TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgement
iv
Table of Contents v
List of Tables
vi
Abstract
vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1
1.1 Background of the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the problem
5
1.3 Objectives of the Study
6
1.4 Research Questions
6
1.5 Significance of the Study
7
1.6 Scope of the Study
8
1.7 Definition of Terms
8
CHAPTER TWO:
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW 10
2.1 Theoretical Framework
10
2.1.1 Social Construction of Reality
10
2.1.2 Social Learning Theory
13
2.2 Conceptual Review
16
2.2.1 Advertising
16 2.2.2 Television Advertising.
22
2.2.3 History of Television Advertising.
23
2.2.4 Portrayal of Female Gender in Advertising.
25
2.2.5 Evaluation
29
2.2.6 APCON and Advertisement regulation in Nigeria 30
2.2.7 Advertising Media
31
2.2.8 Brief History
of NTA
34
2.3 Empirical Review
34
CHAPTER THREE: METHOD
OF THE STUDY 38
3.1 Research Method
38
3.2 Population of the Study
38
3.3 Sample size and Sampling Technique
39
3.4 Research Instrument 40
3.5 Validity of the Research Instrument
40
3.6 Reliability of the Research Instrument 41
3.7 Method of administration of the instrument 42
3.8 Method of data analysis
42
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 43
4.1 Field
Performance of Research Questions
43
4.2 Analysis of
Data on Research Questions
43
4.3 Discussion of Finding
52
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Limitation
55
5.2 Summary
55
5.3 Conclusion
56
5.3 Recommendation
57
5.3.1 Recommendations to various Stakeholders 57
5.4.2 Recommendation to Future Research
58
References
59
List of Tables
Table 1, 2 and 3 answers research question one.
43
Table 3 Women are stereotyped in television advert 44
Table 4 answers the research question two
44
Table 5 answers the third research question 45
Table 6. 7 and 8 answers the fourth research question 50
ABSTRACT
This research focuses on the portrayal of female gender in
television advertising in Nigeria with respect to NTA Ilorin. The study tends
to stop the indecent portrayal of women in television advertisement is what
promoted this research. The research examines some advertisements in NTA Ilorin
so as to carefully deduce the true portrayal of women in television
advertisements. Ten advertisements were studied using content analysis method
and survey method was used to find out the perception of Ilorin west local
government Area of Kwara state. The study used social construction of reality
theory and social learning theory. It was discovered that women are portrayed
in television advertisement as domestic wokers and weak being.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the study
Advertisements are generally characterized by their
persuasive nature. Television advertising is characterized by the ability of
the medium to transmit content to a mass audience simultaneously (Barker and
Angelo 2006:12). These characteristics of television advertising have been the
subject of concern, criticism, and continuous study (Jones 1999: 165). Bignell
(2004:210) explains that it is the perception that television has connections
to the real world of culture and society in which it exists that makes it
critical in research. Bignell (2004) also states that television is fascinating
to study because it seeks to provide the audience with elements, issues and
events that they are currently experiencing.
Bolland (2005:11) defines advertising as the “paid placement
of organizational messages”. Cook (1992:5) states that, “advertising can tell
us a great deal about our own society and our own psychology”. Cook (1992) like
many other researchers in this field (Branston and Stafford 1999, Kim and Lowry
2005) acknowledge that advertisements can serve as a gauge of social norms,
values, as well as the interests of society.
Bovee and Arens (1992) define advertising as ‘a non-personal
communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature,
about products, service or ideas by an identified sponsor’.
Research has shown that television advertising often uses
stereotypes gender specific roles of men and women thereby reinforcing existing
clichés, (Kim and Lowry 2005). Olabisi (2002) asserts that in the world of
television advertisements, women are more negatively stereotyped thus
undermining the struggle for gender equality. She added that men and women are
aware of the cultural prevalence of traditional gender stereotypes (mostly in
women) and television contributes to this awareness. Bardwick and Schumann
(1976) analyzed the portrayal of women in television commercials and concluded
that to an amazing extent women are preoccupied with dirt, and the television
woman in commercials is shown as housebound. (p. 18).
This shows that people watching televisions are bombarded
with images and slogans through advertisements. In a 2000 Nielsen Media
Research and Radio Advertising Bureau survey it was found that on average, U.S.
households watch more than seven hours of television per day (Albarran, 2000).
People memorize slogans and absorb images without
questioning them. More importantly people do it without thinking. This is what
Gerbner, Gross, Morgan and Signorieli (1980) called the cultivation effect. The
effect of all this exposure to the same messages produces what has been called
cultivation, or teaching of a common worldview, common roles and common values.
(Gerbner, Gross, Morgan & Signorieli, 1980, p.10).
According to Gerbner, one of the most common findings from
media and cultivation studies is that increased television viewing is
associated with more stereotypical views, especially of gender (Allan &
Scott, 2006). Gerbner, Gross, Morgan and Signorieli (1980) argued that for
heavy viewers, television virtually monopolizes and subsumes other sources of
information, ideas and consciousness. Furthermore, the heavy viewers perceive
the world as what is shown on television (Gerbner, et al., 1980).