Representation of men in television advertisements

Television as a mass communication medium is a powerful tool to reach large audiences. Cultural values and gender roles often shape the media content in a given society. Media plays a role in the construction and espousal of gender stereotypes. Television advertisements encourage the target audience to consume more and therefore increase the revenue volumes for both advertisers and their customers alike. Advertisers present their viewers certain images and hope to arouse in them the desire to become more and more like these images. The reception theory examines how spectators interpret media texts. Studies of the reception theory reveal that spectators take an active part in interpreting and explaining the meaning of a text and that individuals' interpretations differ from one another. This paper aims to examine the way male characters are pictured in television and how they are perceived by masses. The study has asked its respondents their perception of male characters appearing in television advertisements, in particular their physical and psychological qualities and the extent to which they influence the sale of a certain product. This research has concluded that characteristics attributed by society to males were also reflected in television advertisements, thereby reinforcing genders roles. It has also found that television ads present these images of men to the audience as role models, which, has the effect of creating a masculine prototype for the society.