Progressive Yet Traditional

Historically, women have had low participation in technological fields, and this has been reflected through negative portrayals of women in technology advertisements. As producers of e-commerce, women have made significant advances, in many cases approaching and even exceeding men. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine whether e-commerce advertisements continue to reflect negative stereotypical sex differences in relation to technology. Understanding these patterns is critical, as negative portrayals may propagate harmful stereotypes to men and women; in addition, women exposed to these ads may view them disapprovingly and develop negative attitudes toward the brands. To examine this, a content analysis of e-commerce ads in magazines was conducted. Results illustrate that, compared to past studies, ads for e-commerce products and services portray women more equitably.