Exercise: Content Analysis of Television Commercials
Instructions:
You will content analyze five television commercials.
The sampling units are television commercials. A television commercial is at least a thirty-second spot of television advertising when a specific product or service is depicted with the sole purpose of consumer purchase of the product or service. Not included are news teasers, film or TV previews, or ads without a human.
You can watch commercials that are shown on live TV or online/app.
The unit of analysis is the primary character depicted in the commercial. A primary character is defined as a male/female/non-binary who appears on screen for at least three seconds, and is central to the advertisement of the product/service. Use your best judgment.
For each commercial you must assign the following categories:
What show or program were you watching when the commercial aired?
What product or service is the commercial selling?
What is the primary character’s sex, race, and age?
Use these categories for the primary character:
Sex of character: 1 = Male; 2 = Female; 3 = Non-Binary
Race of character: 1 = White; 2 = Black; 3 = Asian; 4 = Pacific Islander; 5 = Hispanic/Latino; 6 = Native American; 7 = Middle East/North Africa; 8 = Mixed Race
Age (years old) of character: 1 = 1-12 (children); 2 = 13-19 (teenager); 3 = 20-29 (twenty-something); 4 = 30-39 (thirty-something); 5 = 40-64 (mid-life); 6 = 65+ (senior citizen or retiree)
Here is an example of what you will record (DO THIS FIVE TIMES):
Commercial shown while watching the show Modern Family.
The product was the Toyota Camry.
The primary character was:
Sex = 1
Race/Ethnicity = 1
Age = 3
To earn full credit for this Exercise, watch/code five commercials and record your results in the text box just like #7 above. Do this five times.
Finally, answer these questions:
What types of primary characters sell what types of products? Any patterns?
Overall what do your results tell you about television advertising and target marketing? If you watched shows/ads online, how did the algorithm affect the ads you were shown?
How easy/difficult was the content analysis method? Strengths/weaknesses?
I am expecting 200-400 words total for this exercise.
