|
GENDER RESPONSE TO SEXUAL APPEALS IN
ADS FEATURING MALE MODELS
by
Lisa Hynd
and
Patricia Stout
and
Joan Schleuder
Contact Person's Name: Patricia Stout
Title: Associate Professor, Dept. of Advertising
Affiliation: University of Texas at Austin
Address: College of Communication
CMA 7.142
Austin, TX 78712
Phone Number: 512-475-9158
Email Address: [log in to unmask]
GENDER RESPONSE TO SEXUAL APPEALS IN
ADS FEATURING MALE MODELS
Abstract
This study investigates how gender (male/female) and level of male nudity (low,
medium, and high) in print advertisements influence viewers' attitude towards
the ad, attitude towards the brand, purchase intentions and tension, pleasure,
and arousal levels. Results indicate that gender significantly affects each of
these variables across all levels of male nudity, while level of male nudity
affects Aad, Abr, PI, and pleasure but not tension and arousal independent of
gender.
Introduction
Perhaps one of the most widely heard catch-phrases about advertising is, "Sex
sells." Sexual appeals in advertising is defined here as an advertiser's use of
a model in various stages of nudity. Over the past 15 years, numerous articles
have been written criticizing or critiquing campaigns which use this tactic.
For example, in the jeans category alone, articles can be found on topics
ranging from the Jordache campaign of the mid-eighties[none1]1 to Diesel
Jeans,2 Guess,3 and Calvin Klein.4 A 1986 content analysis comparing
advertisements from 1964 and 1984 found that although the percentage of magazine
advertisements featuring sexual appeals had not increased, the visual
illustrations had become more overt.5 Many are concerned that advertisers have
gone too far in the amount of sexual imagery found in contemporary
advertisements.
Since sexual appeals in advertising are so common,6 it is important that
advertisers understand how the viewers of these advertisements react. Several
studies focus on advertisements with varying levels of sexual appeals,
operationalizing this construct by measuring the viewers' perceptions of the
level of nudity in the advertisement. Among the dependent measures explored in
these studies are attitudes, arousal, tension, and ethical considerations.7
However, most studies have used only female models; response to male nudity in
advertisements has been virtually left unexplored.8 With an increase in the
sexual depictions of male models in ads,9 more research is warranted. It is
unclear that results of previous research on advertisements with female models
can be applied to the use of male models in advertisements.
In this study, we explore the effects of low, medium, and high levels of male
nudity in magazine advertisements on several constructs, including viewers'
attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the brand, and purchase intention, and
emotional measures such as tension, pleasure, and arousal. We then compare these
results with those of previous studies on responses to female models and discuss
managerial implications for what level of nudity in advertisements is optimal
for eliciting positive responses from both male and female viewers.
Literature Review
Perhaps as a result of the pervasive nature of sexual appeals in advertising,
recent years have seen numerous academic studies focusing on various approaches
to the topic. Commonly, the level of sexual appeal is measured by the perceived
level of nudity or level of suggestiveness present in the advertisement.10 The
construct, "level of sexual appeal" is commonly operationalized in experimental
studies by the use of Likert style or semantic differential scales in the
research tool which measures such items for the ads as "sexy," "erotic,"
"clothed," and "nude." In content analysis studies, coders are given strict
definitions for what constitutes various stages of dress or sexual content.11
The majority of the work in this area has centered on traditional measures of
advertising effectiveness such as attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the
brand, and purchase intentions. However, responses such as product congruity;12
physiological arousal;13 mood;14 brand recall;15 ad readership;16 and ethical
concerns17 have also been explored.
In a comparison of overall attitudes for advertisements with a sexual versus
non-sexual appeal, it has been found that sexual appeals score higher on
attitude to the ad, but not the brand.18 However, when comparing advertisements
featuring different levels of nudity, significant differences in male and female
responses emerge.
