Effectiveness of a School-Based Media Literacy Curriculum in Encouraging Critical Attitudes about Advertising Content and Forms among Boys and Girls

This study examines the effectiveness of media literacy education (MLE) in fostering critical attitudes toward advertising in both traditional and newer, more embedded forms (e.g., product placement or in social media), as well as toward gender stereotypes and violence in advertising. It uses pre- and post-MLE comparisons following a four-hour, four-week in-school program conducted with a sample of 117 participating students (average age =10.53) at a location in the United States, exploring whether advertising literacy outcomes differ by gender. Results suggest stronger dislike of ads and a stronger critique of the lack of realism in ads upon completion of the MLE program among participants as a whole. Stronger unfavorable attitudes toward stereotypical portrayals of boys and girls in advertising as well as toward violence in advertising were found only among girls. No support was registered for increased scrutiny of the practice of hidden or embedded advertising. Implications of MLE for the ways in which children can be encouraged to approach advertising from a critical point of view are discussed.