysis

A t-test procedure (Table I) was applied to discern mean differences in the sex appeals portrayed by male and female models. The statistical significance for all statistical tests was set at the .05 level. Furthermore, chi-square results as well as frequency distributions relevant to key interpretations were also summarized in Table IIa through Table IIc for reference.

RESULTS

Findings concerning physical characteristics of models are summarized in Table I. The t-tests reveal several significant differences between males and females in terms of age, physical shape and clothing revealment. In particular, males were typically older than females, providing support for Hypothesis 1a. With regard to physical shape, female models were more likely to be shown as fit, while males were more likely to appear as full-figured (or muscular). This provides support for Hypothesis lb. Female models were also more likely to be shown in a state of undress than males, consistent with Hypothesis 1c. Taken together, these findings indicate that there is a relationship between model gender and portrayals of physical attributes, as predicted by Hypothesis 1.

Table IIa. Physical Characteristics of Models

Variables             Male %    Female %    [[Chi].sup.2]      p

Age

Teens                  1.0        1.2           25.9         .0001
20's                   8.3       10.9
30's                  23/1       26.3
40's                  13.1       14.8
50's                   3.4       12.0
60 Plus                3.6        2.2

Bodily Shape

Skinny                 4.4        3.6          195.5         .0000
Fit                    8.9       35.6
Full Figure           30.4        3.2
Chunky                 8.7        5.2

Clothing Revealment

Fully Clothed         49.7       38.0           26.9         .0001
One Revealment         2.2        6.5
Two Revealment         0.2        2.0
Three Revealment       0.6        0.6
Four Revealment        0.0        0.2

In terms of sexually-oriented conduct, the genders were not differentiated. The lack of differences in physical innuendo (or flirtation), verbal innuendo and physical conduct leaves Hypotheses 2a-2c - which predicted a relationship with gender - without support.

Table IIb. References for Sexually Oriented Conduct

Variables                %       %       [[Chi].sup.2]       p

Physical Innuendo

No Reference           49.3    43.6          .72            .6993
One Reference           3.2     3.4
Two References          0.2     0.4

Verbal Innuendo

No Reference           52.5    46.5        21.6             .1414
One Reference           0.2     0.8

Physical Contact

No Reference           49.3    42.8         2.1             .5510
One Reference           2.4     3.6
Two References          0.8     0.8
Three References        0.2     0.2
Table IIc. Sex Appeal of Models: Physical Attractiveness

Variables                %       %      [[Chi].sup.2]        p

Attractiveness

Not Attractive         11.8     6.4        45.5             .0000
Attractive             38.9    30.1
Very Attractive         1.8    11.0

Sexiness

Not Sexy               39.6    23.3        38.6             .0000
Sexy                    8.0    11.5
Very Sexy               5.2    12.5

Sex Object

Not at All             43.7    26.6        43.5             .0000
Somewhat                5.8    11.7
Definitely              3.2     8.9
Three References        0.2     0.2

With regard to sex appeals, however, females were more likely to be shown as physically attractive than males. This result supports Hypothesis 3a's contention that females will more often appear in this fashion. Females also were found to appear as a sex object more often than males, consistent with Hypothesis 3b. In addition, female models exhibited a greater degree of sexiness than their male counterparts. This provides support for Hypothesis 3c. Overall, these findings suggest that there is a relationship between model gender and sex appeals, per Hypothesis 3.

Chi-square results concerning the physical characteristics of models generally confirm the other analyses, as outlined in Tables IIa-c. Most models were female (Table IIa), yielding a significant overall Chi-square value, although the range of gender differences within age categories is confined to single digits. While most portrayals involve models under the age of 50, women most strongly dominate one of the older age categories, encompassing models aged 50-59.

Focusing on body shape, women were more likely to be shown as fit, while men are more likely to appear as full-figured or chunky. Men were also more likely to be fully clothed, relative to their female counterparts.

Table IIb indicates that these commercials generally were not overloaded with sex appeals, as fewer than 8% of the models engaged in any sexually-oriented conduct. There were no significant gender differences in terms of physical innuendo, verbal innuendo or physical contact shown by the models.

As only 18% of all models were rated "very sexy" and 12% as "definite sex objects" (see Table IIc), these primetime commercials also were not prone to illustrate models in a predominantly sexually appealing manner. Females were, however, more likely to appear as "very attractive", while males appeared more often as "not attractive". Similarly, women were more likely to appear as sex objects, relative to men.

DISCUSSION

This study set out to examine the manner in which American prime-time network television commercials employ sex appeals involving male as well as female models. The findings point to areas of convergence as well as divergence with the literature. While sex appeals remain an important element in the advertiser's arsenal, they account for a small fraction of commercial appeals. This finding indicates a drastic departure from ads seen on a youthoriented channel such as MTV (Signorielli et al., 1994) or a popular gender-oriented magazine. Nevertheless, the percentage of less than fullydressed models went up from 7% a decade ago (Reid, Salmon & Soley, 1986) to about 12% in this study (see Table IIb), although different research methods and samples may have contributed to this discrepancy.

Those values, as portrayed in television commercials, seem to depict women as being liberated and embracing their sexuality in order to express themselves rather than to please men. In other words, the sexual tension between men and women is played out as a two-way - though perhaps not yet even-handed - game. For instance, commercials featuring physical sexual innuendo had a similar amount of flirting initiated by both genders (see Table IIb). In particular, female models were slightly more likely to engage in verbal sexual references than their male counterparts.

