Chapter 4: Results
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Chapter
1 |
Copyright John Worth; originally published 1997 |
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Summary of
Findings
The
raw sample size was 430 commercials. Of these, 19 were program notes,
movie or video advertisements or CD/music ads which were not coded. After
removal of these commercials, the sample was reduced to 411 commercials.
There were 205 commercials that did not have a woman in a major role, the
minimum criteria to complete the remainder of the coding sheet. This left
206 codable commercials. Frequencies There
were three general and two descriptor variables . First coded was the
presence or absence of an announcer and the sex of the announcer; the rest
of the study was not dependent on these variables, but the sex of the
announcer is important as an indicator of the woman's role as a source of
authority. The second descriptor was whether women were shown using the
product. The three general categories were the presence of people, the
presence of women, and the role (major or minor) of the woman. Announcer – At
least one announcer was present in 88.8% (N= 348) of the commercials,
leaving 11.2% (N= 44) with no announcer. The announcer was male in 70.7%
(N= 246) of the commercials with announcers; less than one third as many
(20.7%, N= 72) had a female announcer. The remaining 8.6% (N= 30) had both
a male and female announcer (Table 2). People – People
appeared in 88.8% (N= 348) of the commercials. Women were present in 72.4%
(N= 252) of the sample. Of those ads containing a female, 81.7% (N= 206)
put her in a major role. It is on these 206 commercials that the following
analyses were run (Table 2). Using the
product – Commercials
showing women using the product accounted for 12.6% (N= 26) of the
commercials (Table 2). Category
1
Location
– Women were shown in the home in 35.9% (N= 74) of the
commercials. This was the only Category 1 location value (Table 2). Activities
– Women
were depicted as shopping for their families in 2.4% (N= 5) of the
commercials (Table 2). Product – Products
for the home were shown in 6.3% (N= 13) of the sample, while those for the
family were in 10.2% (N= 21). Food prepared at home was in 6.8% (N= 14;
Table 3). Category
2
Location – Only
7.8% (N= 16) of the commercials showed women at work (Table 2). Activities – Only
1 (.5%) commercial showed a woman shopping for herself (Table 2). Product – Fast/instant
food or restaurants were in 25.7% (N= 53). Personal use products made up a
further 18.4% (N= 38). Other product categories made up the remaining
32.5% (N= 67). There was no dominant “other” product category noted by
the coders (Table 3). Chi-square Analyses
The
results of the chi-square will be reported according to category and can
be found in Tables 6 to 12 in the appendix. There were ten commercials in
Category 1, 106 in Category 2, and 90 in Category 3. The chi-square
analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between
Categories 1 and 2 (p= .026) and 1 and 3 (p= .0). Significance was also
reached between Category 2 and 3 (p= 0; Table 15). Profile
of Category 1
There
were only ten commercials that fit exclusively in Category 1. This number
was reached after analyzing women at home by all other possible variables.
Unfortunately, there were no significant chi-square relationships between
home and other values. This resulted either from insufficient cell sizes
or a p-value that was over the .10 level of significance Women
at home were most often associated with a male announcer (N= 39; 74% of
all commercials with this value), but a large number of the commercials
had a female announcer (N= 19; 36%); only five (.9%) had both a male and
female announcer (Table 5). Profile
of Category 2
There
were five Category 2 location values and six action variables. In total,
there were 66 commercials exclusively in Category 2. There
were only three significant relationships within this category. There were
58 commercials that had outdoors
as a location and other actions (p= .085; df= 1; Table 6); 14 commercials
with the woman shown outdoors were for personal use products and 27 for
‘other’ products (p= .0; df= 5; Table 6). Women
shown in other locations were associated 14 times with fast/instant food
products, 16 times with personal use products, and 24 with ‘other’
products (p= .071; df= 5; Table 6). The
chi-square analysis revealed that women in Category 2 were most often
associated with male announcers, but, again, female announcers were fairly
common. In the 66 commercials that showed a woman only in this category,
five had no announcer; of the remaining 61, 40 had a male announcer, 17 a
female and four had both (Table 5). Profile
of Category 3
Those
values that are part of both Categories 1 and 2 comprise Category 3. The
analysis revealed that there were 130 commercials in this category. There
were 25 commercials with both home
and another location; 128 commercials had both Category 1 and 2 action
variables. There were no Category 3 product variables. Chi-square analysis
was run on variables within and across location and action. The
analysis between Category 1 action and Category 2 locations yielded no
significant differences (Table 7). Women
at home were doing other activities in 42 commercials (p= .0; df= 1; Table
8). Analyzing
Category 1 location by Category 2 location produced two significant
differences. Women were shown outdoors in ten commercials (p= .0; df= 1)
.and in 'other' locations in nine (p= .0; df= 1; Table 9). Using
the product
Women
shown at home were using the product in 17 commercials (p= .002; df= 1).
