Consumer Behaivior
Does sex really sell?
Sexuality is considered to be one of the most powerful tools in advertising, it as been around for the last two decades. It has been proven that more people will look at an ad longer if it has some type of erotic behavior in the ad. There has always been this age old question. That age old question, is does sex sell. The answer to that question is it depends on the situation the and the customer and what relationship the customer may have already developed from the product. There are some cases where sex actually does the opposite of its purpose, will actually turn customers away from your product. In other instances the customer will love the product and selling it using sex was a good idea.
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There are times when sex can and can't be useful in promoting your product. In magazines its not a good idea to have sexual advertisements. One reason is guys will be to distracted that they won't even look at what the ad is for. The second reason is that women just flat don't want to see it, so they definitely won't read the ad, even if there is a hot guy in the ad. And we see almost the same pattern in everything else. What's happening her is that sex is out. It has slowly become distasteful in the U.S. Part of me thinks that it also has to with the fact that in our generation we are more family oriented. Who wants to see a sexual commercial sitting down watching TV with your Mom and Dad? I certainly don't. Sex does sell one thing very well, and that's sex. That is about the only time that sexual advertisements will work. Sex, I think, also works pretty well in person. For example, having pretty girls work at Hollister. I know when I'm trying on clothes if a pretty girl says "ooo that looks cute on you," I'm a lot more likely to buy it. From doing this paper and research I have changed my view on whether sex sells. I think that sex used to sell. But as far as right now, in the world we are living in now, no. I do not think sex sells anymore, and think many guys are looking at women more as people now and not just sex objects. Women are making quick progress on gaining respect for themselves from men. And I think probably one of the main facts why sex isn't selling anymore is because men have really started to respect
Advertisements are all over the place. Whether they are on TV, radio, or in a magazine, there is no way that you can escape them. They all have their target audience who they have specifically designed the ad for. And of course they are selling their product. This is a multi billion dollar industry and the advertiser’s study all the ways that they can attract the person’s attention. One way that is used the most and is in some ways very controversial is use of sex to sell products. For me to analyze this advertisement I used the rhetorical triangle, as well as ethos, pathos, and logos.
“Selling sex is illegal, but using it to promote economic growth is not.” (Sexualization and Sexploitation of Women in the Media; Rosery Films) What actually happened to our culture, people wondered? Has advertising gone too far? And are we being corrupted by sex? According Sex in advertising: Perspectives on the Erotic Appeal, in 2005, approximately one-fifth of all advertising used overt sexual content to sell its product. Society’s interest with sex and the advertising designer’s acceptance of it as an effective tool have served each other for the course of the twentieth century. And has always been separated on the extents to which sexuality can and should be used to sell. Advertising has become the single largest source of visual imagery in our social society. No matter where we look, we see advertisements trying to sell us things. Provocative advertising has been characterized as a deliberate attempt to gain attention through shock. (De Pelsmacker & Van Den Bergh, 1996) In 2007, The American Psychological Association sent out a press release to the media stressing the harmful effects of sexualizing our youth: “The proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandisin...
“Sex sells” has been used as an excuse to exploit and humiliate women through advertising for years. It is seen everywhere: television, movies, magazines, billboards, literally any place that can have an advertisement put in/on it. One company that specializes in advertisements composed of sexualizing women in order to sell their clothes is American Apparel. For years, they have created degrading ads that make the average believe they need to look like these images in order to feel good about themselves. Advertisements like these have a negative effect on society and especially women but American Apparel has taken things to a whole new level of exploitation.
...nything to be seen as attractive and wanted. This ad is effective in the way that it is set up and put out there, because of the sexually driven society in which we live. A problem though, is that a lot of advertisements are marketed in the same way. Sex in the foreground, some type of fun or exciting element, and the captivating usage of color.
First, one must ponder a couple of questions: who defines beauty in today’s culture and society? Does the mass media industry define beauty? Everywhere one turns in advertisements, commercials, TV shows, movies, magazines, etc. someone is telling us what “beauty” is. The allure of celebrities and the beauty they exude, definitely influences the beauty those in the Western culture strive to be and are attracted too. Television, movies, magazines, advertisements that come from the Western culture have influenced cultures around the world. Due to the high i...
I chose sex in advertising for my research topic because I do not know about it well, even though a lot of sexual images and texts in advertisements. When I was a little kid, I often surprised by ads with sexy woman. Even now, I sometimes have my eyes glued to such kinds of advertising. I wonder that there are some physiological reasons why people pay attention to sex images. Also, learning about sex in advertising is useful for my career because I want to work for an advertising company in the future. I infer that sex sells has both good and bad aspects and I can use it effectively by learning it accurately. If I use it effectively, we can make much money. However, we also take a risk by using sex in ads because some extreme images may give a bad reputation on products and company. Also, I care about the danger of sex in advertising, too. If I were a parent, I do not want my children to see some ads because they are too excessive for children. By researching this topic, I hope I can learn what is harmful for young people. I think sex sells have both good and bad effects on commercial and ethical aspects. Now, I have three questions about sex in advertising. First, I want to know when and how it has been used. I think there should be many famous advertisements with sexual images. Next, I would like to learn about how effective it is. I infer that there are both positive and negative effects in the advertising. Lastly, I want to know how boys and girls react to the advertisement. Some ads focus on to get male customers and others target on female. I also want to know how reaction relates to purchasing. Some people may not change their purchasing behavior even though they notice the ads and are ...
