Content-Type: text/html
Running Head : Minorities in Minority Magazine
Hispanic and Asian Presence and Portrayal in
Minority Magazine Advertising
From 1960s to 1980s
By
Hwi-Man Chung
Ph.D Student
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
address: 700 Bolinwood Dr. APT # 12-B
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
email : [log in to unmask]
phone : 919-969-1507
Paper Submitted to Minorities and Comunication Division of the Annual Convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication: August 5 - 8, 2001, Washington, DC.
Abstract
This study first attempted to see how other minorities appeared and were
portrayed in minority magazine ads, with an emphasis on black-oriented magazines.
Previous historical observations and empirical studies about minorities in mass
media have found that minorities in ads were less represented and were usually
portrayed as less skilled than white models. This study also confirms the results of
previous studies. From the 1960s to the 1980s, the frequency of black models in black-
oriented magazine ads outnumbered the frequency of white models in main stream
magazine ads. However, the blacks were still portrayed stereotypically in terms of
occupations. That is, black models are most likely to be portrayed as 'entertainment'
or 'sports/athletic' figures in the ads. Furthermore, African Americans are usually
targeted for alcohol and cigarette products. Almost half of the ads were alcohol and
cigarette products and black models are most often used in those ads.
In terms of other minorities, Hispanics and Asians, both ethnic groups were
less represented in black-oriented magazine ads. They were most often used in
military recruiting ads and they were never portrayed as consumers in the ads.
Instead, they were most often portrayed as below-skilled personnel in the ads, and
usually depicted in service positions. Furthermore, both Hispanics and Asians in
military recruiting ads were never portrayed as having special skills such as
piloting. Even though the government tried to include minorities in its ads, their
occupations are highly skewed to certain types of categories such as mechanic,
driver, or maintenance worker.
Minorities in Minority Magazine
Hispanic and Asian Presence and Portrayal in
Minority Magazine Advertising
From 1960s to 1980s
For most of its life as a nation, America has been called a "melting pot." But
the emphasis has been on the "melt" itself, not who's in the "pot." Generally, mass media
have been considered important windows for representing the "melting pot." In
particular, advertising as a subset of mass media has also been considered as a tool for
representing some important aspects of society's culture. Therefore, mass media has also
been seen as one of the important windows showing the "American melting pot."
Media critics have long argued that mainstream media coverage of minorities
such as blacks, Hispanics, and Asians is biased.[1]1 They have argued that not only is the
amount of attention given to minorities insufficient, but also the coverage that contains
minorities often misrepresents minorities and fosters stereotypes.[2]2 This common
complaint is different across media. For example, in terms of newspapers, critics
complain that the coverage of minorities is too often linked to crime and violence instead
of their productive roles in society.[3]3 In terms of advertising, critics complain that the
presence of minorities is relatively low and that their image in ads is also stereotyped.
Some quantitative studies about presence and portrayal of minorities in ads support that
claim. However, in the early 1960s, civil rights groups began to urge advertisers to
include more minority models in their commercials. And, to some extent, advertisers
were responsive to these appeals and began to present a more balanced view of American
society by including black models in their ads. Subsequently, there have been numerous
studies that have examined black presentation in the mass media.[4]4 Many scholars have
also tried to examined the presence and portrayal of Hispanic in mass media.[5]5
The present study also seeks to examine minorities in magazine advertising.
However, the present study uses a different approach from those of previous studies. The
present study focuses on minorities in only minority magazine advertising. Since there is
no single study about minorities in minority magazine advertising, this study first tries to
understand how other minorities are presented and depicted in minority magazine
advertising. Since many African-Americans have little direct face-to-face contact with
Asians and Hispanics, the mass media's, in particular the black-oriented mass media's,
depiction of other minorities is likely to influence African-Americans' attitudes heavily.
Furthermore, since the presence and portrayal have continuously increased in both
quantity and quality after the Civil Rights Movement, it will be useful to understand how
Asians and Hispanics were presented and depicted in black-oriented magazines since the
Civil Rights Movement. The basic assumption for this study is that the frequency of
black presence in black-oriented magazines will be different from that of other media but
the portrayal of blacks will not be different from that of other media and that the
frequency of other minorities presence in black-oriented magazines will not be different
from that of other media.
Brief History of Minorities in Ads
Frequency of Minority Exposure
With respect to frequency, it appears that African-American representation in
ads increased through the 1960s, but then tended to remain at a constant or slightly
increased level through the 1970s. Early investigations of magazine advertising found
relatively few ads that contained African-American models. For example, Shuey et
al.[6]6 found that less than 1 percent of magazine ads contained African-Americans.
