The effect of different female sex role portrayals on Thai women's advertising preferences and purchase interests

This study replicates the Jaffe and Berger study (1994) finding that American married women prefer "egalitarian" images compared to other female role portrayals. The purpose of this study is to investigate which type of images or portrayals women consumers in Thailand would prefer or be comfortable with, because cultural differences may result in different preferences.

The field experiment design was manipulated in 3x2 factorial design. The two independent variables were female role portrayals in the advertisements (traditional, egalitarian and superwoman), and sex role attitudes of Thai women (traditional and egalitarian). Three dependent variables, representing advertising effectiveness, were Thai women's attitudes toward the advertisements, attitudes toward female role portrayals in the advertisements, and their purchase interest. The test advertisements all featured the same product, a laundry detergent product. Additionally, the women's demographics were also analyzed to give a better understanding of Thai women's attitudes.

The experiment was conducted over a three-week period in May 1997 in Thailand. The questionnaire was administered to 102 Thai women at work places and home. Subjects were selected by convenience sampling. They are divided in three groups. Each group was made up of 34 subjects consisting of two-thirds employed women and one-third unemployed women. Each subject in a group was given the questionnaire and the same advertisement. After examining the advertisement carefully, each answered the questionnaire.

The major finding of this research suggests that there were no significant differences among three different advertisements of "traditional," "superwoman" and "egalitarian" portrayals, in enhancing advertising effectiveness in Thai women consumers.