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Selling Stereotypes: Reviewing the Impact of Business Advertisements on Gender Norms and Socialization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2022

Bernadette Gutmann ,
Shreyasi Jha ,
Emer O’Doherty Open the ORCID record for Emer O’Doherty [Opens in a new window]  and
Ranjavati Banerji
Bernadette Gutmann
Affiliation:
UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal
Shreyasi Jha*
Affiliation:
UNICEF New York, USA
Emer O’Doherty
Affiliation:
UNICEF New York, USA
Ranjavati Banerji
Affiliation:
UNICEF New York, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: sjha@unicef.org
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Extract

Today’s children and youth1 are constantly exposed to a media deluge, fuelled by a globalized and ever-expanding media and information technology sector. The marketing and advertising industry has used this expansion in media platforms to more effectively target young consumers. Worldwide, 71 per cent of youth (aged 15–24 years) is online – the most connected age group – compared with 48 per cent of the total population, with regional variations.2 It is estimated that the amount spent globally on advertising targeting children in 2019 was US$4.3 billion – now one of the fastest-growing online audiences.3

Keywords

advertisingchildrengendermarketingstereotypes
Type
Developments in the Field
Information
Business and Human Rights Journal , Volume 7 , Issue 1: Special Issue: From Formalism to Feminism: Gender, Business and Human Rights , February 2022 , pp. 157 - 162
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

1 The United Nations defines ‘youth’ as persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years, while the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines ‘children’ as persons up to the age of 18, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, ‘Frequently Asked Questions’, https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/what-we-do/faq.html (accessed 9 September 2021).

2 UNICEF, State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World (New York: UNICEF, 2017).

3 PricewaterhouseCoopers, ‘Kids Digital Media Report 2019’ (2019), https://gertkoot.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/kids-digital-media-report-2019-.pdf (accessed 19 October 2021) 11.

4 Neetu A John et al, ‘Gender Socialization During Adolescence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Conceptualization, Influences and Outcomes’, UNICEF Innocenti Discussion Papers (2017), https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/IDP_2017_01.pdf (accessed 19 October 2021); Kolbe, Richard H and Muehling, Darrell, ‘Gender Roles and Children’s Television Advertising’ (1995) 17:1 Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising 49 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 UNICEF, A Child Rights-Based Approach to Food Marketing: A Guide for Policy Makers (Geneva: UNICEF, 2018) 18; Crone, Eveline A and Dahl, Ronald E, ‘Understanding Adolescence as a Period of Social-Affective Engagement and Goal Flexibility’ (2012) 13:9 Nature Reviews Neuroscience 636 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

6 Advertising Standards Authority, ‘Depictions, Perceptions and Harm: A Report on Gender Stereotypes in Advertising’ (2016), https://www.asa.org.uk/asset/2DF6E028-9C47-4944-850D00DAC5ECB45B.C3A4D948-B739-4AE4-9F17CA2110264347/ (accessed 19 October 2021); Gry Høngsmark Knudsen and Lars Pynt Andersen, ‘Changing Masculinity, One Ad at a Time’, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture (2020), https://www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/292/ (accessed 19 October 2021); Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, USC Viterbi and UNICEF, Gender Bias in Advertising in India(Delhi: UNICEF, 2020); Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, Oak Foundation and Promundo, ‘The Double-Edged Sword of Online Gaming: An Analysis of Masculinity in Video Games and the Gaming Community’ (2021), https://seejane.org/wp-content/uploads/gaming-study-2021-7.pdf (accessed 19 October 2021).

7 John et al, note 4, 15.

8 Ibid, 6, 28.

9 Ibid, 15.

10 Hannah Goldberg, ‘This Ad Completely Redefines the Phrase “Like a Girl”’, Time (26 June 2014),

https://time.com/2927761/likeagirl-always-female-empowerment/ (accessed 19 October 2021).

11 Lapierre, Matthew A et al, ‘The Effect of Advertising on Children and Adolescents’ (2017) 140:2 Pediatrics S152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

12 World Childhood Foundation et al, ‘COVID-19 and Its Implications for Protecting Children Online’ (2020), https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Cybersecurity/Documents/COP/COVID-19%20and%20Its%20Implications%20for%20Protecting%20Children%20Online.pdf (accessed 19 October 2021).

