How to get “kissably close”: Examining how advertisers appeal to consumers’ sexual needs and desires

Abstract

This paper explores the nature of sexual appeals--sex-related promises or benefits--in mainstream advertising by describing types of sex appeals and findings from a sex-benefit content analysis. Overall, our findings reveal that sex is used to appeal to women and men, although a higher proportion of sexual ads appear in men's (12%) compared to women's magazines (6%). In addition, a variety of sex appeals are directed toward women (attractiveness, behavior, esteem), whereas most appeals directed toward men emphasize more and better sex. Last, male-only images are relatively absent in sexual ads compared to female-only (45%) and couples (47%) images. These findings, observations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Twenty-one Moves Guaranteed to Make his Thighs go up in Flames: Depictions of “Great Sex” in Popular Magazines

“…More research has been conducted on advertisements and photographic layouts than on editorial content (e.g., Baker 2005;Bogaert et al 1993;Krassas et al 2001Krassas et al , 2003Reichert and Lambiase 2003); yet, as other authors have pointed out (Krassas et al 2001(Krassas et al , 2003, consumers purchase lifestyle magazines primarily for their editorial content rather than for the advertisements and photographic layouts that accompany the articles. The literature on depictions of sexuality within magazine editorial content has been dominated by research on women's and adolescent girls' magazines (Ward 2003).…”

The effectiveness of sex appeal in print ads in relation to a visual register of the message: Articulating a new framework

“…Namely, ads can contain pictures of models clothed in revelling or tight-fitting clothing, or incorporate verbal elements such as sexually suggestive words and phrases. Furthermore, in their study Reichert and Lambiase (2003b) define visual codes for three sexual themes: sexual attractiveness, sexual behaviour and sex-esteem andconsider these themes for coding narrative scenes that were tested in the ads of the male and female magazines.…”

“…Advertisements with sexual content could be broken down into categories according to the level of integration of sexual information (Reichert & Lambiase, 2003a, 2003bReichert & Ramirez, 2000). Taking the types of sexual content in advertisements into account can help us better understand the effects of sexual information.…”

The use of female sexuality in Australian alcohol advertising: public policy implications of young adults' reactions to stereotypes

“…According to LaTour and Henthorne (1993), sexual suggestiveness can be subtle, involving double entendre and innuendo, and requiring more interpretation on the part of the viewer, for example a woman licking a drink bottle suggestively (Reichert and Lambiase, 2003;Lass and Hart, 2004). Sexual appeals may also take the form of humour in which stereotypes are often integral (van Zenton, 2005).…”

“…Advertisers attempt to motivate consumers to purchase by linking their products with consumer needs for sexual intimacy (Reichert and Lambiase, 2003). Considering the proliferation of sexual appeals in advertising, it is surprising that although the literature indicates that attention may be increased (Judd and Alexander, 1983), it also indicates that brand recall, attitude (Simpson et al, 1996) and purchase intention (PI) (Dudley, 1999;LaTour and Henthorne, 1994) may be negatively affected by nudity (see Jones et al, 1998 for a review).…”