Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
654
Ki-Youiin Lei' is a doctoral caiutidale in the Mass Mciiia Ph.D. Program, Michigan State
Uiiiversiti/. Siiiig-Mcc }oo is n itoctaral aimiidate in the Department of Communication
Studies, the Uuii'ersitij of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The authors thank Frederick Fico, as
well as tioo anoin/nwiis reviewers, for their helpful comments.
JOURNALISM & MMS COMMUNIC^fU'^ QUAKTLRIY
PnKTKA>AI
01 AfilAN
A.MLRICANS
judgment has been found for Asian Americans. For example. Ho,
Driscoll, and Loosbrock found that Asian American students who performed poorly on a math test were given sub.stantially lower points than
white students when judges lacked motivation to grade seriously.-" In
addition, the pressure to meet the high expectation to excel in mathematical skills is likely to create the potential for "choking" on the part of
performers, thus affecting performance on the task.^'
Advertising is an influential social agent in the development of
our understanding of social reality, and in particular, perceptions of ethnic groups, both by group members and by others. These perceptions
can be reinforced by repeated exposure to prejudicial and stereotypical
portrayals of a targeted group. To the extent that advertising portrayals
of Asian Americans continue to be consistent and limited in certain
areas, they will contribute to the creation and reinforcement of the
stereotype associated with this group. The model minority stereotype is,
thus, likely to place undue pressure on Asian Americans to conform to
it, as well as possibly encouraging unjust treatment when they fail to
meet the stereotype-based expectations. In .sum, although seemingly
positive, model minority stereotyping of Asian Americans may do more
harm than good.
Previous Research on Portrayals of Asian Americans in
Advertising. Studies of how Asian Americans are portrayed in advertising began only in the 1990s,-- with many reporting that Asian American
representation is sparse and often virtually invisible.-^ When Asian
Americans do appear, they are assigned to narrowly defined roles based
on the model minority stereotype.-"' For example, in both television
commercials and magazine ads, Asian Americans have shown a differential presence in terms of the type of products they endorse.
Specifically, Asian Americans have most often been found as endorsers
of high-tech products and banking/financial services, and less often in
ads for domestic products. Similarly, they have appeared more frequently in technology and business magazines than in general interest and
women's magazines.-" Furthermore, they have frequently been portrayed in business setting.s, but rarely in home settings or social gatherings.-'' This disproportionate portrayal of Asian Americans in terms of
setting has been attributed to the "hard work, no fun" or "all work, no
play" stereotype of Asian Americans.-" Based on this presumption,
Taylor and his colleagues defined a set of variables for the content analysis of minority portrayals in magazine ads, and have demonstrated that
Asian Americans are pictured as hardworking, serious, and technologically savvy, confirming the model minority stereotype.^"
Although there has been relatively consistent support for the
model minority stereotype, research on the frequency of Asian American representation has produced somewhat conflicting results within
and across media.-"* For example, Taylor and Lee reported that Asian
Americans accounted for 4% of the magazine ads analyzed from 1992 to
1993, higher than the proportion of Asian Americans at that time in the
U.S. population (3.3%)."' In a sHtdy of television coinrnercials in 1994,
Taylor and Stern found an even higher representation of Asian
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QU.AKTERLY
Research
Questions
and
Hypotheses
RQl: Does the proportion of Asian Americans in magazine ads reflect the actual proportion of Asian Americans in
the U.S. population?
Regarding the prominence of roles, the following research question
was posed:
RQ2: When Asian Americans appear in magazine ads,
what type of role (e.g., primary, secondary, background) are
they most likely to play?
In order for this study to update previous research, the following
hypotheses were formulated, using the framework and variables developed by Taylor and Lee,'- to compare the portrayals of Asian Americans
in magazine ads with those of African Americans and Hispanics, rarely
done in past studies:
HI: Popular technology/business magazines will more
frequently include ads that contain Asian Americans than
nontechnology/nonbusiness magazines (i.e., popular general interest and women's magazines).
H2: Ads for technology-/business-related products/
services will more frequently contain Asian Americans than
ads for nontechnology-/nonbusineRS-related products/servH3: Compared to other minority groups (i.e., African
Americans or Hispanics) when Asian Americans appear in
magazine ads, they are more likely to be portrayed in business settings than other types of settings.