Two commercials associated the woman using a product for the home, four
with a product for the family and three with a food product for
preparation at home (p= .0; df= 5; Table 11). As
for Category 2 values, six commercials showed a woman using the product
and some 'other' action (p= .0; df= 1). Women were using fast/instant food
products in two commercials, personal use products in 13, and other
products in four (p= .0; df= 5; Table 12). Three-way analyses
A
three way analysis was done between the three main location values (home,
outdoors, and other locations) and using the product and product
categories. This determined the products women used in those locations. In
two instances a woman at home was shown using a product for the home, in
four commercials using a product for the family, in one commercial using
an instant/fast food product, in eight commercials using a personal-use
product, and in two commercials using an 'other' product (p= .009; df= 5;
Table 13). Women
shown in other locations were twice shown using products for the family,
once with food prepared at home, and four times with personal-use products
(p= .115; df= 5; Table 13). Once
a woman shown outdoors was using a product for the family, once a food
product for preparation at home, once a fast/instant food product, four
times a personal-use product, and once an 'other' product (p= .061; df= 5;
Table 13). Intercoder reliability The
reliability of the coders was tested on 50% of the sample (205
commercials). Agreement was 77% (Figure 2). There were only two areas
where coders consistently disagreed. Whether women played a major or minor
role in the commercial, a major question in the coding scheme, was one
area of contention; if this variable was coded as minor, then the
remaining variables would not be coded for that commercial, greatly
skewing the reliability. The second area was product category,
specifically whether products such as shampoo or soap were for the woman
or for the family. In cases where the coders disagreed, the researcher was
the tie-breaker. Analysis
This
section will demystify the numerical analysis and try to extrapolate the
meaning behind the numbers. Also discussed will be the comments made by
the coders both on the coding sheets and in their debriefing. Three categories The
first category (Chapter Three), ‘woman as dedicated housewife’ was not
supported. As mentioned, women were shown in the home, but not shown with
their family. A substantial percentage of the commercials showed women
with products for the home or family, just not exclusively within Category
1. A
‘housewife,’ it can be assumed, is not simply in the home, but is
concerned with the house and family. The sample showed that, in location
and, to a certain extent, product categories, women were ‘dedicated
housewives;’ but their actions did not fit the mold. Action, perhaps, is
the most important indicator of the person's role; just because the woman
is in the home does not mean she is a 'good mother/housewife;' without the
supporting action that role cannot be adequately fulfilled. The
second category, ‘woman as independent,’ was not supported; less than
25% of the sample could be defined as belonging to this category. Though
woman were portrayed ‘outdoors’ in a large number of commercials and
were often acting according to the parameters of this category, the data
suggests that images of independence did not stand alone. More
closely aligned with the image presented was the third category. ‘Woman
in dual roles’ was supported. Specifically, ‘woman as housewife and
independent’ was dominant. Other dual roles – ‘housewife and
professional’ and ‘housewife and worker’ – were not at all
evident. This was true within location, with women shown both at home and
other locations, and between location and action (in some commercials
women were shown eating alone at home and some commercials also showed
women playing sports). However, the dominant value for both location and
action varialbes was the ‘other’ category; this represents a problem
with the coding sheet in not adequately anticipating the possibilities in
those areas. The
products shown in the commercials yielded perhaps the most interesting
results. While products for the home and family (including food for
preparation at home) made up almost a quarter of the commercials, products
for the woman's use alone made up almost a fifth. Most interesting,
however, was that food products for consumption outside of the home made
up a quarter. These products can be seen as products of independence from
the home, products that free the woman from the various burdens associated
with preparing food. When combined, though, with actions and locations
from Category 1, the message is defined as belonging to Category 3. The
majority of announcers, it was found, were male, even in commercials where
a woman played a major role. This is important because it is the announcer
that provides what Bretl and Cantor (1988) called “the voice of
authority” in the commercial. Even if the woman is the only character in
the commercial and is shown superior to men (as the coders noted sometimes
occurs), the presence of the male announcer places her in a subordinate
position. Women
shown at home were more likely to be shown using a product for the home
than a product for the family (Table 12). In fact, in the three major
locations in general women were shown with food products for preparation
at home. This can be attributed in part to the products in Category 1.
