Does sex absolutely sells? Analysis of the sexual appeals in advertisements
Introduction
According to Courtney and Whipple (1983), sexual appeals in advertisements could be defined as the way to convert the sexual urge into the element tool in the ad, it contains nudity, sexual imagery, innuendo, and double entendre which could be applied in a variety of products. Some experts are of the opinion that sexual appeals in advertisements are all of those contain both sexy male and female models (Batra and Ray, 1986). However, Biswas (1992) suggests that it is not only the model nudity, intense emotion and erotic verbal are also the sexual appeals in advertisements. The characteristic of the sexual appeals in advertisements could be divided into
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(1990) researched mainly about the effectiveness of distinct sexual appeals in advertisements, furthermore, the verbal information of different levels. Besides knowing the impact by using the traditional effectiveness measure examination, the research also comprised the cognitive respond measure to comprehend the process of both sexual and non-sexual appeals in advertisements better. The research hypothesized that the use of the sexual illustration in the advertisement would detract the ability of the receiver than non- sexual appeal (Baker, 1961), which has been expected. In addition, it is predicted that the utility of sexual illustration would get a result of positive attitude, which would also have a higher purchase intention. The result of the examination showed that the receiver would pay more attention on the advertisement execution than the content of the message while be given the explicit sexual advertisement (Severn et al., 1990). The brand name recall result seemed to be more functional in the ad information level than the sexual explicitness of the …show more content…
The later two articles have used a common reference, which is the first article written by Peterson and Kerin (1977). Most of the references of Simpson et al.’s (1996) have overlapped with Severn et al.’s (1990).
Conclusion
To sum up, the literature review has reported and evaluated the content of the effectiveness of sexual appeals in advertisements. Regarding the present advertisements, marketers should consider clearly whether congruency between product and model have match up while making decisions of sexual appeals in advertisements, in addition, the degree of the nudity should be appropriate in order to gather the brand recall from the audience.
Although all of the three articles have the limitation in some areas, the result and analysis of the research still have a significant contribution in the industry and for the future studies. In terms of answering the review question, both articles of Peterson and Kerin (1977) and Severn et al. (1990) have some very useful points; however, in order to compensate the insufficient and limitation of these studies, it still need further research to improve and go deeper of the
In a consumer-driven society, advertisements invade the minds of every person who owns any piece of technology that can connect to the internet. Killbourne observes that “sex in advertising is pornographic because it dehumanizes and objectifies people, especially women,” (271). Advertising takes the societal ideology of women and stereotypes most kids grow up learning and play on the nerves of everyone trying to evoke a reaction out of potential customers, one that results in them buying products. Another point made
Have you ever wondered where the saying, ‘a picture says a thousand words’, come from? Well, I do not know who came up with this fantastic phrase, but nonetheless, I will be describing and analyzing two different magazine advertisements, trying to put in words what I think the advertisers wanted consumers to receive when those potential buyers viewed their ads. The two advertisements that I chose, Caress and Secret, try to encourage female consumers of all ages to purchase their hygiene products. Although both ads, Caress and Secret, appeal to the same gender with hygiene goods, they differ in design, text, and message. They attempt to please the female buyer with color, texture, and sexuality. This makes it prevalent, that the agents must grab the attention of possible buyers in order to sell their product. The advertisers must choose a variety of marketing strategies to the reach their targeted consumers.
What captures the attention of people when they view an advertisement, commercial or poster? Is it the colors, a captivating phrase or the people pictured? While these are some of the elements often employed in advertising, we can look deeper and analyze the types of appeals that are utilized to draw attention to certain advertisements. The persuasive methods used can be classified into three modes. These modes are pathos, logos, and ethos. Pathos makes an appeal to emotions, logos appeals to logic or reason and ethos makes an appeal of character or credibility. Each appeal can give support to the message that is being promoted.
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.
