Tween girls, Consumption and Gender Identity: A Cross Cultural Study

Program Title

Tween Girls, Consumption and Gender Identity: A Cross Cultural Study

Proposed by

Prof. Kara Chan, Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University
Dr. Birgitte Tufte, Professor, Department of Marketing, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Ms Gianna Capello, Department of Social Sciences, University of Palermo, Italy

Program Objectives

The program aims at advancing the understanding of the social, psychological and cultural factors involved in the development of gender identity through media consumptions among young girls aged 10 to 12. The study will employ an innovative qualitative design through the collection of visual imageries and in-depth interviews. The research program will commence in March 2009.

Intrim Report

PI (Prof. Kara Chan) and her collaborative researchers have completed the data collection. The research team has submitted a manuscript to Young Consumers for publication and the PI has submitted a paper to a conference. Detailed information is listed below:

-Chan, K., Tufte, B., Cappello, G., and Williams, R.B. Tween girls’ perception of gender roles and gender identities: A qualitative study, manuscript submitted to Young Consumers.

-Chan, K. (2010). Tween girls’ sexuality and media scandal in Hong Kong, accepted for presentation at the Research Forum session “Children, media, consumption and health”, World Summit on Media for Children and Youth, Karlstad, June 14-18. The full paper will be published as a book chapter.

The coming activities for this research program include the followings:

-The research team has planned for a trip for PI to meet with Prof. B. Tufte in July 2010 to compare transcriptions for the study and discuss results from a cross-cultural study point of view. A further amount of HK$5,000 was awarded from the non-UGC fund for the trip.

-The research team plans to write two more papers, one on celebrities and youth, and one on media literacy on gender roles in the coming 12 months.

The CMCR has approved to extend the duration of the research program to December 2010.

Program Completion Report

by Prof. Kara Chan
December 30, 2010