AN EVALUATION OF PORTRAYAL OF FEMALE GENDER IN SELECTED TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT IN NTA ILORIN

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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).

AN EVALUATION OF PORTRAYAL OF FEMALE GENDER IN SELECTED TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT IN NTA ILORIN