Marketing to Women Survey: TV Commercials Favor Thin, Young, White Women but Blacks & Asians are Represented at Higher Level Than Their Proportion in Population
The typical woman appearing in a prime-time TV commercial is White Non-Hispanic, thin, and in her 20s, according to a study of network and cable channels by the monthly newsletter Marketing to Women. The exclusive research appears in the January 2006 issue.
New York (PRWEB) January 6, 2006
The typical woman appearing in a prime-time TV commercial is White Non-Hispanic, thin, and in her 20s, according to a study of network and cable channels by the monthly newsletter Marketing to Women. The exclusive research appears in the January 2006 issue.
“Women in ads are likely to be portrayed with their husbands and children, or with strangers or other spokespeople,” says Lisa Finn, Editor of Marketing To Women. “And the message of the ad is most likely to be product-focused.”
Among the six channels studied, prime-time ads on women’s cable networks Oxygen (61%) and Lifetime (59%) include the highest proportions of thin women, as well as the highest percentages of full-figured women (13% and 18%, respectively); many of the full-figured women are shown as the “before” images in diet ads. Surprisingly, men’s network Spike (53%) and the Sci-Fi Channel (50%) have the lowest proportions of thin women in their ads.
“The typical woman portrayed in a TV commercial is much slimmer than an average woman in real life,” notes Finn. “The one exception is Black women, who are much more likely than their White, Hispanic, or Asian counterparts in TV ads, to be of either normal or full-figured body types.”
Although the majority (59.7%) of women in prime-time commercials are White, Blacks (21.2%) and Asians (8%) are represented at a higher rate than their actual percentage in the U. S. population (12.3% and 3.6%, respectively). Hispanics (10.5%) are represented at a lower rate than their proportion in the population (12.5%).
Ads on Lifetime (26%) and Oxygen (23%) are most likely to include women age 40 and older, but Spike is most likely to show ads with women over 50 (19%).
“Another interesting trend,” says Finn, “is the use of children as spokespersons addressing ‘mom’ directly; the technique is used for products ranging from children’s healthcare items to toys to food.”
Marketing To Women is a monthly newsletter published by EPM Communications, Inc. EPM also recently published a research study, “On-Demand Advertising & Marketing: The Impact of Digital Delivery On Entertainment, Media & Brands.”
About This Survey
The Marketing to Women Prime-time TV Advertising Study was conducted in December 2005. TV ads airing from 8 p. m. to 10 p. m. on weeknights were analyzed on two broadcast and four cable networks.
To download a sample issue of Marketing To Women, please visit www. epmcom. com/mtw (http://www. epmcom. com/mtw); for a table of contents and executive summary of “On-Demand Advertising & Marketing,” go to www. epmcom. com/ondemand (http://www. epmcom. com/ondemand).
EPM Communications, Inc.
160 Mercer St., 3rd Fl.
New York, NY 10012
212-941-0099
CONTACT: Ira Mayer, Publisher
212-941-1633, ext. 27 or
Lisa Finn, Editor
212-941-1633, ext. 33
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