THL PORIRAY.M
Of ASIAN
AMERICANS
57
pling frame was developed for each of four consumer magazine categoriesbusiness, technology, women, and general interest. These four
categories were chosen to represent a wide range of readership and editorial interest areas and to test one of the main hypotheses about the relative frequency of Asian American representation across magazines
with different editorial interest areas.
From those publications ranked within the top 10 in terms of circulation in each category, two were randomly chosen, resulting in a total
of eight magazines: (1) Popular Mechanics and PC World to represent
technology magazines; (2) Fortune and Business Week for business magazines; (3) Time and U.S. News & World Report for the general interest
magazines; and (4) Woman's Day and Ladies' Home journal for the
658
and financial services; (4) Automobiles; (5) Food and beverages; (6)
Household products; (7) Fashion and cosmetics products; (8) Nonprofit organization/PSA; and (9) Other. In order to test H2 (about product type), these categories were collapsed into a dichotomous category
of "Tech/Business products/services" [categories (1) through (3)]
and "Nontech/Nonbusiness products/services" [categories (4) through
(9)].
The settings of the ads were analyzed to assess whether minorities
were featured in certain types of settings more often than others. The categories included: (1) Business setting; (2) Home setting; (3) Social setting
outside home; and (4) Outdoor/natural setting. Any artificial settings
and any other settings not listed in the above categories were coded as
(5) Other.
Role portrayal was coded into four categories: (1) Coworker; (2)
Family member; (3) Social circle; and (4) Impersonal relationship. For
role portrayals, coders were instructed to identify the most salient minority model in the ad and analyze the relationship between the model and
others depicted in the ad. Ad settings were recoded to the dichotomous
"Business setting" or "Nonbusiness setting," and role portrayal was to
the dichotomous "Coworker" or "Noncoworker," for logistic regression
analysis.
Two coders independently coded the same 10% of the sample to
test for inter-coder reliability, with reliabilities of all variables exceeding
the .85 standard recommended by Kassarjian for figures not corrected for
chance agreement." After being corrected for chance agreement, the
agreement figures, as measured by Scott's Pi, of all major variables for
Asian Americanspresence of Asian American models, role prominence, product type, ad setting, and role portrayal^were .92, .80, .87, .81,
and .88, respectively. ^Initial analyses were conducted using the difference in proportions
test and the chi-square test. Since the chi-square test does not reveal
which category pairs account for a statistical significance, the difference
in proportions test was also used. The second round of analyses used
logistic regression techniques to assess the degree to which the model
minority stereotype-based portrayals of Asian Americans were present
compared to other minority groups. Logistic regression techniques are
known to avoid problems associated with nonlinearity of the dichotomous outcome variables and the violation of ordinary least-squares
assumptions.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Asian Americans represent
4.2%, of the U.S. population." Of 1,843 sampled magazine ads, 464
(25.2%.) contained at least one minority model and 153 (8.3%,) contained
Asian Americans. African Americans were found in 322 (17.5%), and 47
included Hispanics (2.6%). The remaining ads contained whites only.
The difference between the two proportions of Asian Americans4.2%,
frotn the U.S. Census and 8.3% from this studyis statistically significant at a = .001 (z = 8.77, /) < .001). Further, the number of ads analyzed
ft>r "Tech/Business" and "Nontech/Nonbusiness" magazine categories
Till PoRrnAYALOi AS
Findings
and
Discussions
659
TABLE 1
Representation of Minorities by Roic Prominence. Magazine Category, Product Type.
