Exposing stereotypes: A content analysis of Swedish television advertisements

Sammanfattning: Stereotypes in television advertising have long been a topic of interest to researchers. Existing studies have shown that both gender stereotypes and age stereotypes are still present in advertising despite changing gender and age roles in society. This thesis aims to investigate the extent to which gender and age stereotypes exist in Swedish television advertising. The thesis takes inspiration from a study by Kay & Furnham (2013) that analyzed age and sex stereotypes in British television advertising. A content analysis was conducted using a coding scheme inspired by Kay & Furnham (2013). The original coding scheme was developed by McArthur & Resko (1975). Advertisements were viewed and analyzed by one of the authors and three other coders. In total, advertisements were coded between 18:00-23:00 Monday-Sunday between March 27 until April 9. Indications of some gender and age stereotypes were found after analyzing the data. However, they were fewer in comparison with previous research. Older people in general were found to be underrepresented, especially older women. The results are discussed and compared to previous research. Implications and suggestions for future research is given as well.