Student Athletes’ Perception of Female Models in Sports Advertisements

Nor Jijidiana Azmi,Bahtiar Mohamad,Zulkarnian Ahmad,Radzuwan Rashid,Mairas Abd Rahman

doi:10.5539/ass.v13n10p120

Abstract

Women in advertisements are no longer portrayed as having traditional roles. Instead, they are portrayed as dominant and powerful. This new marketing strategy is hoped to be more persuasive in reaching the target audience, especially the female buyers, thus increasing the sales in the market. This qualitative research aims to explore student-athletes’ views on the portrayal of female models in sports advertisements. A focus group interview involving three female student-athletes was conducted. A total of 20 advertisements, which portray female models, from five leading sports brands were used as stimuli for the focus group. The findings reveal that the participants have different perceptions towards the body image and athletic values of the advertisements, despite having the same background as a student athlete. Sexual appeal, the portrayal of healthy and positive body image, and strong athletic ability are among the functions of the female models in the advertisements, as perceived by the participants.

Highlights

Female models and spokespersons are common in many types of advertising
This paper explores the perception of female university student athletes on the portrayal of female models in sports advertising
In regards to the portrayal of athletic ability in sports advertisements, the participants are able to match some of the advertisements with the athletic ability of the female models portrayed

Summary

Introduction

Female models and spokespersons are common in many types of advertising. In the early years, advertisements portrayed women as a housewife and a mother (Courtney & Lockeretz, 1971). Researchers mention that women were portrayed in traditional and decorative roles, which suggests that their capability was less highlighted (Sexton & Haberman, 1974; Lysonski, 1983; Skorek & Schreier, 2009). Skorek and Schreier (2009) outline the different types of gender roles in the light of working, non working, functional and dominance. They suggest that there are standardized female and male traits to be portrayed in advertisements and if the actors do not adhere to the respective gender traits, he or she has breached the gender codes and roles

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