Sciglimpagila, Belch, and Cain19 found that men's and women's evaluations of
both nudity and suggestiveness in advertisements vary significantly. Men
"evaluate male nudity poorly while females evaluated male nudity generally
positively and vice versa for female nudity."
In a 1993 study in which subjects viewed one of three treatment ads featuring a
female model which was classified as either nude, semi-nude, or demure, it was
found that men who viewed the nude model scored more positively on attitudes
than men viewing the demure model. This group also scored more positively than
females viewing the same advertisement. Women viewing the nude model, on the
other hand, scored significantly lower in attitude toward the ad and the brand
than men viewing the nude and women viewing the semi-nude and demure ads.20
A similar study using male models in the treatment advertisements again shows a
positive response towards nudity in advertisements with models of the
opposite-sex of the viewer. As a group, females responded more favorably on
attitude measurements than males to the advertisements featuring each dress
level, but again, female responses declined at the level of full nudity. Males
preferred the non-sexual control advertisement used in this study to each of the
ads featuring the male model.21
Purchase intention has not been as fully explored in the past as attitude
towards the ad or attitude towards the brand. A study comparing responses to
advertisements with a sexual appeal versus a non-sexual appeal found the use of
sexual appeals result in significantly greater purchase intentions among
subjects.22 Similarly, a study on male responses to the use of sexual stimuli
found a positive correlation between purchase intentions and the use of sexual
appeals.23 It was concluded that the subjects' intention to purchase a brand
after viewing an advertisement is higher when a brand is promoted at an
"appropriate" level of sexual intensity.
In addition to traditional measures of advertising effectiveness, emotional
evaluations of advertisements are important to study because they may serve as
antecedents of attitude formation.24 In research on sexual appeals in
advertising, emotional states of respondents have been analyzed by measuring
self-reported psycho-physiological states of energy, calmness, fatigue, and
tension25 as well as pleasure and arousal.26
In the early to mid-1990's, a series of articles was published exploring the
effect of varying female nudity levels on the dependent variable of arousal as
adapted from Thayer's Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List.27 The
check-list is operationalized in a four point scale, anchored by "definitely
feel" to "definitely do not feel." Arousal, as defined by Thayer as energy,
calmness, fatigue, and tension, has been found to serve as an intervening
variable between the experimental subject's exposure to the stimuli
(advertisement) and the formation of ad impressions.28 In further investigation
of the data, excessive ratings in tension were shown to have a significant
negative indirect impact on attitude towards the brand, as filtered through
attitude towards the advertisement.29
The effect of gender on these responses was also found to be significant. In
another study utilizing the same data set, women were found to be significantly
more tense and fatigued than men when viewing an advertisement with a high level
of female nudity, while men in this group scored higher than women in energy
level. Calmness and fatigue were highest for both genders viewing the semi-nude
female model.30
In addition to Thayer's Activation-Deactivation checklist, the effects of nudity
level on emotional response have also been examined using the constructs of
pleasure and arousal as operationalized by Olney, Holbrook, and Batra.31 For
subjects viewing advertisements with three levels of male nudity, pleasure and
arousal were found to be significantly impacted by gender.32 Male arousal was
highest in response to the "full dress" (low-level) treatment, and female
arousal was highest for the "suggestive" (mid-level) treatment. The same
pattern existed for pleasure. These results suggest that females exhibit higher
pleasure and arousal responses to male nudity than males, peaking at mid-level
male nudity. Men in this study reacted more strongly to both the treatment
with a fully dressed male model and the control ad which featured no male model
at all.
In general, researchers have found that ad and brand attitudes are strongly
affected by the viewer's sex and the level of nudity in the ad to which they are
exposed.33 These studies have found that both genders respond more favorably to
depictions of opposite-sex models, but females seem to prefer lower levels of
nudity when viewing models of both sexes. In contrast, men have been found to
score highest in attitude towards the ad and brand when viewing advertisements
featuring high levels of female nudity. For both genders, when comparing ads
with sexual appeals versus ads with non-sexual appeals, sexual appeals have
been found to elicit more positive attitude towards the ad and purchase
intentions, but not attitude to the brand. Males react most positively to
high-level female nudity and females react most positively to mid-level male
nudity. Tension levels rise for both sexes as the level of nudity increases,
but scores are highest for viewers of the same sex as the model depicted in the
advertisement.
