A Study of Changing Gender Roles in Advertising in...

A Study of Changing Gender Roles in

Advertising in India

Thesis submitted to

Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore

for fulfilment of the award of Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

in Management

October 2014

Supervised by Submitted by

Dr. Anand Sapre Vivek Sapru

Professor and Director

International Institute of Professional Studies

Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya

Indore

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

Dedication

To my father late Shri Anand Kumar Sapru

His subject insight, knowledge, his

words of inspiration and encouragement

in pursuit of excellence, still linger on.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Pursuing Ph.D. tested my endurance and my determination. The

experience though pleasant was arduous too. It was not an easy climb; a

compound of bitter-sweet experiences. The journey included hardship

and frustration coupled with encouragement and trust and help by my kith

and kin. When I found myself at the top enjoying the beautiful scenery, I

realised that it was, in fact team-work that got me through.

Completion of any study depends upon the guidance, co-operation and

efforts of the several factors and various sources of knowledge, energy

and time. Exchange of ideas generates energy and will work to in a better

way whenever it is helped and co-operated by others, and one’s heart is

bound to feel the gratitude and obligations towards them; though it will

not be enough to express my thanks in words to all the ones who helped

me.

Therefore, I approach this important matter of acknowledgement through

these lines trying my best to give full credit where it deserves.

Acknowledgement is not a mere formality but an expression of deep

gratitude. I dedicate this page to all those who have actively or silently

left an indelible mark on my research project endeavour so that they may

be brought into limelight and given their credit which they richly deserve.

My first debt of gratitude must go to my advisor, Dr. Anand Sapre. He

patiently provided the vision, encouragement and advice necessary for me

to go further through the doctorial program and complete my dissertation.

I, hereby thank him for his continuous help, encouragement, invaluable

guidance and personal interest shown at every step of my project work

without which the completion of this project would not have been

possible.

iv

My special thanks to Dr. Rajeev Samuel and Dr. Vishal Soni for their

support. This special thanks is extended to all my colleagues at AGBS

Indore who gave me all their support without which it would had been

very difficult to finish this thesis.

I would also acknowledge the role played by all my respondents; if not

for the altruism and insights of these 750 people who participated in this

there would be no results to share.

I would like to recognise the important role played by online open

sources like youtube.com, tasveerghar.com, pinkvilla.com, kamat.com,

etc. from where I could collect old advertisements which made my data

collection a little easier.

I would also like to extend my thanks to all those researchers whose

works I have citied in my study. I have tried to duly acknowledge all of

them but in case someone has not been acknowledge, I would take this

opportunity here to acknowledge them.

Above all, I would like to express thank my wife Rupashree for her

personal support and great patience at all times. My parents, Smt. Pushpa

Sapru and Late Shri Anand Kumar Sapru, and my sons Aniruddha and

Ankit have given me their unambiguous support throughout, as always,

for which my mere expression of thanks likewise does not suffice. Their

loves provided my inspiration and were my driving force providing me

enough moral support and encouraged me in seeing through this project.

Last but not the least my sincere thanks are also due to all those whom I

am not naming here but who have directly or indirectly facilitated me at

different stages of this project.

