Primary Sources:
Asztalos, Joanne. “Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Television Commercials and the Effects on Consumer Purchasing Behavior.” West Virginia University, 2003. https://search.proquest.com/abicomplete/docview/305278381/abstract/27A17A6C51134CC3PQ/5.
This study was produced by Joanne Asztalos as a graduate thesis for a master’s program at West Virginia University. It investigates the degree to which gender stereotypes are shown in children’s television commercials and its effect on consumer behavior. The study recorded gender roles, traits, products, and scripts of commercials directed towards girls, boys, and neutral audiences. It then developed focus groups to correlate the gender stereotypes in these commercials with child consumer behaviors. Results of this study found that children’s television commercials feature many gender stereotypes, and that significantly more male actors are shown with neutral products than female. While boys in the study had no interest in products marketed towards girls, girls showed an interest in masculine-marketed toys. My project will use this study as evidence towards how gendered marketing is being consumed by children, and the effect that this has on their perception of which toys are meant for them. Child consumer behavior found in this study will be contrasted with adult consumer purchasing behaviors for themselves and their children.
Idle, Tracey, Eileen Wood, and Serge Desmarais. “Gender role socialization in toy play situations: Mothers and fathers with their sons and daughters.” Sex Roles 28. 11-12 (1993): 679-691.
This study, conducted by three Psychology professors at Wilfrid Laurier University, examined the interactions between and within 20 families with children. They found that when parents were separated from their child, they preferred traditional roles: masculine toys for boys and feminine for girls. However, when in play with their child, parents did not follow this pattern and children eagerly played with all toys. My work will use this source to demonstrate one reason for the gendered marketing of toys: companies are catering to consumer behavior (parents). When parents go shopping for their child (often done without the child present) they will gravitate towards traditionally gendered products. This acts as evidence to explain the spike of gendered marketing in the 1990’s. As the study was conducted almost 30 years ago, it would be very interesting to repeat the study in today’s climate and compare results.
Secondary Sources:
Fine, Cordelia, and Emma Rush. ““Why does all the girls have to buy pink stuff?” The ethics and science of the gendered toy marketing debate.” Journal of Business Ethics 149.4 (2018): 769-784.
This literature review, published in the Journal of Business Ethics, examines the ethical and scientific assumptions of the gendered toy marketing debate by critically analyzing three points of contention: the influence of gendered toy marketing on toy preferences, whether these effects are universally negative or positive, and the economic feasibility of gender-neutral marketing. The review determines that gendered toy marketing misrepresents toy interests of both genders as fixed and separate entities, that it increases stereotypical toy preferences, and that it reinforces gender stereotypes that then inform stereotype-driven interests, self-concepts, biases towards others. Finally, they conclude that gender-neutral marketing would open traditionally gendered toys to a broader market, and thus increase profits. This review is very useful to my project, as it cites many primary sources in order to determine these conclusions that we can draw upon in later analysis. The broad overview of research within this work culminates in a thesis that can be used as an initial hypothesis driving our own research. Finally, we will use this work to demonstrate the negative effects of gendered toy marketing to the professionals in the field that we will be in contact with.
Sweet, Elizabeth. “Toys are more divided by gender now than they were 50 years ago.” The Atlantic 9 (2014): 2014.
The author, Elizabeth Sweet, is a postdoctoral scholar and sociologist at the University of California. Her article describes the history of gendered toy marketing and its ties to gender discrimination, asking the question: in a time when gender discrimination is supposedly at its lowest, why do we see the most gender micro-categorization in toys? This work surveys toy advertisements by decade to track the rise and fall of gendered marketing, citing toy advertisements throughout the years. My project will use this source to create a timeline of gendered toy marketing throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in order to develop theories to explain this rise and fall.
Tertiary Sources: These sources will be identified later in the research process.
Pledged: MCM