Hypotheses
Based on our review of the literature, we propose the following hypotheses. In
studies measuring attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the brand, and
purchase intentions, women in particular seem to have traditionally preferred
more demure depictions,34 while men have reacted more favorably towards higher
levels of nudity, especially when the advertisements featured female models.35
However, given that the product is congruent with the use of this type of
appeal, females tend to react in a much more favorable manner than males when
exposed to visual appeals in advertisements featuring male nudity.36 These
studies provide support for the following hypotheses:
H1: At each level of male nudity depicted in an advertisement, female viewers
will score more
favorably than male viewers on attitude toward the ad, attitude towards the
brand, and purchase intentions.
In general, the results of the study will show a main effect that women should
react more favorably than men to the set of advertisements as a whole in terms
of attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the brand, and purchase intentions.
This is consistent with previous studies which have included measurements of
these constructs for advertisements with male versus female models.37
In addition to the main effect of H1, three interaction effects are predicted
for attitudes and purchase intentions. H2, H3, and H4 are a direct reflection
of the findings of Simpson, Horton, and Brown,38 who examined male nudity in
advertisements. These hypotheses are also the converse of findings from a study
which measured these constructs for men and women viewing an advertisement with
three levels of female nudity.39 If these hypotheses are supported, it may be
concluded that both men and women have similar negative attitudinal and
behavioral reactions when viewing advertisements featuring a model who is the
same sex.
H2: An increase in the level of male nudity in an advertisement from low to
medium will result
in more favorable attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the brand, and
purchase
intentions among female viewers.
H3: An increase in the level of male nudity in an advertisement from medium
to high will result in less favorable attitude towards the ad, attitude towards
the brand, and purchase
intentions among female viewers.
H4: Increases in the level of male nudity in an advertisement from low to
medium and medium
to high will result in increasingly less favorable attitude towards the ad,
attitude towards
the brand, and purchase intention for male viewers.
Based on the findings of previous research, it is predicted that among women who
view the three treatment advertisements, there will be higher mean scores for
attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the brand and purchase intentions for
those who view the medium level of nudity than for those who view either the low
or high nudity-level treatments. In contrast, for male viewers it is predicted
that increases in the level of nudity will lead to lower mean scores on these
constructs.
It is important to measure viewers' emotional responses to the advertisements in
addition to attitudinal and behavioral responses, because these responses are
important to the formation of attitude towards the ad.40 Historically,
emotional responses to advertising have been measured in a variety of ways.41
For the purposes of this study three types of emotional response will be
explored: tension, pleasure, and arousal. Tension is a self-reported
"biophysical" measure,42 while pleasure and arousal gauge emotional response at
a higher level. Previous research provides support for the following hypotheses
about emotional responses to male nudity levels in advertisements:
H5: Male viewers' tension levels will be significantly higher than female
viewers' tension levels
across all three treatment groups regardless of the level of male nudity in the
advertisement.
It is predicted that male subjects will have a higher mean score on tension than
female subjects after viewing advertisements which feature male models. This
hypothesis is based on prior research which found that as females view
advertisements featuring female models in various stages of undress, their
tension levels rise much higher than tension levels for male viewers.43
H6: Female viewers' level of pleasure will be significantly higher than male
viewers' level of
pleasure across all three treatment groups regardless of the level of male
nudity in the
advertisement.
H7: Female viewers' level of arousal will be significantly higher than male
viewers' level of
arousal across all three treatment groups regardless of the level of male
nudity in the
advertisement.