Vivek Sapru

v

Chapter Title Page

Declaration by the Candidate i

Certificate ii

Acknowledgement iii

List of Tables ix

List of Charts xiii

List of Figures xvii

List of Advertisements xviii

List of Videos xxi

1. Introduction 1-39

1.1 Thesis Structure 1

1.2 Conceptual Framework 2

1.2.1 Introduction 2

1.2.2 History of Global Advertising 5

1.2.2.1 Pre-Printing Period - Before 15th century 6

1.2.2.2 Early Printing Period - From the

15th century to about 1840 7

1.2.2.3 Period of Expansion - From 1840 to 1900 8

1.2.2.4 Period of Consolidation - From 1900 to

1925 (Introduction of Radio) 9

1.2.2.5 Period of Scientific Development -

From 1925 to 1945 11

1.2.2.6 Period of Business and Social Integration

- From 1945 to the present (Introduction

of Television) 12

1.2.3 The History of Indian Advertising 13

1.2.3.1 Pre-Independence Era (Till 1947) 13

vi

1.2.3.2 Post-Independence Era (Between 1947

and 1991) 18

1.2.3.3 Post-Liberalisation Era (After 1991) 20

1.2.4 An Introduction to Gender Role in Advertising 21

1.2.5 Gender Identity and Gender Stereotype 24

1.2.6 The Indian View on Gender Roles 34

1.2.7 Gender Roles in Advertising with Indian Perspective 36

2. Review of Literature 40-71

2.1 Sex and Gender 41

2.1.1 Sex 41

2.2.2 Gender 41

2.2 The Gender Identity 44

2.3 Gender Personality Traits Dimension 51

2.4 Gender Salience 58

2.5 Gender Roles and Advertising in Marketing 61

2.6 Gender Roles in Indian Advertising in Marketing 66

3. Rationale of the Study 72-76

4. Objectives of the Study and Research Hypotheses 77-87

4.1 Objectives of the Study 77

4.2 Formulation of Research Hypotheses 77

5. Research Methodology and Design 88-106

5.1 The Research Design 88

5.1.1 Questionnaire A - Expert Respondents 90

5.1.2 Questionnaire B - Audience Respondents 91

5.1.3 Content Analysis of Advertisements 92

5.2 The Sampling Plan 95

vii

5.3 The Tools 99

5.3.1 Data Collection 99

5.3.1.1 Secondary Data Collection 99

5.3.1.2 Primary Data Collection 99

5.3.1.3 Collection of Advertisements 100

5.3.2 Data Analysis 100

5.4 Quality Standards 101

5.4.1 Validity 101

5.4.2 Reliability 102

5.4.2.1 Questionnaire A - Expert Respondents 102

5.4.2.2 Questionnaire B - Audience Respondents 104

5.5 Report Writing Stage 105

5.6 Ethical Issues in the Study 106

6. Data Analyses 107-198

6.1 The Expert Respondents 108

6.2 The Audience Respondents 146

6.3 Content Analyses of Advertisements 163

6.3.1 Pre-Independence Era 163

6.3.2 Post-Independence Era (Till 1991) 175

6.3.3 Post-Liberalisation Era (After 1991) 187

7. Results and Findings 199-214

7.1 Objective 1 - Content analyses of Advertisement 199

7.2 Objective 2 - The Expert Respondents 205

7.3 Objective 3 - The Audience Respondents 211

7.4 Objective 4 - The Audience Respondents 213

viii

8. Conclusion and Implications, Limitations of the Study

and Suggestions for Future Research 215-221

8.1 Conclusion and Implications 215

8.1.1 Marketing Implication of Objective Two:

To study the factors responsible for change

in this exemplar shift in the gender traits. 217

8.1.2 Marketing Implication of Objective Three:

To study how the two genders comprehend

these advertisements as marketing messages

targeted towards them. 218

8.1.3 Marketing Implication of Objective Four: To study

the comparative approach between the male and

the female genders react to these advertisements 219

8.1.4 Marketing Implication of Objective One: To study

the shift in the role of genders in advertising in

marketing. 220

8.2 Limitations of the Study 221

8.3 Suggestions for Future Studies 223

References, Bibliography and Webliography 225-253

Annexure 254-248

1. Questionnaire A 254

2. Questionnaire B 256

3. CD containing Video Advertisements

ix

LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Title of the Table Page No.