Other aspects strengthen the advertisement design's sexual appeal. The foreground woman's strapless swimming suit, highlighted in red, is the most notable example. Her chest prominently resides above horizontal boxes in both th...
Advertisements are all over the place, whether it is a 10 second video on YouTube, 30 second commercials on the radio or in your weekly magazine. Budweiser gives two ads that both uses sexual appeals the 1920’s ad introduces sexual appeals while the 2006 ad uses full sexual appeal. In the two different Budweiser advertisements they target different audiences through appeals such as emotion by the imagery and their differing time periods.
“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...
In her essay, she describes the effects that sexualized advertising has on the psyche of the viewer and what it implies for the society that accepts it. Kilbourne asserts that by creating such advertisements, it is both encouraging and allowing one to downplay the effects that sex has. She claims, “sex in advertising
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 ...
The use of sex in advertising may create unrealistic ideals for men regarding women, however, it is a powerful tool for selling products. Through the years advertisers have shown through their advertisements that sex does sell products. Especially when selling to the male viewers. Sex is the second strongest of the psychological appeals, right behind self-preservation, and its strength is biological and instinctive, the genetic imperative of reproduction (Taflinger). Sexual desire is an instinctive reaction in animals, and a person?s perception of a suitable mate is the basis (Taflinger). That perception is usually a set of criteria that the opposite sex must meet, and those that meet and exceed those criteria will provide the chance for the highest quality offspring with the best chance of survival (Taflinger).
Sex is one of the most controversial and enticing subjects in today’s media. No wonder it has become a dominant marketing strategy, it appeals to a basic human interest in sex and uses it to persuade an audience. Sex, as a marketing tool, has become extremely pervasive in the United States today. An individual living in America will certainly be exposed to this marketing tool. Music industries, television commercials, magazines and other advertising media have given in to this marketing technique. The fact that companies use people’s natural interest in sex to sell their products is upsetting. The way advertisers use sex appeal to sell their products reflects poorly on and undermines our society’s morals.
There are many companies that use sex appeal in their ads today. For instance Victoria Secrets is one of the top sellers in lingerie. They show skin in every one of their ads. All of their models put on the sex appeal for all commercials and magazines. That is what helps them sell. Women look at those ads and see those girls floating on clouds like angels and feel they could feel the same if they wore that purple bra or red underwear. By showing these girls constantly looking sexy in their ads make women feel sexy just wearing them. That is the whole point of using sex in your ads. It?s amazing what a little skin can do. "In advertising, sex sells. But only if you're selling sex (Richards).
The portrayals of men in advertising began shifting towards a focus on sexual appeal in the 1980s, which is around the same that women in advertising were making this shift as well. According to Amy-Chinn, advertisements from 1985 conveyed the message that “men no longer just looked, they were also to be looked at” as seen in advertisements with men who were stripped down to their briefs (2). Additionally, advertisements like these were influencing society to view the male body “as an objectified commodity” (Mager and Helgeson 240). This shows how advertisements made an impact on societal views towards gender roles by portraying men as sex objects, similarly to women. By showcasing men and women in little clothing and provocative poses, advertisements influenced society to perceive men and women with more sexual
15.)Kalyanaraman, Sriram, PhD, Ichael Redding, and Jason Steele. "SEXUAL SUGGESTIVENESS IN ONLINE ADS: EFFECTS OF OBJECTIFICATION ON OPPOSITE GENDERS." (2000): n. pag. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. .
The desire to be desired. High end fashion advertisements are known primarily for their jaw-dropping qualities! Constantly on the verge of crossing the line and being considered culturally unacceptable, these ads individually signify a common message and appeal to young women. They are promoting sexuality and making their image a desirable part of the readers identity. Due to their costly price tags, these advertisements are marketing only to a select few, the elite class, but the identity displayed in the image portrayed is marketed to a large amount of consumers. High-end fashion companies should refrain from demonstrating a false illusion of the elite class that they display through sexuality because they are generating a fictional fantasy of the superior class and an identity crisis for young women.