Stempel[7]7 found that the percentage of ads containing African-American models increased
from 0.6 percent in 1960 to 2.7 percent in 1970. A content analysis by Cox also revealed
that the percentage of African-American models had increased from the early 1950s to
the mid-1960s.[8]8 Kassarjian[9]9 conducted a similar study and found that African-
Americans were present in less than one-third of 1 percent of the total magazine pages
printed in 1946. He also found that African-American representation decreased in the
1950s but then increased again in 1960s.[10]10 The net effect of this U-shaped relationship
was that the frequency of black models found in 1965 was not significantly different from
the frequency in 1946. A re-analysis of Kassarjian's data by Wheatley indicated that
advertisers were less discriminatory than initially reported.[11]11
Among the studies of the 1970s, Bush, Resnik, and Stern[12]12 found that the
percentage of black ads had not increased significantly beyond the 2.14 percent that Cox
had reported for the 1968-69 period. When investigating Life magazine's coverage of
African-Americans, Sentman found that there was an increase in the visibility of African-
Americans when moving from 1967 to 1972; but even in this latter period, the highest
level of coverage remained at less than 3 percent.[13]13 In a study of a more recent period,
Reid and Vanden Bergh found that between 1968 and 1977 less than 1 percent of
introductory magazine ads contained African-American models in their ads.[14]14 Also, there
was no clear trend (either increasing or decreasing) in the use of African-American
models for introductory ads. One investigation by Humphrey and Schuman[15]15 found that
the proportion of black ads had risen to 9.7 percent by 1982, but this study analyzed Time
and Newsweek, two publications which consistently have been found to contain
significantly more black models than other publications.[16]16
Others who also studied the presence and portrayal of minorities in other media
had almost similar results. Dominick and Greenberg[17]17 examined television commercials
to find the increase in frequency of black models in television commercials. They found
that black representation increased from 4.5 percent in 1967 to 11.0 percent in 1969. In a
replication of the Dominick and Greenberg study, Bush, Solomon, and Hair[18]18 found that
there was an increase in the use of black models in television commercials between 1967
and 1974, with black representation varying from 12.9 percent to 14.8 percent.
The Roles of African-Americans in Ads
With respect to kind of occupational roles, actually the kind of representation of
black models in ads, Cox found that magazine advertisements in the 1960s "evidenced
dramatic reduction in portraying black people in the performance of low status
occupational roles."[19]19 In a replication of the Shuey et al. study, Cox attempted to
determine whether the occupational status of blacks in magazine ads had changed
between 1949 and 1967.[20]20 He concluded that there was a significant shift in the
occupations portrayed by blacks in magazine advertisements. However, only partial
support for Cox's findings is provided in a study by Colfax and Sternberg.[21]21 They
criticized Cox's conclusion and, upon re-analyzing Cox's data, concluded that the status
of black portrayals only appeared to increase due to "record club promotion of recording
stars - a disproportionate number of whom are blacks,"[22]22 and they argued that although
the number of blacks appearing in ads had increased, the manner in which blacks were
depicted tended to confirm and perpetuate racial stereotypes. Humphrey and Schuman
also found that while the occupational levels of black models portrayed in ads has risen,
black models tend to remain underrepresented in advertising.[23]23 In a more recent study,
Zinkhan, Cox and Hong[24]24 content-analyzed 256 issues of Life, Time, Ladies' Home
Journal and The New Yorker. They also found similar results - that there were significant
improvements in the occupational status portrayed by black models in advertisements.
The Presence and Portrayal of Hispanics
Comparing to studies about the presence and portrayals of African-American
models in mass media and advertisements, the history of studies about presence and
portrayals of Hispanic models in mass media and advertisements is relatively short and
the number of studies about Hispanics in mass media is also relatively few.[25]25 In the
1960s, as the civil rights movement urged the advertisers and mass media producers to
give fairer and more comprehensive coverage of African-American, so did the less
strident, but emerging, movement from Hispanic-American groups start during the same
period.[26]26 For example, in the late 1960s when the Frito-Lay company used the Frito
Bandito as the centerpiece of its advertising campaign, the Mexican government as well
as Hispanic-American groups complained heavily about this advertising campaign,[27]27
because this character -- Frito Bandito -- was depicted in ad as a "greasy bandit," an
image that was depicted in many western movies.[28]28 The character the in ad campaign,
Frito Bandito, was portrayed as follows;
"Bandito had a Spanish accent, a long handlebar mustache, a huge
sombrero, a white suit tightly covering a pot belly and he used a pair
of six-shooters to steal corn chips from unsuspecting victims......"[29]29
Because of severe complaints about this stereotypical portrayal of a Hispanic character
from Hispanic civil organizations and the Mexican-American Anti-Defamation
Committee, and because of the Mexican government's appeal, this advertising campaign
was stopped after being aired in short period through television or radio. In the 1970s,
similar characters were used by Granny Goose, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.,
Frigidaire, and Arrid in their advertising campaigns.[30]30
As seen above, Hispanics appeared in mass media content as negative
characters. And a couple of studies reviewed above have confirmed this negative
portrayal of Hispanics in mass media content. Ironically, however, the studies about the
presence and portrayal of Hispanics in mass media and advertising were caused by the
advertisers' own needs to reach the growing Hispanic markets. Since 1970s, advertisers
and marketers were beginning to realize that the Hispanic community represents a viable
and rapidly expanding market.[31]31 Because of the rapidly growing Hispanic community,
they needed information on the nature of the Hispanic market place that did not concern
them before, and they wanted to know the way to design ads targeting the Hispanic
consumers. These needs from advertisers and marketers caused many studies about
presence and portrayal of Hispanics in mass media and advertising since the early 1980s.