Ad Setting, and Role Portrayal
Role Prominence
Primary
Secondary
Background
X'=10,50, d,f,=4, p < .05
Magazine Category
Asian Americans
African Americans
Hispanics
Whites
X^=34.03, d.f.=3, p < .001
Asian Americans
(N=153)
73.2%
20.3
African Americans
(N-322)
72.4%
19.6
6.5
8,1
Tech/Business
Magazines
(N= 1,149)
9.7%
15,7
Nontech/Nonbusiness Magazines
(/V-939)
4.5%
15,1
z-score
3,2
1,1
71,4
79.3
6.40*
-8,33*
Product Type
Tech/Business
Products/Services
(N=l,068)
Asian Americans
10,4%
African Americans
15.9
Hispar\ics
2.4
Whites
71.3
X^=32,8], d,f,=3,;) < .001
Ad Setting
African Americans
(N=322)
40.1%
24,8
20,2
Business
Home
Sociiil
Asian Americans
(,V=153)
62.4%
12.4
12,4
Outdoor
Other
X-=23.72, d,f.=8, p < .001
Role Portrayal
Hispanics
(N=47)
51.]%
38,3
10,6
6,5
6.5
Asian Americans
(N=9^)
Co worker
52,7%
Family member
13.2
Social circle
15.4
Impersonal relation
18.7
X'=6,93, d,f,=6, n,s, at a=.O5
9,14*
,76
z-score
11,07*
1,27
2.1
,91
78,9
-8,02*
7,1
7,8
African Americans
(N=]80)
36.7%
18.3
22.2
22.8
Hispanics
(N=47)
53,2%
23.4
12.8
6.4
4.3
Hispanics
(,V=30)
43.3%
20.0
16,7
20.0
Note: For HI & H2, some ads were counted more than twice since they contained more than two
races. As a result, the Ns are larger than the actual number of ads analyzed,
'p<.001,
were roughly comparable (987 ads vs. 856 ads), excluding the possibility of biased results. In sum, Asian Americans appear to be more frequently represented in magazine ads than their actual proportion In the
United States, thus answering RQl.
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S COMMUKICJION Qu.iRTFRLV
Table 1 summarizes the results regarding RQ2 about the role that
Asian Americans play in magazine ads. According to the data, when
Asian Americans appear in magazine ads, they are more likely to be
featured in a primary role, suggesting that they are not marginalized.
Rather, they appear in the foreground of ads. A conditional distribution of role prominence for Asian Americans is not contingent on magazine category (x^ = .663, d.f.^2, p > .05; Tech/Business vs. Nontech/Nonbusiness magazines). African Americans show a pattern similar to Asian Americans, while Hispanics exhibit an even split between
a primary role and a secondary and background role combined.
Therefore, the significant differences in relative frequencies of role
prominence across ethnic groups appear to originate from the
Hispanics (%- = 10.50, d.f.=4, p < .05).
Magazine Category and Representation of Asian Americans. HI
predicts that technology and business magazine ads will more frequently contain Asian Americans than general interest and women's
magazine ads. The presence of ethnic groups is contingent on magazine category (x' ^ 34.03, d.f.^3, p < .001), as can be seen in Table 1. As
hypothesized, Asian Americans are more likely to be portrayed in technology and business magazine ads than nontechnology and nonbusiness magazine ads {9.7% vs. 4.5%), and the difference in relative frequencies is statistically significant (2 ^ 9.14, p < .001). African Americans and Hispanics are also represented more often in technology and
business magazines, but the difference is significant only for Hispanics. Whites appear more frequently in general interest and women's
magazines than they do in technology and business magazines.
Product Type and Representation of Asian Americans. Support
for HI, however, does not necessarily substantiate the proposition
that magazine ads reflect the model minority stereotype of Asian
Americans because, although Asian Americans appear in technology
and business magazines, it is possible that the actual ads they are in are
for nontechnology and nonbusiness products/services. While this
assumption is rather unlikely in light of previous studies confirming
the model minority stereotyping in ads, the findings may be confounded if this is the case.
Therefore, a more powerful case for the model minority proposition can be made if data support H2, which states a direct relationship
between the type of advertised product and the presence of Asian
American models. Table 1 data show that the difference in relative frequencies for Asian Americans is significant (z ^ 11.07, p < .001). This
indicates that ads for technology and business-related products/services do indeed feature Asian Americans more frequently as endorsers,
compared to ads for nontechnology and nonbusiness-related products/services. A significant chi-square value indicates that the presence of ethnic groups does depend upon the type of product advertised d' = 32.81, d.f.=3, /; < .001).
It is worth noting that for Hispanics, this relationship is not
significant, contrasting with the significant result found for Hispanics
for magazine category in Table 1. Even though Hispanics may more
T'Hf PORTRA>-\I. IT AflAN AMLKICANS
DOI
TABLE 2
Logistic Regression Equations Predicting Effects of Asian Americtins nnd Hispanics
on Magazine Category, Product Type, Ad Setting, ami Role Portrayal
(N - 464 for Model 1, 2, ami 3; N - 220 for Model 4}
Dependant Variables
Model 2:
Mtxlel 3:
Proditct Type
Ad Setting
Model 1:
Magazine Category
Indt'pt'ndent
Variiibics
SE
Odds
SE
.092
.120
Riitio
Odds
Ratio
SE
-.609-'"
.125
Model 4;
Role Portrayal
Odds
Ratio
SE
Odds
Ratio
Intercept
.176
.121
Asian
American
.723"
.216
2.060
.892*'* .216
2.839
.613*
.278
1.846
Hispanic
.934'
.374
2.545
.124
1.132
1.655
.388
.41X)
1.474
Model
Chi-square
18.403"*
.322
18.160-'*
.504
.319
29.604'*'
-.831'*' .186
6.210*
A/oftvb = coefficient, SE = standard error, ' f x .05, *'p< .01, * " ; i < .001.
