Gender portrayal of Korean and Hong Kong children’s television commercials

This study examined gender portrayal in a sample of 345 television commercials broadcast in children’s programs in Korea and Hong Kong using content analysis. Cultural differences between Korea and Hong Kong suggest hypotheses about the gender portrayal in advertising. Literature suggests that Korean culture differs from Hong Kong culture on the dimension of Masculinity/Femininity proposed by Hofstede. So comparing Korea and Hong Kong children’s commercials provides a valid test of theory. Results of the study showed significant differences between the two countries in terms of product profile, presence of central characters, voice-over, setting and reward type. However, contrary to what is expected from the Hofstede’s framework, it was found that gender portrayal of central characters from Hong Kong was similar to that of Korea. Possible explanations include the emerging homogeneous youth market using a standardized advertising strategy, and the rising concern of women rights in Korea.