In 1983, Czepiec and Kelly[32]32 studied the Hispanic roles in advertising by
content-analyzing three types of magazines -- pretest media that contains Spanish-
language (e.g., Selecciones del Reader's Digest, Cosmopolitan en Espanol, and
Buenhogar), general media defined as the English-language counterparts of those
Spanish magazines (Reader's Digest, Good Housekeeping, and Cosmopolitan), and
general media that consist of general interest magazines (Esquire, Gentlemen's
Quarterly, Harper's, Hot Rod, Ms., and Vogue). They found that the Hispanic magazines
did not portray the Hispanic model as average. They portrayed male models as average
to thin, white-collar class, but they portrayed female models as mainly overweight
housewife types.[33]33 On the contrary, in general media, which were defined as English-
language counterparts of Spanish magazine, it was found that Hispanic females were
portrayed as much younger and thinner than those in the Hispanic magazines.[34]34
Wilkes and Valencia compared the presence and portrayal of black models and
Hispanic models in prime-time television commercials on each major network (ABC,
CBS, and NBC).[35]35 They found that the presence of black models in commercials
continued to increase and were increasingly likely to be racially integrated. Also, blacks
were portrayed more in large groups, mainly in minor or background roles. On the
contrary, Hispanics appeared in only 6 percent of total commercials, primarily in
background roles.[36]36
Research Questions
As I mentioned earlier, since no single study has yet looked at the minorities in
other minority-oriented mass media in terms of portrayal, it is worthwhile to study how
other minorities are presented and depicted in other minority magazine advertisements.
Since the presence and portrayal have continuously increased in both quantity and quality
after the Civil Rights Movement, it will be useful to understand how other minorities are
treated and depicted in other minority publications. Furthermore, since the purpose of
black-oriented magazines was to promote interracial understanding and emphasize the
positive aspects of race relations, it will be more useful to compare those increases after
the Civil Rights Movement with those of black-oriented magazines.
Therefore, the present study will attempt to explore minority issues in
advertising from the perspective of black-oriented magazines to better understand: (1) the
frequency of Hispanics and Asians in black-oriented magazines from 1960s to 1980s; (2)
the major roles of Hispanics and Asians in advertisements published in black-oriented
magazines during those time periods through focusing on some historical observations by
content analysis of each magazine advertisement. Also, this study will attempt to see
whether there is any difference in use of black models in major mass media and black-
oriented magazine.
Method
Black-oriented Magazines
Negro Digest was started in 1942 by John H. Johnson.[37]37 Johnson thought that
there were needs for a periodical to summarize and condense articles and comments
about blacks found in many daily, weekly, or monthly mainstream publications.[38]38 The
Negro Digest allowed blacks and whites a forum for their observations about public
affairs issues.[39]39 Since 1942, the Negro Digest remained very powerful among blacks and
retained wide popularity among blacks. After success of the Negro Digest, Johnson
started to publish another black-oriented magazine, Ebony, beginning in 1945.[40]40
Imitating Life magazine in format and style, the politically active Ebony published
editorials and encouraged black participation in the political process, while it promoted
interracial understanding and emphasized the positive aspects of race relations.[41]41
Actually, Ebony magazine was the first black-oriented magazine to have
enough advertising income to shift financial reliance from subscription rates to
advertising.[42]42 However, no study has explored the minority issues in advertising from the
perspective of a minority magazine, this black-oriented magazine. Since civil rights
groups began to urge advertisers to include more minority models in their advertisements
and commercials after the 1960s, it is reasonable to explore the minority issues in
advertising since 1960s.
This study deals exclusively with black-oriented magazine, Ebony, which was
one of the pioneer black magazines and the most popular among African-Americans for
a long time. There are two reasons that I chose Ebony from among other black-oriented
magazines. First, since Ebony was the magazine that promoted interracial understanding
and emphasized the positive aspects of race relation, I expected that Ebony would
practice what it pursued and carry more racially integrated advertisements. Second,
Ebony magazine was the first black-oriented magazine to get sufficient advertising
dollars to shift financial reliance from subscription rates to advertising. Therefore, the
findings from Ebony magazine will have more general implications than other magazines
that carry only small number of advertisements.
Time Periods
As discussed above, the 1960s was an important period to minorities, especially
African-Americans, because of powerful Civil Rights Movements during this period.
Those civil rights movements had also influenced the contents of mass media.[43]43
According to many studies, the presence and frequency of minorities, especially black
models, in advertisements have increased conspicuously since the 1960s. The frequency
increased continuously throughout the 1970s and the 1980s. Therefore, it is reasonable to
compare those time periods in terms of a different medium. This study will cover all
issues of Ebony magazine from 1960 to 1989.
Advertisements and Data Collection
To avoid conflict in deciding the race of models in advertisements, this study
content-analyzed only full-page color advertisements in the magazine. Each ad was
coded by two different coders into several coding categories including race, gender,
role in ads etc. Before the data collection, coders were trained first for sharing various
definitions between the coders related to the research variables (e.g., race, gender, and
role of model in the ads) and the a practice coding 20 advertisements. After the training
and practice, the two coders worked independently and analyzed half of the
advertisements. After completing the coding work, they exchanged their work, and
coded the advertisements that were done by the other coder. When discrepancies
occurred, each coder reconsidered the decisions made about the ad and consulted with the
author. If the procedure did not resolve the discrepancies, the author made a final
decision.[44]44
Findings
Frequency of Ad
As seen in Table 1, the frequency of color ads in Ebony magazine increased
throughout the study period. The increase has been conspicuous since the 1980s. Before
the 80s, the frequency of color ads was almost same in the 60s and the 70s, however, in
the 80s the total number of color ads doubled (Table 1). Actually, it was expected that
the frequency of color ads would increase as time passed because the printing technology
was continuously developing and the needs for color ads among advertisers were also
increasing.