Independent variables: Asian American: coded 1 if Asian American, 0 othervi'isc; African American: cixied 1 if
African American, 0 othenvLso; Hispanic: ctxied 1 if Hiispanic, 0 otherwise. African Americans were the reference
group.
Dependenl variables: Magazine Category: coded 1 it Tech/Business magazine, 0 otherwise; Pnjduct Type: ctxied
lif Tech/Business product/service, 0 otherwise; Ad Setting: cmled 1 if Business setting, 0 otherwise; Role
Portrayal: axied 1 if Coworker. 0 otherwise.
that Asian Americans are more likely to appear in business settings, but
less likely to appear in other types of settings (e.g., home, social, outdoor
settings), reflecting their "hard work, no fun" stereotype. The data in
Table 1 support this hypothesis. Of ads portraying Asian Americans,
62.4% occur in business settings. Interestingly, both social and home settings, respectively, account for 12.4% of the ads featuring Asian
Americans, a stark contrast to Taylor and Lee's finding of only 4.1% of
ads featuring Asian Americans in each of these settings.^'' This suggests
that the representation of Asian Americans is broadening to include
greater diversify in settings.
Compared to other minority groups, however, the presence of
Asian Americans in social and home settings is still relatively low. The
"hard work, no fun" stereotype attached to Asian Americans may have
led others to believe that this group lacks social skills and is less family-
662
AMFRICAN^
663
Conclusion
Research on cultivation effects suggests the possible impact that
and
stereotypical portrayals of minority groups in the media may have on
Implications people's beliefs and attitudes toward these groups. Once reinforced and
664
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COMMU^JK-ATION
APPENDIX
(Adapted from Taylor and Lee'^'')
Operational Definitions for Variables Analyzed
Role Prominence
(1) Primary Role: A character who is very important to the advertising theme or layout,
shown in the foreground or shown holding the product.
(2) Secondary Role: A character who is of average importance to the advertising theme
or layout. Generally, such characters are not spotlighted in the ad and do not hold the
product, but are not difficult to find in the ad while casually looking at it.
(3) Background Role: A character who is difficult to find in an ad (i.e., not likely to be
noticed by a reader glancing at the ad) and is not important to its theme or layout.
Product Type
(1) Technology-based electronics: computer hardware/software, semiconductors, hitech home electronics such as HDTV, hi-fi stereos, and DVD players
(2) Telecommunications products/services: Internet-based products/services (e.g., ISP,
ISDN, DSL, cable modetn), wireless lechnology-bascd applications and products (e.g.,
mobile phones/services)
(3) Banking and financial services: various financial consulting services including mutual fund and asset management
(4) Automobiles
(5) Food and beverages
(6) Household products: personal hygiene products such as toothpaste, soap and home
cleaning products, detergents
(7) Fashion and cosmetics products
(8) Nonprofit organization/PSA
(9) Other: any other products/services that do not fit into one of the above categories
(e.g, media services, drugs, sporting goods)
Ad Setting
(1) Business setting: factories, sales or office rooms and retail settings
(2) Home setting: a residence, room, garage, and driveway
(3) Social setting outside home: restaurants, bars, movie theaters, concert, and cars
where people interact with one another for social purposes
(4) Outdoor/natural setting; forests, rivers, oceans, fields, streets, and public places
(5) Other: artificial settings and any other settings not listed above
Role Portrayal
(1) Coworker: two or more people depicted as coworkers. Colleagues in the satne profession or occupation.
(2) Family member: husband and wife, a parent(s) with a child (children), a grandparent(s) with a child (children).
(3) Social circle: two or more people who appear as friends or any other people depicted in a social setting.
(4) Impersonal relationship: no apparent relationship between the characters.