13 Ibid.

14 UNICEF, note 5, 18.

15 John et al, note 4, 19–20.

16 Ibid.

17 Cannes Lions, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and USC Viterbi, ‘Bias & Inclusion in Advertising: An Analysis of 2019 Cannes Lions Work’ (2020), https://seejane.org/wp-content/uploads/bias-and-inclusion-in-advertising-cannes-lions.pdf (accessed 19 October 2021).

18 Lambrecht, Anya and Tucker, Catherine E, ‘Algorithmic Bias? An Empirical Study into Apparent Gender-Based Discrimination in the Display of STEM Career Ads’ (2018) 65:7 Management Science 2947.Google Scholar

19 Booker, Cara L, Kelly, Yvonne J and Sacker, Amanda, ‘Gender Differences in the Associations Between Age Trends of Social Media Interaction and Well-Being Among 10-15 Year Olds in the UK’ (2018) 18 BMC Public Health 1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

20 Louise Scott and Alan McGill, ‘From Promise to Reality: Does Business Really Care about the SDGs? And What Needs to Happen to Turn Words into Action’, PWC (2018), https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/sustainability/SDG/sdg-reporting-2018.pdf (accessed 19 October 2021).

21 World Federation of Advertisers, ‘A Guide to Progressive Gender Portrayals in Advertising: The Case for Unstereotyping Ads’ (2019), http://www.rvd.org.tr/uploads/2019/01/wfa-guide-in-advertising.pdf (accessed 19 October 2021).

22 Human Rights Council, ‘Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework’, A/HRC/17/31 (21 March 2011) (UNGPs); Human Rights Council, ‘Gender Dimensions of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Report of the Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises’, A/HRC/41/43 (23 May 2019) (Gender Guidance).

23 Gender Guidance, note 22, para 24.

24 Committee on the Rights of the Child, ‘General Comment No. 16 on State Obligations Regarding the Impact of the Business Sector on Children’s Rights’, CRC/C/GC/16 (17 April 2013).

25 UNICEF, The Global Compact and Save the Children, ‘Children’s Rights and Business Principles’ (2012), https://www.unicef.org/media/96136/file/Childrens-Rights-Business-Principles-2012.pdf (accessed 19 October 2021).

26 Ibid, 26.

27 Unstereotype Alliance, ‘Research’, https://www.unstereotypealliance.org/en/resources/research-and-tools (accessed 19 October 2021).

28 Human Rights Council, ‘Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights at 10: Taking Stock of the First Decade’, A/HRC/47/39 (22 April 2021).

29 European Parliament, ‘At a Glance: Sexism in Advertising’ (2018), https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2018/614730/EPRS_ATA(2018)614730_EN.pdf (accessed 19 October 2021).

30 European Parliament, ‘How Marketing and Advertising Affect Equality Between Women and Men’, 2008/2038(INI) (3 September 2008) para 22.

31 CAP News, ‘Ban on Harmful Gender Stereotypes in Ads Comes into Force’, ASA (14 June 2019), https://www.asa.org.uk/news/ban-on-harmful-gender-stereotypes-in-ads-comes-into-force.html (accessed 19 October 2021).

32 Advertising Benchmark Index, ‘ABX Gender Equality Index™’, https://www.adbenchmark.com/abx-gender-equality-index (accessed 19 October 2021).

33 Killian Fox, ‘Making a Sexist Ad Now, After #MeToo, Is Simply Inexcusable’, The Guardian (14 April 2020), https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/apr/14/women-in-advertising-vox-pops-sexist-ad-after-metoo-inexcusable (accessed 19 October 2021).

34 Hiroko Tabuchi, ‘Sweeping Away Gender-Specific Toys and Labels’, The New York Times (27 October 2015), https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/business/sweeping-away-gender-specific-toys-and-labels.html (accessed 19 October 2021).

35 Robin Levinson-King, ‘Children’s Toys: The Backlash Against Pink and Blue Branding’, BBC News (19 December 2018), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46613032 (accessed 19 October 2021).

36 Cannes Lions, ‘Cannes Lions Expands Jury Guidelines to Champion Equal Representation and Confront Inequality’, https://www.canneslions.com/about/news/cannes-lions-expands-jury-guidelines-to-champion-equal-representation-and-confront-inequality (accessed 19 October 2021).

37 Robert Hutchins, ‘Toy Industries of Europe Reveals the Winners of its 2020 Play for Change Awards’, Toy News (30 September 2020), https://www.toynews-online.biz/2020/09/30/toy-industries-of-europe-reveals-the-winners-of-its-2020-play-for-change-awards/ (accessed 19 October 2021).