Table 1. The frequency of color ads in 1960s, 70s, and 80s
Period
Frequency
%
1960 - 1969
642
27.8
1970 - 1079
640
27.8
1980 - 1989
1023
44.4
Product types advertised in Ebony
The most frequently advertised product type is "alcohol-related" product such as
beer, whiskey, wine, vodka, with whiskey having the largest portion in "alcohol-
related" product. And, the second most frequently advertised product is "cigarette,"
followed by "automobile," "hair-related product," and "food and beverage" (Table 2).
Table 2. Product types advertised in Ebony magazine
Product Type
60s
%
70s
%
80s
%
Total (%)
alcohol
229
35.7
189
29.5
258
25.2
29.3
cigarette
57
8.9
107
16.7
177
17.3
14.8
car
70
10.9
53
8.3
130
12.7
10.9
hair-related
17
2.6
15
2.3
186
18.2
9.5
food/beverage
84
13.1
45
7.0
54
5.3
7.9
government (army recruiting)
1
0.2
32
5.0
36
3.5
3.0
travel/tourism
21
3.3
52
8.1
90
8.8
7.1
service products
10
1.6
14
2.2
34
3.3
2.5
* Total percentage will not sum to 100% since all products are not included in the table.
As seen in table 2, the total percentage of alcohol and cigarette ads is over 40 percent.
These results parallel other studies' findings about frequently advertised products to
African-Americans.[45]45 Actually, there were many advertisements regarding hair-related
products, but in the 60s and the 70s those were almost black and white advertisements
and usually appeared as less than half-page ads. That is the reason that the percentage for
'hair-related' products is low in the 60s and the 70s. Also, as evident from Table 2,
certain product categories targeting African-Americans were decreasing throughout the
60s to the 80s and others targeting African-Americans were increasing in terms of
numbers during those periods studied in this study. The most significant decrease in
percentage is found in 'alcohol-related' products. Thirty-five percent of the ads appearing
in the 1960s were those of 'alcohol-related' products targeting African-Americans. In the
1970s, that percentage decreased to 29 percent of ads, and in the 1980s that number
decreased again to 25 percent of ads. On the contrary, the government advertising,
primarily for military recruits, increased considerably throughout the time period. Army
recruiting advertising started in the late 60s and increased continuously during the 70s
and the 80s. During the 70s, almost all branches of the armed services (Army, Navy, Air
Force, Marines, etc) advertised for African-American recruits. We can infer that this is
because of the change of the recruiting system. Other major increases in number of ads
can be found in travel/tourism and service ads. In particular, the total ads in
travel/tourism increased conspicuously in the 70s (from 3.3 percent to 8.1 percent). In
the 80s, the percentage of travel/tourism increased only marginally (0.7 percent increase),
however, the total number of ads almost doubled (from 50 to 90). This increase
represents blacks' increasing buying power. Also, this increase shows the shift in reasons
to include blacks in their ads. As we have seen before, marketers and advertisers initially
were forced to include minorities in their ads because of the Civil Rights Movement in
the 1960s; from the early 1970s, however, marketers and advertisers became aware of the
buying power of blacks and they voluntarily included black models in their ads because
of blacks increasing buying power. Travel can be only increased as people's income
increase. In this sense, the increase in travel/tourism ads can also show that blacks'
income is increasing.
Frequency of Whites and Blacks in the ads
Previous studies have shown that the percentage of blacks in the ads has
increased continuously since the mid-1960s. During the 1960s, the percentage of black
models in ads was below two percent, and this percentage has increased up to sixteen
percent in the 1980s in main mass media such as television and national magazine (see
Table 3). Table 3 shows the summary of previous studies findings about the percentage
of blacks in the ads.
Table 3. The results of previous studies
Medium
Year
# of Blacks
# of Ads
% of Blacks
Study
By
Magazine
1965
305
47,015
0.65
Kassarjian
Magazine
1967
268
12,342
2.17
Cox
Magazine
1969
335
6,365
5.30
Cox
Magazine
1970
246
11,224
2.19
Cox
Television
1973
288
1,944
14.8
Bush et al.
Magazine
1978
72
3,383
2.13
Bush et al.
Magazine
1980
364
3,808
9.60
Humphrey & Schuman
Magazine
1982
314
3,575
8.80
Humphrey & Schuman
Magazine
1984
267
6,602
4.04
Zinkhan et al.
Magazine
1986
125
2,863
4.37
Zinkhan et al.
Television
1986
223
1,393
16.01
Dominick Greenberg
* Table is adopted from Zinkhan et al.'s study.
As we see from Table 3, the percentage of blacks in the ads differs across media.
Television ads contain more black models than magazine ads, however, the rate of
increase is much higher in magazine ads than in television ads.
The current study assumes that the percentage of black models in the ads of
black-oriented magazines will be higher than that of other main stream magazines. Table
4 shows the percentage of blacks and whites in black-oriented magazine ads.
Table 4. The percentage of Whites and Blacks in Ebony
Year
# of Whites
% of Whites
# of Blacks
% of Blacks
# of total ads
1960s
150
23.4
204
31.8
642
1970s
66
10.3
203
31.7
640
1980s
80
7.8
600
58.7
1023
Total
296
12.8
1007
43.7
2305
* Total percentage will not sum to 100% because of no-person ads.