667
NOTES
1. Jessica S. Barns and Claudette E. Bennett, The Asian Population:
2000: Census 2000 Brief (Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau, 2002),
available at <http: / / www.census.gov/prod /2002pubs/c2kbr01-16.
pdf>, retrieved 1 May 2004.
2. Barns and Bennett, The Asian Population: 2000: Census 2000 Brief
3. U.S. Census Bureau, Census Btireau Projects Tripling of Hispanic and
Asian Populations in 50 Years (Washington, DC: U.S Census Bureau,
2004), available at <http://www.ccnsus.gov/Press-Release/www/
releases/archives/population/001720.html>, retrieved 1 May 2004.
4. Brad Edmondson, "Asian Americans 2001," American Demographics 19 (February 1997): 16-17.
5. Satomi Fruichi, Carrie La Ferle, Wei-Na Lee, and Marye C. Tharp,
"Asian Americans: In Search of the American Dream," in Marketing and
Consumer Identity in Multicultural America, ed. Marye C. Tharp
(Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001), 243-81.
6. Carolyn Martindale, "Only in Glimpses: Portrayal of America's
Largest Minority Groups by The New York Times, 1934-1994," in Facing
Difference: Race, Gender, and Mass Media, ed. Shirley Biagi and Marilyn
Media 44 (fall 2000): 690-703; Charles R. Taylor and Ju Yung Lee, "Not in
Vogue: Portrayals of Asian Americans in Magazine Advertising,"
journal of Public Policy and Marketing 13 (fall 1994): 239-45.
7. Fruichi et al., "Asian Americans"; Teresa A. Mok, "Getting the
Message: Media Images and Stereotypes and Their Effects on Asian
Americans," Cultural Diversity and Mental Heallh 4 (3,1998): 185-202.
8. Judy Cohen, "White Consumers Response to Asian Models in
Advertising," Journal of Consumer Marketing 9 (2, 1992): 17-27; Nejdet
Delener and James P. Neelankavil, "Informational Sources and Media
Use: A Comparison Between Asian and Hispanic Subcultures," Journal
of Advertising Ret^earch 30 (July/June 1990): 45-52; Taylor and Lee, "Not
in Vogue"; Charles R. Taylor, Ju Yung Lee, and Barbara B. Stern,
"Portrayals of African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans in Magazine
Advertising," American Behavioral Scientist 38 (February 1995): 608-621;
Charles R. Taylor and Barbara B. Stern, "Asian Americans: Television
Advertising and the 'Model Minority' Stereotype," Journal of Advertising
26 (summer 1997): 47-61.
9. Lee Jussim, "Social Reality and Social Problems: The Role of
Expectancies," journal of Social Issues 46 (summer 1990): 9-34; Taylor and
Lee, "Not in Vogue."
10. Sapna Cheryan and Galen V. Bodenhausen, "When Positive
Stereotypes Threaten Intellectual Performance: The Psychological Hazards of "Model Minority" Status," Psychological Science 11 (September
2000): 399-402.
11. Colin P. Ho, Denise M. Driscoll, and Danielle H. Loosbrock,
"Great Expectations: The Negative Consequences of Falling Short,"
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QUAHTLRLY
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QUARTFRIY
genetic race. This is based on the authors' stance that as far as the discussion of media effects is concerned, race is more of a social construction
than biology.
43. Barns and Bennett, The Asian Population: 2000: Census 2000 Brief
44. Taylor and Lee, "Not in Vogue."
45. Morimoto and La Ferle, "Representation of Asian Americans."
46. Taylor and Lee, "Not in Vogue."
47. Morimoto and La Ferle, "Representation of Asian Americans";
Taylor and Lee, "Not in Vogue."
48. Taylor and Lee, "Not in Vogue."
49. Mary Jane Schlinger and Joseph T. Plummer, "Advertising in Black
and White," Journal of Marketing Research 9 (May 1972): 149-53; Tommy E.
Whittler, "The Effects of Actors' Race in Commercial Advertising: Review
and Extension," journal of Advertising 20 (spring 1991): 54-60.
50. Betsy Guzman, The Hispanic Population: Cettsus 2000 Bn't'/" (Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau, 2001), available at <http://www.
census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-3.pdf>, retrieved 1 May 2004.
51. Taylor and Lee, "Not in Vogue."
52. Taylor and Stern, "Asian Americans."
53. Mok, "Getting the Message"; Taylor and Stern, "Asian Americans."
54. Taylor and Lee, "Not in Vogue."
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