Everyday, people are exposed to countless advertisements, whether people see these advertisements on a billboard, a commercial, a magazine, or a pop-up on a computer; advertisements surround modern day society. Because advertisements are found almost everywhere, they are a technique to show people how to live a ‘normal life’, they tell people what their beliefs and attitude should be focused on. People learn subconsciously that if they own a certain product then they will be viewed the same way as the person that was used in the advertisement. And who do these companies use to sell their products? These companies use the idea of sex to sell a product. Commercials prove that women can sell almost any product even when the product has nothing to do with the woman in the commercial. Because men who can have a woman by their side, turns into a subconscious symbol of power. People are continually found stuck in their roles that society has already engraved for them. Society tells us that women have to be seen as the sex symbol, she has to be weak and vulnerable; she pretends to not have a brain and she never speaks up. The man has to be the breadwinner, he has to be powerful and stronger than everyone else around him. Where does society find these stereotypes encouraged? Society finds them through advertisements. Advertisements objectify and dehumanize women which has hurt women physically and psychologically to men and women.
The American public has a very short attention span, so only the most colorful, attractive advertisements will hold a person's attention long enough to see what the ad is selling. For instance, sex is used to sell just about everything. It is perhaps the only element that can be used by advertisers that the public will never get tired of seeing. A good example of this is alcohol advertisements. What does sex have to do with alcohol? Nothing, but it gives off the impression that when one drinks alcohol it will lead to sex. Of course, this is true to some extent, but the two do not go hand in hand. They are completely separate entities that cross paths more times than not, but alcohol advertisements give off the idea that when you purchase a case of beer, you are in store for a good night of sex. Ads like this are very misleading but it proves just how gullible the American public can be.
The way a woman was perceived as beautiful has changed so much even over the last 50 years as I have discussed previously. If we look at Marilyn Monroe and compare her to Tyra Banks, who has made it her passion in life to stretch the definition of beauty (Pozner, 2013) the difference is uncanny. Marilyn Monroe is the most acclaimed sex icon of the 1950’s and she was not astonishingly slender. Meanwhile Tyra banks up until a couple years ago had always been immeasurably skinny. Women nowadays are required to be excessively skinny, toned, tall, and have flawless skin if they want to fit into the “most beautiful” column. Although Tyra Banks presumably believes that she is an exceptional advocate for young girls in the media, she is also delivering a skewed image of self-love through her show, America’s Next Top Model (Pozner, 2013). Every woman on that show either fits the media’s standard of an ideal woman, or they are ridiculed/questioned. The media is making it impossible to achieve such high standards. Even for black women, there is the stereotype that they have to have huge behinds and appear to be super ghetto like Nicki Minaj; even she received cosmetic surgery to enhance her bust and rear, as well as slimming her waist. She did all these things to appease her viewers. It is impossible for women to achieve these different standards
When we look at women images, we will see they are thin, beautiful, sexy, and fashionable. They are different from average women. The women who see perfect women images every moment are not pleased with their appearance. In addition, they are losing their self-esteems, because they believe that they must look more beautiful, sexier, and more fashionable. Most females are aware of society’s emphasis on the importance of appearance, while knowing the social standards of beauty. Those females are strong-minded individuals who reject current standards and have a positive body image.
Sex is everywhere in our society. It is on TV, magazines, radio, billboards, and basically anywhere you look today. People cannot get away from sex in advertising because so many companies use it. Sex appeals are used in advertising all the time, and people love to look at it because 'Sometimes people listen better with their eyes' (Steel 137). Sex in advertising is an effective technique that is used today. It helps companies successfully sell their product in our market. Of course it has to be directed at the right audience, and sold at the right places in order for it to work.
Watching television growing up, half of the time spent watching was filled with advertisements. Most of the time, the ad would include a beautiful woman, barely dressed, doing something sexually suggestive. The whole advertisement would consist of this, while most people have no idea what the product being sold is. Then at the very end, they provide a brief description of the product. This is an example of using sex to sell products. It is no secret that advertisers have been using sex to sell their products for years. These tools are used in all types of advertisements. However, this is not just selling sex, it is selling elitism. It is selling the status of “hey, if you can get our product, you can get these types of girls”. Elitism is
Here in America, the conventional definition of beauty is what is perceptible in any form of our popular culture. This includes television, movies, music videos, billboards, fashion blogs, social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter), as well as anything ran on print and in mainstream media. The business strategy that is often used in these forms of media is that, women’s bodies are often used as a tool for advertising products that are entirely not related to the items in play, for instance, fancy cars, liquor, as well as guns (Kitch 56). Much as utilizing women’s bodies as a tool for selling the products that are totally unrelated
There are a lots and lots of advertises that contains a bit of exaggeration, sex and a message to make the consumer feel an association going on by using or buying that product. For example, Coors light beer commercial contains a lot of stuff that might get people to feel an association going on if he or she drinks that Coors light beer. On one of the Coors light beer commercial, there's a commercial that shows couple of young man and woman drinking Coors light beer and playing volleyball up on the Rocky mountains. A lot of people especially the people around their 20's would be convinced that if he or she drinks Coors light beer, then they could enjoy the coolness of being young and active. Since the commercial contains both sex, it would refer to the people aroun...
Throughout history there have been many claims about what is beautiful and what is not on the face and body. America’s idea of beauty in the past changed many times from the fragileness of the Steel-engraving lady to the voluptuousness of the Greek slave. The ideal beauty in America is not so different from the ideal beauty of cultures around the world and follows many of the traditions practiced throughout history. The widespread of advertisement and technology is something that’s said to be the contributing problem to the ideal women phenomenon, but I believe history and trend plays the bigger role.