It is predicted that female viewers will have higher mean scores for pleasure
and arousal than male viewers after viewing treatment advertisements featuring
male models. For studies which have used treatment ads with male or female
models, prior research indicates that measures of pleasure and arousal should
score higher for viewers of the opposite sex of the model featured
in the advertisement, while scoring lower for same-sex viewers.44
Methodology
Subjects and Procedure
A convenience sample of 185 undergraduate students participated in the study.
Subjects were randomly assigned to treatment groups for all eleven experimental
sessions. In total, 66 were assigned to the low nudity-level treatment, 64 were
assigned to the medium nudity-level treatment, and 55 were assigned to the high
nudity-level treatment. Subjects received a packet of materials including two
envelopes containing a control advertisement and one of three test ads,
instructions for completing the study, and the questionnaire. Subjects
completed measures for emotional response, attitudes and purchase intentions
first for the control ad and subsequently for the test ad. Measures evaluating
the model in the ad, product usage, and demographics were collected last.
Three full-page color magazine ads featuring models in three different levels of
nudity were developed through extensive pretesting. The product chosen for this
study was men's cologne. Cologne and perfumes, by their nature, have erotic
connotations, and many advertisements for these products often feature nudity.45
The pretest confirmed that the sample population of both male and female
subjects were users and purchasers of fragrances. The models in the ads were
virtually identical-looking and the product and text placement were identical in
each ad. The control ad featured a cologne bottle only with no model or text.
Independent Variables
Two independent variables are examined in this experiment: treatment effects
and gender effects. The three treatment advertisements varied according to
nudity level, which was manipulated as either low-level, medium-level, or
high-level of nudity. The male model appeared in progressive stages of undress
from the low to high level of nudity treatments. The second independent
variable is gender. Gender is operationalized as the subject's sex
(male-female), based on self report. The two independent variables are crossed
in a 2 (male/female) x 3 (low, medium, and high level of nudity) factorial
design.
Dependent Variables
The dependent variables included traditional measures of advertising
effectiveness (i.e., attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the brand, and
purchase intention) as well as measures of emotional response (i.e., tension,
pleasure, and arousal). Attitude towards the ad can be defined as a global
evaluation of a specific advertising execution.46 It is measured in this study
by the use of a semantic differential scale consisting of nine word pairs as
adapted from an earlier study by Olney, Holbrook, and Batra.47 These word pairs
cover both the hedonic and utilitarian aspects of attitudes and are as follows:
not likable/ likable, not fun to view/ fun to view, unpleasant/pleasant, not
entertaining/ entertaining, not helpful/helpful, uninformative/informative, not
enjoyable/ enjoyable, not important/important, and not useful/ useful
(coefficient alpha=.92). Attitude towards the brand was measured by four
word-pairs using in a seven-point semantic differential scale. These word pairs
are: not likable/ likable, negative/ positive, bad/ good, and unfavorable/
favorable (coefficient alpha=.96). Purchase intention, which can be defined as
the measure of inclination, at any given time, a person has to purchase the
brand, was measured by one item. Subjects were asked to rate the likelihood that
they would purchase the brand of cologne in the advertisement.
Emotional response was measured in three ways. According to Thayer,48 tension
is the self-rated measure of a person's physiological state of high activation.
For this study, tension is operationalized by adapting Thayer's four-point scale
to the seven-point semantic differential format with the following word-pairs:
not intense/intense, not fearful/fearful, not uneasy/uneasy, and not tense/tense
(coefficient alpha=.72). Pleasure and arousal are operationalized using sets of
word pairs taken from Olney, Holbrook, and Batra.49 Pleasure is measured using
six word pairs: unhappy/ happy, annoyed/ pleased, unsatisfied/ satisfied/
melancholic/ contented, despairing/ hopeful, and bored/ relaxed (coefficient
alpha=.89). Arousal is measured using four word pairs: relaxed/ stimulated,
calm/excited, sleepy/ wide awake, and unaroused/ aroused (coefficient
alpha=.87). Three demographic variables (age, semester standing, and major)
were also measured.