Chapter One

Table 1.1 Summary of Conventional Stereotypical Male and Female

Traits 29

Chapter Two

Table 2.1 Decade wise Gender Role Portrayal Assessment in

Advertising 71

Chapter Five

Table 5.1 Role portrayals in Advertisements 94

Table 5.2 Socio-Demographic Distribution of the Corporate

(Creator and Sender of the message) 97

Table 5.3 Socio-Demographic Distribution of the Consumers

(Receiver of the message) 98

Table 5.4 Reliability Statistics of Expert-Respondent’s Questionnaire 103

Table 5.5 The Item-Total Statistics (Expert-Questionnaire) 103

Table 5.6 Reliability Statistics of Audience-Respondent’s

Questionnaire 104

Table 5.7 The Item-Total Statistics (Audience-Questionnaire) 105

Chapter Six

Table 6.1 Ranking of attributes-Total Respondents’ Mean and

Ranking 116

Table 6.2 Ranking of attributes-Male-Respondents’ Mean and

Ranking 118

Table 6.3 Ranking of attributes-Female-Respondents’ Mean and

Ranking 119

Table 6.4 Development of Transportation Facilities Hypothesis 120

Table 6.5 Urban Growth Hypothesis 122

Table 6.6 Economic Hardship Hypothesis 124

Table 6.7 Rural Unemployment Hypothesis 125

x


Chapter Six contd.

Table 6.8 Migration for Livelihood by Men to Bigger Cities

Hypothesis 127

Table 6.9 Shift from Joint Family to Nuclear Family Structure

Hypothesis 129

Table 6.10 Women in Employment Hypothesis 130

Table 6.11 Dual Income Family Structure Hypothesis 132

Table 6.12 The shift of Role of Women as Decision Maker in

Purchasing Process Hypothesis 135

Table 6.13 Financial Independence of Women Hypothesis 136

Table 6.14 Single Child Family Hypothesis 138

Table 6.15 Reach of Education Hypothesis 139

Table 6.16 Development of Communication Hypothesis 141

Table 6.17 Reach of Communication Hypothesis 142

Table 6.18 Exposure to Different Cultures Hypothesis 144

Table 6.19 Exposure to Western Cultures Hypothesis 145

Table 6.20 First function of Advertising is to catch the attention

of the Target Audience Hypothesis 147

Table 6.21 Visual in Advertising plays more important role than

Text Hypothesis 149

Table 6.22 Use of Human in Advertisement is to make them

more noticeable Hypothesis 150

Table 6.23 Using Humans makes Advertisements more attractive

Hypothesis 151

Table 6.24 Use of Gender in Advertisements to make Advertisements

more Appealing Hypothesis 152

Table 6.25 Advertisements with Human Models have more

relatedness with Audience Hypothesis 154

xi


Chapter Six contd.

Table 6.26 Use of Humans in Advertisements is based on the Nature

of the Product Hypothesis 155

Table 6.27 Using Humans in Advertisements Gender Portrayal plays

a Significant Role Hypothesis 156

Table 6.28 Use of Gender Roles in Advertising is done Rationally

Hypothesis 157

Table 6.29 Use of Gender is based on the Accepted Roles of

Individual Gender Hypothesis 159

Table 6.30 The Roles of Genders are changing between Males and

Females Hypothesis 160

Table 6.31 The Females are breaking and coming out of their

Conventional Gender Traits and vice-versa Hypothesis 161

Table 6.32 Summary of Content Analyses of Ads of Pre-Independence

Era (Till 1947) 163

Table 6.33 Summary of Content Analyses of Ads of Post-Independence

Era (Till 1991) 175

Table 6.34 Summary of Content Analyses of Ads of Post-Liberalisation

Era (After 1991) 187

Chapter Seven

Table 7.1 Summary of Content Analyses of Pre-Independence Era

Advertisements 200

Table 7.2 Summary of Content Analyses of Post-Independence Era

Advertisements 201

Table 7.3 Summary of Content Analyses of Post-Liberalisation Era

Advertisements 202

Table 7.4 Gender-Gender Roles Matrix (Pre Independence Era) 204

Table 7.5 Gender-Gender Roles Matrix (Post Independence Era

Between 1947 and 1991) 204

Table 7.6 Gender-Gender Roles Matrix (Post Liberalisation Era) 204

xii


Chapter Seven contd.

