Exploring Gender Stereotype Perceptions: An Eye-Tracking Study on Household Product Commercials

Abstract

Gender stereotyping, characterized by oversimplified perceptions of women and men in society, engenders prejudices that significantly impact individuals’ evaluations of different genders. The media, as a potent carrier of cultural and social norms, plays a pivotal role in shaping societal views on gender stereotypes. Advertising is a prevalent form of mass media that widely appears in people’s daily lives. Commercials embed cultural and social concepts when promoting products and establishing brand images. This study measures people’s gender stereotypes while viewing advertisements, specifically focusing on household products traditionally associated with females. Different groups of participants were exposed to advertisements adopting female and male models, respectively, with an eye-tracking device employed to record and quantify gaze distribution, which reflects people’s attention. Results revealed that female and male participants exhibited a greater attention bias toward male models in the advertisements.Additionally, female participants demonstrated heightened sensitivity to male models compared to the male participants in this experiment. This attention bias suggests a noteworthy phenomenon in household product advertisements, where traditionally female-associated tasks are incongruously portrayed with male models, prompting increased viewer attention due to the perceived disparity. This research utilizes a novel eye-tracking approach, providing quantitative and precise insights into gender stereotypes within advertising. The results revealed the enduring presence of gender stereotypes in today’s society. It is crucial to advocate for a more inclusive, fair, and unbiased perspective on gender to promote societal change, and the media plays a significant role in this responsibility.