Appealing to men and women using sexual appeals in advertising: In the battle of the sexes, is a truce possible?

Black, Iain; Morton, Peta

doi:10.1080/13527266.2015.1015108

Cited by 24 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…According to this literature, health advertisement captions that focus on themes related to strength [17] and are positively framed i.e., that convey the health benefits of programs [21] are likely to be most effective. In terms of image selection, the literature suggests that portrayals of women may help to attract the attention of males [22], whilst portrayals of idealised (i.e., muscular, slender) male bodies may lead to feelings of poor body satisfaction in males and should be avoided [23]. Additional principles for the design of Facebook advertisements included that images should be visually engaging, attention grabbing, and thematically consistent with the product being advertised [24], captions should include a ‘low friction’ call-to-action (e.g., call for an expression of interest rather than immediate enrolment) [25], and, in cases where the promoting organisation is reputable, their branding should be clearly visible to convey scientific legitimacy [26].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

It’s not raining men: a mixed-methods study investigating methods of improving male recruitment to health behaviour research

Ryan

Lopian

et al. 2019

BMC Public Health

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Background Although gender is an important determinant of health behaviour with males less likely to perform health-protective behaviours, samples in health behaviour research are heavily biased towards females. This study investigated the use of online social network, Facebook, to reach and recruit inactive males to a team-based, social, and gamified physical activity randomised controlled trial. Methods Methodological techniques included a narrative literature review, survey of inactive males ( n = 34) who rated advertisement images and text captions on scales of 1–10, and trial Facebook-delivered recruitment campaigns. Advertisement effectiveness was measured by cost-per-click to the study website, number of expressions of interest, and study enrolments from males. Results Survey results showed that vibrant images of men exercising accompanied by concise captions (< 35 words) were most effective. An advertising campaign incorporating these components achieved a cost-per-click of $0.60, with 80% of n = 50 expressions of interest being from men, a marked improvement from baseline campaigns in which only 11% of expressions of interest were from men. Despite this, men who were recruited through the targeted campaign failed to enrol into the study, primarily due to reluctance to invite friends to join their team. An alternative strategy of encouraging females to invite men boosted male participation from 18% of the sample at baseline to 29% in the targeted recruitment phase. Conclusions Evidence-based approaches can improve Facebook recruitment outcomes, however, there are complex barriers hindering male recruitment to health behaviour studies that may necessitate multi-faceted strategies including involvement of family and friends. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-7087-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

It’s not raining men: a mixed-methods study investigating methods of improving male recruitment to health behaviour research

Ryan

Lopian

et al. 2019

BMC Public Health

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“…Second, this literature is based on a large variety of methodologies, which complicates the interpretation of the unique role of female and male model sexualization in advertisements. For example, some studies used single-model ads (either female or male; Dudley 1999;Simpson et al 1996), whereas other studies used ads portraying couples (Black and Morton 2017;LaTour and Henthorne 1994;Putrevu 2008).…”

Section: The Efficacy Of Sexualized Advertisingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, previous research has shown that consumers' purchase intentions may be positively affected by the congruency between the gender-relevance of the product and the level of sexualization of the ad (e.g., Black and Morton 2017;Simpson et al 1996; see also Wirtz et al 2018 for a meta-analysis). Gender-relevant products are those products that are congruent with gender stereotypes-for example, masculine-typed liquor (Grazer and Kessling 1995), and feminine-typed fragrances (LaTour 1990;Reichert et al 2001).…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Sex Really Sell? Paradoxical Effects of Sexualization in Advertising on Product Attractiveness and Purchase Intentions

et al. 2020

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To test the “sex sells” assumption, we examined how Italian men and women react to sexualized advertising. Women showed lower product attractiveness and purchase intentions toward products presented with sexualized female models than with neutral ads, whereas men were unaffected by ads’ sexualization (Study 1, n = 251). Study 2 (n = 197) replicated the overall results. Study 3 (n = 198) tested hostile sexism as a moderator as well as negative emotions as a mediator of consumers’ responses. Especially men with higher hostile sexism showed more purchase intentions after viewing female sexualized ads than neutral ads. Moreover, women’s lower consumer responses toward sexualized female ads were due to higher negative emotions. Study 4 (n = 207) included ads with both female and male models, replicating responses to female sexualization and showing that both women and men had lower product attractiveness and purchase intentions toward male sexualized ads than neutral ads. Replicating and extending Study 3’s results, women’s negative emotions was the mediator. The present study has practical implications for marketers because it suggests that “sex does not sell.” In addition, considering both the psychological damage and practical inefficacy of sexualized ads, our findings have important implications for public policy.

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“…High and low sex appeal pictures were selected from the study by Black and Morton (2017). Nudity is a common way to present sex appeal in ads.…”

Section: Participants and Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Love at First Glance but Not After Deep Consideration: The Impact of Sexually Appealing Advertising on Product Preferences

et al. 2020

Front. Neurosci.

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In advertising studies, the impact of sexually appealing advertisements (hereafter "ads") on consumers' product preferences is highly controversial. This paper explores (1) how such ads affect consumers' product preferences at the gazing stage (initial stage of exposure to the ad) and evaluation stage (final product preference), and (2) which type of product (utilitarian vs. hedonic) is more suited to such ads. We used an electroencephalogram to record participants' product preferences at the gazing stage and self-reported product preferences at the evaluation stage. The results indicated that participants preferred ads with high sex appeal at the gazing stage and ads with low sex appeal at the evaluation stage. Further, compared to utilitarian products, hedonic products were more suited to sexually appealing ads. The findings suggest that the effect of such ads on consumers' product preferences varies depending on their cognitive stage and the type of product advertised.

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Appealing to men and women using sexual appeals in advertising: In the battle of the sexes, is a truce possible?

Cited by 24 publications

References 69 publications

It’s not raining men: a mixed-methods study investigating methods of improving male recruitment to health behaviour research

It’s not raining men: a mixed-methods study investigating methods of improving male recruitment to health behaviour research

Does Sex Really Sell? Paradoxical Effects of Sexualization in Advertising on Product Attractiveness and Purchase Intentions

Love at First Glance but Not After Deep Consideration: The Impact of Sexually Appealing Advertising on Product Preferences

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