* # of whites, blacks means the number of ads containing white model and black model.
Table 4 shows that the percentage of blacks in the ads almost doubled during the 1980s.
And the percentage of whites in ads is more than halved during the 1980s. These
increases and decreases seem to be closely related to the change of advertised products in
Ebony magazine. As we saw in Table 2, during the 1980s the number of advertised
products that are related to the increase of income increased tremendously. And this
increase reflects the increase of buying power of blacks in the market. As a consequence,
it seems natural and useful for advertisers to use more black models in their ads. On the
other hand, the increase of black models in the ads also means the decrease of white
models in the ads.
Frequency of other minorities in Ebony magazine ads
The total number of other minorities in Ebony magazine ads also increased from
the 60s to the 80s, however, the portion of other minorities in total ads is tiny compared
with whites and blacks. Despite the fact that the percentage of other minorities in the ads
is increasing over time, the percentage of Hispanic and Asian ads observed in Ebony
magazine still falls far short of the actual portion of Hispanics and Asians in the
population (11 percent and 4 percent). Table 5 shows the frequency and percentage of
other minorities in Ebony magazine.
Table 5. The frequency and percentage of other minorities
1960s
1970s
1980s
white model
150
66
80
Frequency
black model
204
203
600
Hispanic
1
14
40
Asian
3
10
12
% of white
23.4 %
10.3 %
7.8 %
percentage
% of black
31.8 %
31.7 %
58.7 %
% of Hispanic
0.2 %
2.2 %
3.9 %
% of Asian
0.5 %
1.6 %
1.2 %
Table 5 shows that the total number of Hispanic and Asian models in ads has increased
throughout the years, however, the increase of Asian models in ads is so tiny and
marginal. Also, the increase in Hispanic models in the ads is skewed to the specific
products. For example, the increase of Hispanic models is conspicuous in the army
recruiting ads during the 70s and the 80s. That is, Hispanic and Asian models are more
likely to be included in the government ads, so the increase of government ads during the
70s and the 80s is the main reason for the increase of Hispanic and Asian models in the
ads. It was found from previous studies that government ads are more likely to be
racially integrated.[46]46 The government ads in Ebony magazine increased from 1 in the
60s to 36 in the 80s, and almost half of them were racially integrated ads.
The percentage of product types according to race
Table 6 shows the product types according to race of models in the ads. Whites
were most often used in 'car' advertisements, followed by 'alcohol,' 'government (army
recruiting ads),' 'service,' and 'home appliance.' Black models were most often used in
'alcohol' and 'cigarette' ads - over 42 percent , followed by 'hair-related products,'
'government (army recruiting),' and 'car.' From these results, it is obvious that 'alcohol'
and 'cigarette' advertisers seem to target African-Americans for their products. One more
thing is that black models did not appear in 'car' ads until the late 70s. Car manufacturers
did not consider African-Americans as their target audience because of their lower socio-
economic status and lower buying power than that of whites. The meaning of this result
is also parallel to the meaning of increase in travel/tourism ads in Ebony magazine. That
is, this increase can represent blacks' increasing buying power.
As we discussed earlier, Hispanics and Asians are most often used in
'government' ads (52.7 percent for Hispanics and 24 percent for Asians). This result
also means that the government used racially integrated ads more often than any other
advertisers. Hispanics and Asians appeared in army recruiting ads with other models
such as whites and blacks. However, those ads usually used many people in their ads
(usually more than four), and it is impossible to decide which model was used as main
role for the ad. One interesting finding for Asians is that they appear most often in
travel/tourism ads. As the number of travel/tourism ads increased in the 80s, Asians were
often used as servicemen (waiter/waitress, entertainers for travelers etc). That is the
reason that Asians appeared most often in travel/tourism ads.
Table 6. percentage of product types according to race
Race
Product
Types
Car
Alcohol
Government (Army)
Service
Home Appliance
Whites
85
58
36
19
18
28.7 %
19.6 %
12.2 %
6.4 %
6.1 %
Alcohol
Cigarette
Hair-related
Government
(Army)
Car
Blacks
218
209
195
66
53
21.6 %
20.8 %
19.4 %
6.6 %
5.3 %
Government
(Army)
Service
Car
Home Appliance
Alcohol
Hispanic
29
5
5
3
2
52.7 %
9.1 %
9.1 %
5.5 %
3.6 %
Travel/
Tourism
Government
(Army)
Service
Asian
9
6
3
36 %
24 %
12 %
Occupations of Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in ads
Table 7-1. Occupational Distributions
Occupational Category
Whites
Blacks
Above Skilled
60s
70s
80s
60s
70s
80s
Professional, business
45.4
33.7
39.4
22.6
23.1
30.7
Entertainment
10.5
4.8
6.1
12.8
14.8
19.6
Sports & Athletic
3.3
3.6
2.0
9.2
12.2
19.9
Consumer role in travel/leisure
9.6
13.3
5.0
3.2
3.8
5.9
Total
68.9
55.4
52.5
47.8
53.8
76.1
Below skilled
60s
70s
80s
60s
70s
80s
Service (maid, cook, servant, waiter, laborer)
5.7
10.8
7.1
11.5
5.5
2.0
Cowboy, farmer
2.4
7.2
4.0
4.9
3.3
0.5
Soldier
1.4
7.2
16.2
0.8
10.6
13.8
other (housewife, no occupations)
21.5
19.3
20.2
35.0
26.7
7.6
Total
31.1
44.6
47.5
52.2
46.2
23.9
The occupational distributions are shown in Table 7-1 and 7-2 for all three time
periods, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. As seen in Table 7-1, there has been improvement for
blacks over time as the percentage of blacks in the above-skilled labor category increased
from 53.5 to 76.1. However, the main reason for the increase in the above-skilled labor
category is due to the increase in the 'entertainment' category and 'sports/athletic'
category - from 12.8 to 19.6 and from 9.2 to 19.9, respectively.[47]47 In the above-skilled
labor category, whites are most likely to be depicted in the 'professional/business'
category. In terms of the 'professional/business' category, the percentage of blacks in
this category did not change during the 60s and the 70s, and increased slightly during the
80s. Also, black models' roles in travel/tourism advertisements have increased over time.
