GENDER DIFFERENCES IN EVALUATIONS OF TOBACCO AND ALCOHOL ADVERTISEMENTS

The relation between gender and reactions to different styles of advertising tobacco and alcohol products was examined in a sample of adolescents (average age of fourteen years) and their parents. Self-monitoring was also examined as a possible correlate of preferences for types of advertisements. Respondents were asked to rate magazine advertisements which were oriented toward the product's image or the product's qualities. As predicted, gender differences occurred among the adolescents in their evaluations of styles of advertising. Adolescent girls liked image-oriented advertisements more and perceived this type of advertisement to be more persuasive for most people than quality-oriented advertising. This gender difference was not observed in the sample of adults. All respondents liked the image-oriented advertisements more than the quality-oriented advertising. Moreover, image-oriented advertisements were seen as more persuasive than quality oriented-advertisements by girls' parents who were high in self-monitoring. The findings for adolescents suggested that girls in early adolescence may be particularly attentive to and potentially susceptible to the message conveyed in image-oriented commercials for tobacco and alcohol that portray smoking and drinking as desirable behaviours.