The psychology and research behind print advertising
Sexual appeal has been prevalent in advertising for more than 40 years. So what is it about using sex in advertising that has made it so popular? No two sexual advertisements are the same; they all explore different tactics, images, and innuendos. Companies that utilize sexual imagery as an advertising strategy, use it for many different reasons. Ultimately it comes down to the marketing phrase of “sex sells.” The question is, does sex really sell? And if so, why?
There has been a lot of research into the psychology behind advertising, and more specifically behind the use of sexual imagery. One of the more simple approaches is to use sexual imagery as an attention getter. Companies often use explicit sexual images to call attention to an ad, or to make it stand out in a magazine or newspaper. However more often than not the use of sexual appeal is more deeply rooted than just an attention getter.
Much of the strategy behind the combination of sex and advertising comes from establishing an attitude toward the brand. John Rossiter and Larry Percy wrote an article called “Attitude Change through Visual Imagery in Advertising.” In this article Rossiter and Percy examine how visual imagery can influence consumer attitude toward a brand or a product. From a psychological standpoint, Rossiter and Percy suggest that brand attitude really all comes down to classical conditioning.
In a classical conditioning situation, an unconditioned stimulus is paired with a conditioned stimulus. The unconditioned stimulus evokes a certain natural response, and the idea is that if this response is paired with the conditioned stimulus (something that does not evoke a certain natural response) then the natural response from the unconditioned stimulus, will also become the response to the conditioned stimulus.
Applying this to advertising, the sexual imagery would be the unconditioned stimulus, which is paired with the product, which would be the conditioned stimulus. The sexual imagery will evoke a certain level of sexual arousal in the viewer. Pairing this with the product, the individual viewing the ad will begin to associate the product with sexual arousal. Because sexual arousal is usually a positive feeling, the attitude toward the brand often becomes a positive one.
Rossiter and Percy conclude that using sexual imagery to classically condition consumers is a strategy that is used in many ad campaigns. They state, “attitude can thereby be created or altered… without the aid of advertising copy.” Considering that “advertising copy” is referring to the text used on an advertisement, Rossiter and Percy believe that an attitude toward a brand can be established based on visual imagery alone.
However knowing how advertisements can influence consumers, how effective is the use of sexual imagery at accomplishing this? Well according to “The Effects of Sexual and Non-sexual Advertising Appeals and Information Levels on Cognitive Processing and Communication Effectiveness” an article published in the Journal of Advertising, “Several studies have found that the use of overt sexual appeals is less effective than the use of non-sexual appeals with respect to recall, advertising and brand evaluations, and advertising perception.” To put this in simpler words, studies have found that the use of sexual appeal in advertising is less effective, than non-sexual appeal.
This article goes on to conduct an experiment in which participants are exposed to advertisements with different levels of sexual appeal and are asked to list the products that each ad was promoting, and to list the brand name for each product as well. In addition they were asked to write comments about each ad, and rate how likely they were to purchase the products based on the advertisements.
The overall findings were that the use of sexual imagery in advertising was less effective because it actually decreases brand name recall. The idea is that the explicit images distracted viewers from the actual product. The viewers became so engaged in the image that they did not pay attention at all to the brand name of the product. In addition the ads with high levels of sexual imagery were often rated as offensive or inappropriate.
Although the idea of using classical conditioning to promote a product is effective on some levels, research has shown that the use of sexually explicit images in advertising does not increase success of the product. It in fact often decreases brand name recall, and over all attitude toward the product. It doesn’t seem logical to use a strategy that is proven to be less effective, however; companies continue to market their products in this way. A reasonable explanation could be that the companies are either trying to compete with all the other sexually explicit advertisements, or they simply just are not informed. Regardless of their reason behind the use of sexual appeal in print advertising, this strategy continues to take up more than 1/4 of print advertisements.
There has been a lot of research into the psychology behind advertising, and more specifically behind the use of sexual imagery. One of the more simple approaches is to use sexual imagery as an attention getter. Companies often use explicit sexual images to call attention to an ad, or to make it stand out in a magazine or newspaper. However more often than not the use of sexual appeal is more deeply rooted than just an attention getter.
Much of the strategy behind the combination of sex and advertising comes from establishing an attitude toward the brand. John Rossiter and Larry Percy wrote an article called “Attitude Change through Visual Imagery in Advertising.” In this article Rossiter and Percy examine how visual imagery can influence consumer attitude toward a brand or a product. From a psychological standpoint, Rossiter and Percy suggest that brand attitude really all comes down to classical conditioning.
In a classical conditioning situation, an unconditioned stimulus is paired with a conditioned stimulus. The unconditioned stimulus evokes a certain natural response, and the idea is that if this response is paired with the conditioned stimulus (something that does not evoke a certain natural response) then the natural response from the unconditioned stimulus, will also become the response to the conditioned stimulus.
Applying this to advertising, the sexual imagery would be the unconditioned stimulus, which is paired with the product, which would be the conditioned stimulus. The sexual imagery will evoke a certain level of sexual arousal in the viewer. Pairing this with the product, the individual viewing the ad will begin to associate the product with sexual arousal. Because sexual arousal is usually a positive feeling, the attitude toward the brand often becomes a positive one.
Rossiter and Percy conclude that using sexual imagery to classically condition consumers is a strategy that is used in many ad campaigns. They state, “attitude can thereby be created or altered… without the aid of advertising copy.” Considering that “advertising copy” is referring to the text used on an advertisement, Rossiter and Percy believe that an attitude toward a brand can be established based on visual imagery alone.
However knowing how advertisements can influence consumers, how effective is the use of sexual imagery at accomplishing this? Well according to “The Effects of Sexual and Non-sexual Advertising Appeals and Information Levels on Cognitive Processing and Communication Effectiveness” an article published in the Journal of Advertising, “Several studies have found that the use of overt sexual appeals is less effective than the use of non-sexual appeals with respect to recall, advertising and brand evaluations, and advertising perception.” To put this in simpler words, studies have found that the use of sexual appeal in advertising is less effective, than non-sexual appeal.
This article goes on to conduct an experiment in which participants are exposed to advertisements with different levels of sexual appeal and are asked to list the products that each ad was promoting, and to list the brand name for each product as well. In addition they were asked to write comments about each ad, and rate how likely they were to purchase the products based on the advertisements.
The overall findings were that the use of sexual imagery in advertising was less effective because it actually decreases brand name recall. The idea is that the explicit images distracted viewers from the actual product. The viewers became so engaged in the image that they did not pay attention at all to the brand name of the product. In addition the ads with high levels of sexual imagery were often rated as offensive or inappropriate.
Although the idea of using classical conditioning to promote a product is effective on some levels, research has shown that the use of sexually explicit images in advertising does not increase success of the product. It in fact often decreases brand name recall, and over all attitude toward the product. It doesn’t seem logical to use a strategy that is proven to be less effective, however; companies continue to market their products in this way. A reasonable explanation could be that the companies are either trying to compete with all the other sexually explicit advertisements, or they simply just are not informed. Regardless of their reason behind the use of sexual appeal in print advertising, this strategy continues to take up more than 1/4 of print advertisements.