Portrayals of African,Hispanic,and Asian Americans in Magazine Advertising

Abstract

A content analysis of magazine advertisements from 1993 and 1994 is performed to examine advertising portrayals of African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans. The issues investigated are the frequency of portrayal of minority groups, the representation of groups in technical versus nontechnical product categories, and the settings and relationships in which each group appears. Results indicate that (a) Hispanic Americans are significantly underrepresented in magazine advertising, (b) portrayals of Asian Americans reflect societal stereotypes, and (c) portrayals of African Americans have become less stereotyped over the years, but nonetheless remain sufficiently stereotyped to raise societal concerns.