Male and female attitudes towards stereotypical advertisements: a paired country investigation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences in male and female attitudes and establish a causal relationship between general (a priori) attitudes towards female stereotypical advertisements and attitudes towards specific advertising stimuli, providing evidence from Greece and Cyprus. Design/methodology/approach – Male and female respondents (158 in Cyprus and 156 in Greece) indicated their general attitudes towards female stereotypes in advertising and were subsequently exposed to three stereotypical advertisements, to which they expressed their specific attitudes. Findings – The results of the study prove that in countries with similar cultural backgrounds, such as Greece and Cyprus, general attitudes towards stereotypes in advertising do not have significant differences. General attitudes towards sex role portrayal in advertising directly impact attitudes towards specific advertisements. Further, it was demonstrated that respondents' gender plays a key role in attitude formation. The age of the respondents is also of interest, given that differences exist in general attitudes towards stereotypes in advertising and in attitudes towards specific stereotypical advertisements within respondents of the same gender, but of a different age bracket. Originality/value – The key potential contribution of this study is threefold. First, it investigates the effect of gender and age on attitudes towards stereotypes in advertising. Second, it establishes a causal relationship between general attitudes towards stereotypical advertisements and attitudes towards specific advertising stimuli. Third, the study further validates the established relationship and the relevant measures across culturally similar countries.