Results and Discussion
Manipulation Check
The perceived level of nudity manipulation in the advertisement appeared to be
successful.
Measurement of the subjects' perception of the level of nudity in each treatment
ad was assessed by mean scores on a 4-item semantic differential scale. Subjects
completed the word-pairs in response to the question, "The model in this ad is:"
uncovered/ covered, not nude/ nude, clothed/ unclothed, and not exposed/ exposed
(coefficient alpha=.79). The three specific nudity levels from the pretest were
confirmed by a Tukey HSD Post Hoc Test, which found the differences in perceived
level of nudity between the three treatment advertisements to be significant
(p<0.05). Subjects exposed to the low level of nudity ad (M=4.20) perceived
less nudity than those exposed to the medium-level (M=5.12) or high-level of
nudity ad (M=6.33).
Hypotheses Tests
The first hypothesis predicted that females would show more favorable attitude
towards the ad, attitude towards the brand, and purchase intentions, regardless
of the level of nudity to which the subjects were exposed. Table 1 shows the
results of the simple factorial analyses run to test this hypothesis. Treatment
ad and gender were the independent variables and attitude to the ad, attitude to
the brand, and purchase intentions were each the dependent variables. H1 was
supported.
Table 1
Simple Factorial Analysis: Gender and Nudity Level Effect
On Attitude to the Ad, Attitude to the Brand, and Purchase Intentions
Construct
Main
Effects
Sum of Squares
df
Mean square
F
Sig.
Attitude to Ad
combined
96.318
3
32.106
24.083
.001
nudity level
10.088
2
5.044
3.784
.025
gender
81.825
1
81.825
61.378
.001
total
336.170
184
1.827
Attitude to Brand
combined
70.176
3
23.392
11.590
.001
nudity level
18.407
2
9.203
4.560
.012
gender
49.516
1
24.534
24.534
.001
total
432.005
184
2.348
Purchase Intent
combined
89.512
3
29.837
8.130
.001
nudity level
35.494
2
17.747
4.836
.009
gender
48.151
1
48.151
13.121
.001
total
754.886
184
4.103
The overall analysis of variance (ANOVA) for attitude towards the ad for gender
(male vs. female) by nudity level (low, medium, high) was significant
(F(3.184)=24.08, p<.001). Women had higher attitude towards the ad scores
(M=4.90) across all levels of male nudity than men (M=3.50)
(F(1,184)=61.378,p<.001).
The overall ANOVA for attitude towards the brand for gender (male vs. female) by
nudity level (low, medium, high) was significant as well (F(3,184)=11.59,
p<.001). Again, women (M=5.04) had higher mean scores for attitude towards the
brand across all levels of nudity than men (M=3.95) (F(1,184)=24.53,p<.001).
The overall ANOVA for purchase intention for gender (male vs. female) by level
of nudity (low, medium, high) was also significant (F(3,184)=8.13, p<.001).
For purchase intention, once again, females(M=4.76) had higher scores than males
(M=3.65) regardless of the level of male nudity in the treatment ad to which
they were exposed (F(1,184)=13.12,p<.001).
Given these results, it can be concluded that for this study, regardless of the
level of male nudity in the advertisement, males viewing advertisements
featuring male models will score significantly lower on attitude towards the ad,
attitude towards the brand, and purchase intention than females.
Although it was not originally hypothesized, significant main effects were also
found for level of nudity on attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the
brand, and purchase intentions between the combined-gender treatment groups.
For each of these dependent variables, the medium-level treatment scored the
highest regardless of the viewers' gender. A Tukey HSD Post Hoc Test revealed
a significant difference in the mean scores for each of these dependent
variables between the medium and high level of nudity treatment groups (p<0.05),
but not between the low and medium level of nudity treatment groups or low and
high level of nudity treatment groups. These findings suggest that regardless
of gender, viewers will have more favorable attitude towards the ad, attitude
towards the brand, and purchase intention when viewing advertisements which
feature low to medium levels of male nudity versus high levels of male nudity.