Even so, no more than 8% of these commercials feature at least one type of sexually-oriented behavior in this study (see Table IIb). Yet 11% of general interest magazine ads and at least 25% of men and women's magazine ads contained sexual content a decade ago (Soley & Kurzbard, 1986). Specifically, as the ratio of verbal-to-visual sexual references for magazine ads was 6% versus 79% for Soley and Kurzbard, that ratio is 1% versus 7.2% for the present sample (see Table IIc). With regard to actual physical contact, while 32% of the magazine ads involved sexual activity other than intercourse, that figure was 7.9% for this sample (see Table IIb). Apparently, magazine ads generally contain more sexual references than television commercials, to the extent that comparisons can be made between studies across media. As little sex appeal content research has been published since the 1980s - addressing either magazine ads or television commercials - present study findings should help update current trends. Although sexy television commercials today may not predominate, the way sex appeals are portrayed for both genders may nevertheless reflect America's contemporary social and cultural values.

The "media as mirror" perspectives (e.g., Greenberg, 1980) would portray this trend as a function of the liberalization of sexual mores and modern women's movement, which has its origins in the 1960s. Another alternative to hegemony-based theories of gender-role stereotyping, rooted in market dynamics, may be that advertisers are playing to the perceived fantasies of heterosexual models.

Although that market perspective provides a parsimonious explanation, further analysis of the data point to a more complex symbolic interaction between advertising images and desirable cultural images of the genders. For instance, when it comes to the actual portrayals of physical beauty, female models definitely enjoy a greater presence than their male counterparts. As over 12% of female models were rated in the "very sexy" category, that frequency was less than 6% for male models (see Table IIc). In particular, most of the female models appear to be young and slender, while male models are older and heavier. A deeper root of this social phenomenon can be seen in other aspects of these commercials as well. For instance, across those commercials that contained partially clad models, females were typically featured more often than males.

This, combined with the preponderance of female involvement in different forms of sexual innuendo conduct, suggests that women are in the vanguard of primetime television's attempt to use sex for selling products in the U.S. Thus, as social values toward the expression of sexuality for both genders become more liberated during prime-time television, commercial image-makers readily capitalize on presenting independent and self-expression oriented women in sensuous roles.

This observation is further evidenced by the fact that women comprise three-quarters of "sex object" appeals in the present sample, confirming past findings (Sullivan & O'Conner, 1988). The relatively modest usage of males as sex objects hence suggests that "reverse" bimbo (Ingrassia, 1994) stereotypes - such as Diet Coke's bare-chested construction worker - remain more a curio than a revolution.

The sharp difference in the use of male and female models in sex appeals is intriguing. Study findings suggest - across multiple indicators of attractiveness, sexiness and sex object status - that women remain more likely than men to be cast in sexually appealing roles. Even now, as modern feminism enters its fourth decade, it's clear that physical attractiveness plays a much larger role for female models than for males. Hence, as Downs and Harrison (1985, p. 19) conclude, "television commercials are a major repository of attractiveness stereotypes."

It seems, then, that advertising reflects wider trends noted in American television programming through the 1980s, which have seen women lag in social status despite increases in overall appearance frequencies (Atkin, Lin, & Moorman, 1991; Greenberg, 1980; Reep & Dambrot, 1987). The hegemonic perspective (Dow, 1990) suggests that minor improvements in women's media images - including advertising - represent the means by which the dominant ideology adjusts to the social changes accompanying women's entry into the nondomestic workforce. We may, for instance, see one advertisement depicting an independent working women for every ten housewives shown selling dishwashing detergent. In this fashion, the hegemonic ideology perhaps incorporates the working-woman ideal in order to keep more radical notions of feminist equality at bay.

The issue of whether market or hegemony (manipulative) perspectives motivate these portrayals cannot be easily settled here. Both traditions can paint stereotypical female roles as a social mirror, one which reflects the still limited successes of women in the larger workforce overall (Rak & McMullen, 1987). Nevertheless, as men and women's social, economic and gender roles continue to evolve, advertisers must exercise caution when using sex appeals to target their consumers. In an era marked by a multitude of media and marketing outlets in an ever diversifying multimedia environment, any misuse of advertising appeals could prove to be financially costly. As advertising reflects a predominant form of socio-cultural reality from a marketing perspective, it is also important for commercial messages to be socially sensitive and culturally desirable.

It should be noted that the present study contains certain methodological limitations. The sample was composed of one-week of prime-time commercials. Although this is a commonly accepted sampling practice for a content analytic study, the sample did not reflect either cumulative data or seasonal variability in content or non-network ads.

In addition, this study does not consider implications for sex appeals in advertising outside the U.S. context. Given growing evidence of the application of standardized creative strategies, largely based on a U.S. model, an examination of these appeals presents an interesting avenue for later work.

In the emerging media networks of the global village, then, the expression of sexuality continues to be an issue of social concern. Future research could examine the use of niche sex appeals in today's perplexing advertising environment, which has seen the emergence of political and economic conservatism alongside social liberalization of gender roles.

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Communication, Cleveland State University, E. 24th Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115; e-mail: c.a.lin@popmail.csuohio.edu

2 This particular sample was chosen because the study intended to focus on the TV commercials that were most widely viewed by the general audience. Due to the lack of a full primetime schedule, the Fox network was not included in the study, in order to standardize sampling units. By the same token, cable channels were also not included in the sample. Such channels are typically specialized in their content offerings and hence cable TV ads can be quite different from those aired on broadcast networks in terms of products (or services) advertised and even the copy content. For instance, TV ads seen on MTV or Nickelodeon differ greatly from those seen on a regular broadcast network. Hence, cable TV ads should be studied separately if audience segmentation is to be considered.

3 A listing of reliabilities per variable is available from the author.

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