Products for the home, for example, could be an appliance, such as a rice
cooker, which is easy to show someone using; however, the product could
also be (and, the coders noted, often was) a toilet or bath tub (a product
for the family). It is unlikely, and certainly not prudent, that a
commercial will show someone using the toilet, though bathtubs were often
shown in use. Also, products for the family included insurance and savings
programs; usage of these products is not easy to represent. Often the
advertisement would show the woman enjoying the benefits of the insurance or savings plan; but this is not using
in the traditional sense. On
those occasions where a woman was shown at work, the coders noted that she
was never an executive type, but either an office lady or worker in a
restaurant or store. This is in line with the position women currently
hold in Japanese society. Beasley (1995) found that, while women make up
38.6% of the work force, 30% of those working are part-time laborers.
Further comment on the position women have in society was provided by
Reischauer (1988), who said that “the wife may be the dominant member of
the family, but women still have an overwhelmingly subservient position in
the broader society.” Women
were shown outdoors almost as frequently as they were shown in the home,
with only ten commercials showing women in both settings. Since
commercials primarily showed women in these settings (remember, 'other'
locations also made up a sizable percentage of the sample), it seems
advertisers are intent on showing women anywhere but at work. Because the
woman is not at work, she is free to enjoy a lifestyle of freedom and
choice. This
hearkens back to Iwao (1993), who noted that 'women as bound to the home'
was largely an upper-class ideal that, while sought by the rest of
society, was not actively or uniformly adhered to. Perhaps, then,
advertisers are reflecting that society has become less fashioned after
the samurai (upper-class) precedent of the silent, obedient wife and moved
towards an expectation of women to maintain the home and yet at the same
time enjoy a life outside the home. What
White (1992) called the 'career professional' has not appeared in Japanese
advertising. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Women were never shown
as career professionals, but home-makers and individuals free to choose
their own life. Importantly, the life ‘chosen’ by the women in the
commercials was by and large not a career or work of any nature, but often
leisure activities or association with other women. This
is supported further by the actions with which women are associated. Very
few commercials showed the women shopping (either for their selves or the
families), and only five showed the woman caring for the family. More
commercials showed the woman eating alone than eating with the family.
Women were, it seems, almost exclusively using the product or doing some
“other” action which, as mentioned earlier, was often acting as a
spokesperson for the product or company. This
puts the woman, again, in a role that is not quite traditional – as in
‘tied’ to the home – but also not exactly non-traditional. On the
one hand, women were shown at home a large percentage of the time.
However, women were not doing 'home' activities. It can be assumed, if the
images in the advertising are representative of society as a whole, that
women in Japan have created their own definition of what a
“contemporary” woman should be. The
products also show that women in Japan are not associated with home life.
Fast food, instant food, and restaurants accounted for a quarter of the
sample. These products exist to ease the burden of preparing the food at
home, where, as we have seen, women are not shown. Products for the home,
family or preparation at home, moreover, far exceeded the actions
associated with them. For example, while these three product categories
combined accounted for nearly one fourth of the commercials, their action
equivalents (eating with the family, caring for the family, shopping for
the family) were in less than eight percent. Remember,
too, that women shown in the home were not dominantly associated with a
particular product category; rather, if the woman is shown in the home,
she was shown with the gamut. Does this indicate that advertisers are
leery of showing one dominant role? Or, perhaps more likely, they are
choosing to display the contemporary woman as encompassing all products
within what White loosely called ‘the woman’s domain.’ The home is,
it seems, becoming more than ever a universal location, not one of toil
and labor. Technology, of course, has created the means of freeing the
woman from the home; in America this helped lead to the gradually
increasing pressure on equality for women in the labor force. Japan,
though, is showing the woman free from the chores of the home, but still
in the home. Conclusion
The
most important finding, perhaps, is not the presence of certain
relationships but, rather, the absence of others. Perhaps it could have
been expected that women would be shown in the home or as enjoying their
‘free’ life. However, the total lack of a significant presence of
women in work situations was unexpected, especially considering White's
(1992) analysis. |
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