Table 7.7 Summary of Reliability Analyses (Questionnaire A -

Expert Respondents) 205

Table 7.8 Male-Female Ratio of Expert Respondents 205

Table 7.9 Three Top Factors Responsible for Shift in Gender Traits 207

Table 7.10 Summary of the Result of |z| Test (Expert Respondents) 210

Table 7.11 Summary of the Reliability Statistics (Questionnaire B -

Audience Respondents) 211

Table 7.12 Male-Female Ratio of Audience Respondents 211

Table 7.13 Summary of the Result of |z| Test (Audience Respondents) 212

xiii

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart No. Title of the Chart Page No.

Chapter Six

Chart6.1 All respondents’ response chart to advertising plays an

important role in marketing mix statement 108

Chart 6.2 Male respondents’ response chart to advertising plays

an important role in marketing mix statement 109

Chart 6.3 Female respondents’ response chart to advertising plays

an important role in marketing mix statement 109

Chart 6.4 Male respondents’ response chart to catching the

attention of the target audience is the first task of any

advertisement statement 109

Chart 6.5 Female respondents’ response chart to catching the

attention of the target audience is the first task of any

advertisement statement 109

Chart 6.6 All respondents’ response chart to catching the attention

of the target audience is the first task of any advertisement

statement 110

Chart 6.7 Male Respondents’ response chart to humans are used in

advertisements to make them more noticeable statement 110

Chart 6.8 Female Respondents’ response chart to humans are used in


Chart 6.9 All respondents’ response chart to use of humans in


Chart 6.10 All respondents’ response chart to genders portrayal

plays significant role statement 112

Chart 6.11 Male respondents’ response chart to gender portrayal plays

significant role in advertising statement 112

Chart 6.12 Female respondents’ response chart to gender portrayal plays

significant role in advertising statement 112

xiv


Chapter Six contd.

Chart 6.13 All respondents’ response chart to changes occurring in

the gender roles in India statement 113

Chart 6.14 Male respondents’ response chart to there is changes

occurring in the role of genders in Indian advert statement 114

Chart 6.15 Male respondents’ response chart to there is changes

occurring in the role of genders in Indian advert statement 114

Chart 6.16 All respondents’ response chart to females are breaking

and coming out of their conventional gender traits and

vice-versa statement 115

Chart 6.17 Male respondents’ response chart to females are breaking

and coming out of their conventional gender roles and


Chart 6.18 Female respondents’ response chart to females are breaking

and coming out of their conventional gender roles and


Chart 6.19 Attributes responsible for the shift in gender roles –

Male and Female Mean and Ranking 117

Chart 6.20 Development in Transportation Facility 120

Chart 6.21 Urban Growth 122

Chart 6.22 Economic Hardship 123

Chart 6.23 Rural Unemployment 125

Chart 6.24 Migration for Livelihood by Men to Bigger Cities 126

Chart 6.25 Shift from Joint Family to Nuclear Family Structure 128

Chart 6.26 Women in Employment 130

Chart 6.27 Dual Income Family Structure 132

Chart 6.28 The shift of Role of women to Decision Maker in

Purchasing Process 134

Chart 6.29 Financial Independence of Women 135

Chart 6.30 Single Child Family 137

xv


Chapter Six contd.