In the below-skilled labor category, blacks (13.8 percent) and whites (16.2
percent) are most likely to be portrayed as soldiers. This is because of the increase of
government (soldier recruiting) advertisements over time, and because government ads
are more likely to be racially integrated. That is, almost all government ads contain
whites and blacks in their recruiting ads, and furthermore they contained other minorities
such as Hispanics and Asians in their ads. One interesting finding in the below-skilled
labor category is that the percentage of "service" category (maid, cook, servant, waiter,
laborer) in whites is larger than that in black models. Actually, this finding is against
those of previous studies. Usually, it was found that the percentage of 'service' category
is larger in black models than white models. One possible explanation for this finding is
that because the labor category in black models is so skewed to 'entertainer' and
'sport/athletic,' the relative percentage of 'service' is smaller than that of white models.
Table 7-2. Occupational Distributions
Occupational Category
Hispanic
Asian
Above-Skilled
60s
70s
80s
60s
70s
80s
Professional, business
20.9
8.3
Entertainment
2.3
50.0
33.3
Sports & Athletic
Consumer role in travel/leisure
Below-skilled
60s
70s
80s
60s
70s
80s
Service (maid, cook, servant, waiter, laborer)
16.7
16.3
50.0
50.0
28.6
Cowboy, farmer
Soldier
83.3
46.5
42.9
other (housewife, no occupations)
14.0
8.3
35.7
Table 7-2 also shows the labor category of Hispanic and Asian models in the
ads. As seen in the table, Hispanic and Asian models are most likely to be portrayed as
below-skilled laborers because of the large increase in the 'soldier' category. This is also
because Hispanics and Asians are more likely to be included in government ads than
other types of ads.
Role of Race in the ads
Previous studies have found that black models are more likely to be used as
background in the ads. However, those finding were from main stream magazines, not
from black-oriented magazines. As expected, in Ebony magazine blacks are most likely
to be used in major roles in the ads. However, Hispanics and Asians in the ads from
Ebony magazine are more likely to be used in a background role. In government ads
(soldier recruiting ads), all of four races (whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians) had equal
role in the ads if the ads were racially integrated. However, Hispanics and Asians were
not portrayed as pilots (Air Force ads) or officers (Army ads). Instead, they just appeared
equally in the racially integrated ads.
Summary of Findings
From the 1960s to the 1980s, black models in black-oriented magazine ads
followed the same trends that were found in other studies that used mainstream magazine
ads. Even though the frequency of black models in black-oriented magazine ads
outnumbered the frequency of white models in other magazine ads, the blacks are still
portrayed stereotypically in terms of occupations. That is, compared with those of white
models in the ads, black models are most likely to be portrayed as 'entertainers' or
'sports/athletic' figures in the ads. Those frequencies and percentages of 'entertainer'
and 'sports/athletic' figures in the ads increased continuously over time, totaling up to
forty percent of the total ads in black-oriented magazine ads. And also, advertisers
looked hesitant to use black models in ads for high-price products such as automobiles.
Even though the number of black models in automobile ads increased during the 1980s, it
was not until the late 70s that black models were used in automobile ads, and still held
minor roles or background roles in automobile ads. Furthermore, African-Americans are
usually targeted for alcohol and cigarette products. Almost half of the ads (43 percent)
displayed alcohol and cigarette products and black models are most often used in those
ads.
In terms of other minorities, Hispanics and Asians, both ethnic groups were less
represented in black-oriented magazine ads. They were most often used in soldier
recruiting ads, and they were never portrayed as consumers in the ads. Instead, they
were most often portrayed as below-skilled personnel in the ads, and usually depicted as
servicemen. Furthermore, both Hispanics and Asians in soldier recruiting ads were
never portrayed as the ones who have very special skills, such as pilots. Even though the
government tried to include minorities in its ads, their occupations are highly skewed to a
certain type of categories such as mechanic, driver, or maintenance.
Conclusion
This study first attempted to see how other minorities appeared and were
portrayed in minority magazine ads, especially in black-oriented magazines. Previous
historical observations and empirical studies about minorities in mass media have found
that minorities in ads were less represented and were usually portrayed as less skilled
than white models. This study also confirms the previous studies' results. However,
two issues arose through historical observations of black-oriented magazine ads.
