Commercials effect on children

• Commercials present gender stereotypes through overt factors, such as activities and language, as well as through more subtle features, such as voiceovers and production features. Many media messages tend to reinforce gender roles

• Those who spend more time “living in the world of television are more likely to see the ‘real world’ in terms of images, values, portrayals, and ideologies that emerge through the lens of television. That is, heavy television viewers are more likely to express opinions and hold values similar to those represented on television than light television viewers are. 17% of children in the United States watch more then 5 hours of television a day, they become more susceptible to adapting to television world view, particularly as it relates to the social construction of gender and gender roles.

• Girls and boys are often portrayed in stereotyped roles in commercials. Activities portrayed in commercials often signify traditional gender roles. For example, girls engage in shopping, whereas boys did not, and that only boys preformed antisocial behaviors, such as stealing or fighting.

• Research indicates a relationship between exposure to these gendered images and children's perceptions about gender roles. Research on children's programs and advertising indicates that children perceive gender role stereotypes and apply gendered attributes to characters. Research suggests that children are aware of the gendered portrayals in commercials and thus have learned the gender "appropriateness" of toys through modeled behavior, which may affect their toy preferences and the nature of their play. The repeated exposure to these images contributes to the development of children's conceptions of gender and their expected roles as men and women.

• Researchers exposed adults to gender-stereotyped and reverse gender-stereotyped commercials and then coded the achievement and homemaking themes in essays participants wrote about their expected life 10 years in the future. The researchers found that themes of achievement significantly increased among women who viewed the reverse role depiction. Women who viewed the stereotypical depictions expressed significantly fewer achievement themes in their essays than did men who had been exposed to the same condition. This study showed a societal and mass media priming effect of acceptable gender behaviors through future ambitions. Research with children suggests that nontraditional images can change their perceptions of gender roles as well.