Chart 6.31 Reach of Education 139

Chart 6.32 Development in Communication 140

Chart 6.33 Reach of Communication 142

Chart 6.34 Exposure to Different Cultures 143

Chart 6.35 Effect of Western Cultures 145

Chart 6.36 Media Distribution – How the Audience-Respondents

are exposed to Advertisements 146

Chart 6.37 First function of Advertising is to catch the Attention 147

Chart 6.38 Visual in Advertising plays more important role than

Text 148

Chart 6.39 Use of Humans in Advertisement is to make them

attention grabber 149

Chart 6.40 Using Humans makes Advertisements more Attractive 151

Chart 6.41 Use of Gender in Advertisements 152

Chart 6.42 Advertisements with Human Models have more relatedness

with Audience 153

Chart 6.43 Use of Gender in Advertisements is according to the

Product Profile 154

Chart 6.44 In Using Humans Gender Portrayal play Significant Role 156

Chart 6.45 Use of Gender in Advertisements is done Rationally 157

Chart 6.46 Use of gender is based on the Accepted Roles of

Individual Gender 158

Chart 6.47 The Roles of Genders are changing between Males

and Females 159

Chart 6.48 The Females are breaking and coming out of their

conventional Gender Traits and vice-versa 161

Chart 6.49 Using the contemporary gender roles is more effective

than using the conventional gender roles 162

xvi


Chapter Six contd.

Chart 6.50 Male Respondents’ Response Chart for using the

contemporary gender roles is more effective than

using the conventional gender roles in advertising

statement 162

Chart 6.51 Female Respondents’ Response Chart for using the

contemporary gender roles is more effective than

using the conventional gender roles in advertising

statement 162

Chapter Seven

Chart 7.1 Both Gender Responses to the Statement that Gender

Portrayals plays Significant Role in advertising in

Marketing Communication 206

Chart 7.2: Both gender responses to the statement that there are

changes occurring in gender portrayal in Indian

Advertising. 206

Chart 7.3: Both gender responses to the statement that females are

breaking and coming out of their conventional gender

roles and vice-versa 207

Chart 7.4: Both gender responses for the factor ‘the shift of women’s

role from initiator to decision maker in purchasing

processes. 208

Chart 7.5: Both gender responses for the factor ‘the financial independence

of women’s’ 209

Chart 7.6: Both gender responses for the factor ‘Reach of

communication (Effect of films and television programs)’ 209

Chart 7.7: Both gender responses to the statement that advertisement

using the new gender roles traits are more effective than

using the conventional gender role portrayal. 213

Chart 7.8: Male and Female respective responses to the statement that

advertisement using the new gender roles traits are more

effective than using the conventional gender role portrayal. 214

xvii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Title of the Figure Page No.

Chapter One

Figure 1.1 Elements of the Marketing Communication Process 3

Figure 1.2 The intricate frontispiece of the Diamond Sutra from

Tang Dynasty China, 868 AD 6

Figure 1.3 Edo period advertising flyer from 1806 for a traditional

medicine called Kinseitan. 7

Figure 1.4 An 1895 advertisement for a weight gain product 8

Figure 1.5 A print advertisement for the 1913 issue of the

Encyclopaedia Britannica 10

Figure 1.6 Advertisement for a live radio broadcast, sponsored by a

milk company and published in the Los Angeles Times

on May 6, 1930 11

Figure 1.7 One of the earlier TV Advertisement 12

Figure 1.8 One of the first advertisements in India for plague medicine 15

Figure 1.9 One of the first advertisements for Coca-Cola 16

Figure 1.10 Advertisements in Indian newsprints between 1935

and 1945 17

Figure 1.11 Still shot of Surf TV Advertisement 19

Chapter Two

Figure 2.1 A Typology of Gendered Attributions and Responses 61

xviii

LIST OF ADVERTISEMENTS

Advert No. Name of the Advertiser Page No.