The first issue is about the advertised product types. As we see from Table 2,
almost half of the ads were for alcohol or cigarette products (if we consider black
and white ads it will be more than that). This was also found in a previous study.[48]48
However, it is unclear whether the reason for the high frequency of alcohol and
cigarette products targeting African-Americans is because African-Americans consume
those products more than other ethnic groups because of their needs for such products, or
because advertisers for those products targeted African-Americans intentionally more
often. To find this, a study should be done including slavery time periods and should
analyze the trends of advertising of those products.
The second issue is about government advertising. Actually, the government is
found to be more likely to use racially integrated advertisements than a private company.
In this study, the percentage of racially integrated ads is higher in government ads than
any other type of ads. However, in this study, almost all of the government ads were for
recruiting soldiers, and they have never contained specially skilled Hispanic and Asian
models such as pilots or officers in its ads. It is unclear that this finding represents a real
phenomena related to the Army, Air Force, Navy, or Marines. If it does not represent
real phenomena (the percentage of Hispanic and Asian pilots or officers will obviously be
lower than other ethnic groups), it can be argued that government ads are also biased and
depict minorities less skilled than whites and blacks.
[1] 1 J. VanSlyke Turk, J. Richstad, R. Bryson, Jr., and S. M. Johnson, "Hispanic Americans in the News in Two Southwestern Cities," Journalism Quarterly, 66: 107-113 (1989).
[2]
2 C. A. Ericksen, "Hispanic Americans and the Press," Journal of Intergroup Relations, 9(1):3-16 (1981); M. L. Stein, "Racial Stereotyping and the Media," Editor & Publisher, 127:12 (1994).
[3]
3 J. VanSlyke Turk et al.
[4] 4 See, Keith K. Cox, "Social Effects of Integrated Advertising," Journal of Advertising Research 10 (April 1970): 41-44; Joseph R. Dominick and Bradley S. Greenberg, "Three Seasons of Blacks on Television," Journal of Advertising Research 26 (Fall 1986): 160-73; Robert E. Wilkes and Humberto Valencia, "Hispanics and Blacks in Television Commercials," Journal of Advertising 18 (Spring 1989): 19-25; Harold H. Kassarjian, "The Negro and American Advertising, 1946-1965," Journal of Marketing Research 6 (February 1969): 29-39; George M. Zinkhan, William J. Qualls, and A. Biswas, "The Use of Blacks in Magazine and Television Advertising 1946 to 1986," Journalism Quarterly 65 (Autumn 1988): 547-53; and Jane W. Licata and Abhihit Biswas, "Representation, Roles, and Occupational Status of Black Models in Television Advertisements," Journalism Quarterly 70 (Winter 1993): 868-82.
[5]
5 See, Robert E. Wilkes and Humberto Valencia, "Hispanics and Blacks in Television Commercials," Journal of Advertising 18 (Spring 1989): 19-25; Federico A. Subervi-Velez, Charles Ramirez Berg, Patricia Constantakis-Valdes, Chon Noriega, Dion Rios, and Kenton T. Wilkinson, "Mass Communication and Hispanics," in Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States: Sociology, ed. Felix Padlilla (Houston, TX: Arte Publico Press, 1994), 304-57.
[6] 6 Audrey M. Shuey, Nancy King, and Barbara Griffith, "Stereotyping of Negroes and Whites: An Analysis of Magazine Pictures," Public Opinion Quarterly, 17:281-87 (1953).
[7]
7 Guido H. Stempel III, "Visibility of Blacks in News and News-Picture Magazines," Journalism Quarterly, 48:337-39 (Summer 1971).
[8]
8 Keith K. Cox, "Changes in Stereotyping of Negroes and Whites in Magazine Advertisements," Public Opinion Quarterly, 33:603-6 (1969-70).
[9]
9 Harold H. Kassarjian, "The Negro and American Advertising, 1946-1965," Journal of Marketing Research 6:29-39 (February 1969).
[10] 10 Of course, the reason for increase of black representation in ads might be explained by the Civil Rights Movement during 1960s.
[11]
11 John J. Wheatley, "The Use of Blacks in Advertising," Journal of Marketing Research, 8:390-393 (August 1971).
[12]
12 Ronald F. Bush, Alan J. Resnik and Bruce L. Stern, "A Content Analysis of the Portrayal of Black Models in Magazine Advertising," in Richard Bagozzi, et al., eds., Marketing in the 80's: Changes and Challenges (Chicago: American Marketing Association Conference Proceedings, 1980), pp. 484-487.
[13]
13 Mary Alice Sentman, "Black and White: Disparity in Coverage by Life Magazine from 1937 to 1972," Journalism Quarterly, 60:501-8 (Autumn 1983).
[14]
14 Leonard N. Reid and Bruce G. Vanden Bergh, "Blacks in Introductory Ads," Journalism Quarterly, 57:485-87 (Autumn 1980).
[15]
15 Ronald Humphrey and Howard Schuman, "The Portrayal of Blacks in Magazine Advertisements: 1950-1982," Public Opinion Quarterly, 48:551-63 (1984).
[16] 16 Kassarjian, "The Negro and American Advertising," and Keith K. Cox, "Social Effects of Integrated Advertising," Journal of Advertising Research, 10:41-44 (April 1970).
[17]
17 Joseph Dominick and Bradley Greenberg, "Three Seasons of Blacks on Television," Journal of Advertising Research, 10:21-27 (April 1970).
