Identifier

etd-07132015-124330

Degree

Master of Mass Communication (MMC)

Department

Mass Communication

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

From an advertising perspective fathers are a highly attractive consumer demographic. In order to market to this audience it is important to understand how fathers are framed. With an increase in the number of fathers identifying themselves as caregivers according to the 2012 census, effective marketers would be well-served if they understood what type of frame applies when fathers are employed vs. stay at home. This analysis used framing theory to determine how message givers use frames within their advertisements to explain which particular aspects of the father are given salience. This study is a content analysis of father frames in advertising over a variety of highly circulated men’s magazines from 2009-2014. This analysis divided the magazines into two-time periods and looked for examples of care-giving fathers, wage-earning fathers, and recreational fathers in advertisements. In addition, the analysis looked at the question of competence in these advertisements, observing if the fathers were depicted as competent or not. The research supported that the dominant father frame of the pre-2012 time period was the care-giving father and the dominant father frame of the post-2012 time period was the recreational father. Fathers were not mostly observed as competent. This study supported the idea that the post-2012 father frame in male-based highly circulated magazines is more likely to be a father who leads their children in leisurely activities.

Date

2015

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Moore, Jensen

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.736

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