Advert 1 Medicine for Plague 165

Advert 2 Vitalising Tonic 166

Advert 3 Alam Ara Movie 166

Advert 4 Tea 167

Advert 5 Brooke Bond Tea 167

Advert 6 Air Force Recruitment 168

Advert 7. Phoenix Sarees 168

Advert 8 Lux Toilet Soap 169

Advert 9` Pears Soap 169

Advert 10 Player’s Cigarette 170

Advert 11 Sri Ambal Snuff 170

Advert 12 Rita Hair Tonic 171

Advert 13 Jabakusum Hair Oil 171

Advert 14 Kesavardhani Hair Dressing 171

Advert 15 Max Factor Lipstick 172

Advert 16 Jantzen Swim Suit 172

Advert 17 The Dalda Advisory Services 173

Advert 18 Boratalc Talcum Powder 173

Advert 19 Tenor Cigarettes 174

Advert 20 Coolie Cut Plug Tobacco 174

Advert 21 Raja Snow 175

Advert 22 Pond’s Cream 175

Advert 23 Kanti Toilet Soap 177

Advert 24 Phoenix Sarees 177

Advert 25 Vaseline Hair Tonic 178

Advert 26 Pears Soap 178

xix



Advert 27 Cinthol Soap 179

Advert 28 VIP Frenchie Briefs for Men 179

Advert 29 Surf Detergent Powder 180

Advert 30 Thums Up 180

Advert 31 Gold Spot 181

Advert 32 Prestige Pressure Cooker 181

Advert 33 Liril Soap 182

Advert 34 LIC of India 182

Advert 35 Savage After Shave Lotion 183

Advert 36 Blue Riband Poster 183

Advert 37 Wheel Powerons 184

Advert 38 Lakme Nail Polish 184

Advert 39 Blue Lagoons Jeans 185

Advert 40 Complan 185

Advert 41 Yankee Doodle Ice-cream Parlour 186

Advert 42 VIP Feelings 186

Advert 43 Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate 187

Advert 44 Wheel Powerons Detergent Powder 187

Advert 45 Fair and Lovely Menz Active 189

Advert 46 Birla Sun Life 189

Advert 47 Hero Honda Pleasure 190

Advert 48 Revital 190

Advert 49 HDFC Life 191

Advert 50 Lacto Calamine 191

Advert 51 Wild Stone Aqua Deodorant 192

xx



Advert 52 TVS Scooty 192

Advert 53 Idea Cellular 193

Advert 54 Whisper Ultra Clean 193

Advert 55 LG Refrigerator 194

Advert 56 Sensodyne Toothpaste 194

Advert 57 Nirma Washing Powder 195

Advert 58 LIC of India 195

Advert 59 Fair and Handsome 196

Advert 60 Apollo Tyres 196

Advert 61 Dettol Healthy Kitchen Gel 197

Advert 62 Stayfree Sanitary Napkins 197

Advert 63 Fair and Lovely 198

Advert 64 Oppo Mobile N1 198

Advert 65 TVS Zest 199

Advert 66 Airtel the Smart Phone Network 199

xxi

LIST OF VIDEOS (Attached CD)

Video No. Title of the Video Duration of the Video

(in seconds)

Video 1 Surf Detergent Powder 50

Video 2 Prestige Pressure Cooker 60

Video 3 Liril Soap 45

Video 4 LIC of India 40

Video 5 Wheel Powerons Detergent Powder 75

Video 6 Lakme Nail Polish 30

Video 7 Complan 40

Video 8 VIP Feelings 35

Video 9 Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate 40

Video 10 Wheel Detergent Powder 40

Video 11 Fair and Lovely Menz Active 60

Video 12 Birla Sun Life Insurance 50

Video 13 Hero Honda Pleasure Two Wheeler 40

Video 14 Revital 35

Video 15 HDFC Life Insurance 45

Video 16 Lacto Calamine Lotion 45

Video 17 Wild Stone Aqua Deodorant 60

Video 18 TVS Scooty 50

Video 19 Idea Cellular 90

Video 20 Whisper Ultra Clean 20

Video 21 LG Refrigerator 40

Video 22 New Sensodyne Toothpaste 30

Video 23 Nirma Detergent Powder 40

Video 24 LIC of India 30

Video 25 Fair and Handsome 35

Video 26 Apollo Tyres 45

xxii

Video No. Title of the Video Duration of the Video

(in seconds)

Video 27 Dettol Healthy Kitchen Gel 30

Video 28 Stayfree Advanced 40

Video 29 Fair and Lovely 60

Video 30 Oppo Mobile N1 120

Video 31 TVS Zest Two Wheeler 45

Video 32 Airtel the Smartphone Network 90

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