Gender Role Portrayals in Indian Television and YouTube Video Advertisements

Abstract

Two content analysis studies on gender role portrayals are reported in this paper. In the first, 987 television ads broadcast on top-ten all-India channels from 2016 to 2019 were analyzed. In the second, 397 most watched YouTube video ads in the same period were analyzed. Chi-square test results of these studies indicated that eight out of nine variables, i.e., all except credibility, showed either stereotyping or partial stereotyping in case of television ads; and six out of nine variables, i.e., all except age, arguments, and credibility, showed either stereotyping or partial stereotyping in case of YouTube video ads. The fact that television ads have greater gender role stereotyping than YouTube video ads is discussed, and implications are drawn for the benefit of advertisers in India.