[18]
18 Ronald Bush, Paul Solomon, and Joseph Hair, "There Are More Blacks in TV Commercials," Journal of Advertising, 17: 21-25 (1977).
[19]
19 Keith K. Cox, "Changes in Stereotyping of Negroes and Whites."
[20]
20 Keith K. Cox, "Changes in Stereotyping of Negroes and Whites."
[21] 21 J. David Colfax and Susan Frankel Sternberg, "The Perpetuation of Racial Stereotypes: Blacks in Mass Circulation Magazine Advertisements," Public Opinion Quarterly, 36:8-18 (Spring 1972).
[22]
22 Colfax and Sternberg, "The Perpetuation of Racial Stereotypes."
[23]
23 Humphrey and Schuman, "The Perpetuation of Racial Stereotypes."
[24]
24 George M. Zinkhan, Keith K. Cox, and Jae W. Hong, "Changes in Stereotypes: Blacks and Whites in Magazine Advertisements," Journalism Quarterly, 63:568-72 (Autumn 1986).
[25]
25 The study about Hispanics in mass media starts from early 70s, however, most of studies covered Hispanic and Blacks together. Therefore, the number of studies focusing on only Hispanic in mass media is relatively few. See for examples, Robert E. Wilkes and Humberto Valencia, "Hispanics and Blacks in Television Commercials," Journal of Advertising 18 (Spring 1989): 19-25; Robert E. Wilkes and Humberto Valencia, "Hispanics and Blacks in Television Commercials," Journal of Advertising 18 (Spring 1989):19-25.
[26]
26 See Bradley S. Greenberg and Pilar Baptista-Fernandez, "Hispanic-Americans: The New Minority on Television," in B. S. Greenberg (Ed.), Life on Television: Content Analysis of U.S. TV Drama (pp. 3-12). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
[27]
27 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, "Window Dressing on the Set: Women and Minorities on Television," Washington, D.C., August 1977, Recited from Bradley S. Greenberg and Pilar Baptista-Fernandez, "Hispanic-Americans: The New Minority on Television," in B. S. Greenberg (Ed.), Life on Television: Content Analysis of U.S. TV Drama (pp. 3-12). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
[28]
28 Actually, this kind of western movie was called "Spagetti Western" or "Macaroni Western."
[29]
29 Bradley S. Greenberg and Pilar Baptista-Fernandez, "Hispanic-Americans: The New Minority on Television," in B. S. Greenberg (Ed.), Life on Television: Content Analysis of U.S. TV Drama (pp. 3-12). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
[30] 30 Ibid.
[31]
31 For example, according to 1978 U.S. Census data, over 20 million people of Hispanic origin live in the United States (actually, current population of Hispanic origin in the United State is 12% of total U.S. population). See also, Ann Helming, "Hispanic Marketing: Savvy, Sensitivity, Pay Off In Confusing Market," Advertising Age, Feb. 14, 1983, pp. 54.
[32]
32 Helena Czepiec and J. Steven Kelly, "Analyzing Hispanic Roles in Advertising: A Portrait of an Emerging Subculture," Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 1983, pp. 219-240, James H. Leigh and Claude R. Martin, Jr., eds., Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.
[33] 33 Helena Czepiec and J. Steven Kelly, "Analyzing Hispanic Roles in Advertising."
[34]
34 Helena Czepiec and J. Steven Kelly, "Analyzing Hispanic Roles in Advertising."
[35]
35 Robert E. Wilkes and Humberto Valencia, "Hispanics and Blacks in Television Commercials," Journal of Advertising, 18 (1): 19-25 (1989).
[36]
36 Wilkes and Valencia, "Hispanics and Blacks in Television Commercials."
[37] 37 Jean Folkerts and Dwight L. Teeter, Jr., Voices of A Nation: A History of Mass Media in the United States, 3rd edition, A Viacom Company: Needham Heights, Massachusetts (1998).
[38]
38 See Jannette L. Dates and William Barlow, Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1990.
[39]
39 Jannette L. Dates and William Barlow, Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media.
[40]
40 Jannette L. Dates and William Barlow, Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media.
[41]
41 Jannette L. Dates and William Barlow, Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media.
[42]
42 Folkerts and Teeter, Jr., Voices of A Nation: A History of Mass Media in the United States.
[43] 43 Jannette L. Dates and William Barlow, Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media
[44] 44 For intercoder reliability, Holsti's reliability (Wimmer & Dominick, 1997) calculation for nominal data was used. Because this study focused on the differences among races, and because this study used all nominal variables, Holsti's reliability of nominal data was appropriate to this study. The coder reliability of each coding category ranged from .82 to .99 (i.e., .99 for gender, 92 for race, .82 for role of model in the adsd).
[45] 45 For example, in Kassarjian's study, it was found that African-Americans are most often used in "liquor/wine/beer" advertisements than for any other products.
[46] 46 Dominick and Greenberg, "Three Seasons of Blacks on Television."; Wilkes and Valencia, "Hispanics and Blacks in Television Commercials.".
[47] 47 Colfax and Sternberg, "The Perpetuation of Racial Stereotypes."
Colfax and Sternberg reported that black models are almost three times more likely than white models to be portrayed as entertainer and sports figure. As seen in table 7-1, the percentages of 'entertainer' and 'sport' category in blacks are almost three times larger than those of white models.
[48] 48 Kassarjian, "The Negro and American Advertising."