Hypotheses 2 and 3 focus on the effect the level of male nudity in an
advertisement will have on attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the brand,
and purchase intention for female viewers only. The second hypothesis predicted
that an increase in the level of male nudity in an advertisement from low to
medium will result in more favorable scores on the dependent measures among
female viewers. H2 was not supported. The ANOVA tests run to test this
hypothesis detected no significant differences in attitude toward the ad,
attitude toward the brand, or purchase intentions between the female subjects
who viewed the low and medium level of nudity treatments.
Hypothesis 3, which stated that an increase in the level of male nudity in an
advertisement from medium to high will result in less favorable attitude towards
the ad, attitude towards the brand, and purchase intentions among female
viewers, is partially supported. To test this hypothesis, three separate one way
ANOVA's were run with the independent variable being the treatment ad viewed and
the dependent variables being female attitude towards the ad, female attitude
towards the brand, and female purchase intention.
No significant differences were found in attitude towards the ad or purchase
intentions between those females who viewed the medium and high level of nudity
treatments. However, significance was found for attitude towards the brand
(F(2,112)=3.83, p<.025). A Tukey post hoc test showed a significant difference
(p<.02) in the mean scores between those females in the medium (M=4.55) and high
level (M=5.46) of nudity treatment groups. These findings suggest that
increasing the male nudity level from medium to high will result in a
significant decrease in brand attitudes for female viewers, but not attitude
towards the ad or purchase intentions.
Hypothesis 4 predicted a change in male subjects' attitude towards the ad,
attitude towards the brand, and purchase intentions as a result of varying the
level of male nudity in an advertisement. Mean scores for these dependent
variables were predicted to be highest among those who viewed the low level
treatment ad, with scores becoming increasingly lower as the level of male
nudity increased from medium to high. To test this hypothesis, three separate
one way ANOVA's were run in which the independent variable was the treatment ad
and the dependent variables were male attitude towards the ad, male attitude
towards the brand, and male purchase intention.
Hypothesis 4 is partially supported by the data. No significant differences
were found for the mean scores between the low and medium or medium and high
level of nudity treatment groups for attitude towards the ad or attitude towards
the brand. However, the ANOVA run for the main effect of level of nudity on
male purchase intention was significant (F(2,71)=3.64, p<.03).
A Tukey post hoc test revealed no significant difference in mean scores for
purchase intention between the males who viewed the low level of nudity
treatment(M=3.36) and the medium level (M=4.67) of nudity treatment, but a
significant difference in purchase intention was found between males in the
medium (M=4.67) and high level (M=3.05) of nudity treatment. These findings
suggest that while varying the level of male nudity in an advertisement will not
result in significantly different scores on attitude towards the ad and attitude
toward the brand for male viewers, a significant decrease in purchase intentions
will result by increasing the level of male nudity from medium to high.
Based on the literature reviewed earlier, exposure to male nudity in an
advertisement was predicted to result in a significant main effect for gender on
the emotional responses of subjects.
Prior to testing Hypotheses 5-7, a comparison of the differences between the
measures for tension, pleasure, and arousal for subjects' responses to the
control ad was undertaken. ANOVA results for tension, pleasure, and arousal by
gender show that for the control ad no significant differences exist for mean
scores of tension or pleasure between males or females across all three level of
nudity treatment groups. However, the baseline arousal levels were
significantly different across treatments for both females (F(2,111)=6.58,
p<.002) and males (F(2,71)=9.76, p<.001). Since the control advertisement did
not feature any model or copy which could be expected to affect subjects'
arousal levels, these measures will be treated as the result of randomly
occurring extraneous variables outside those manipulated in the study.
To test hypotheses 5-7, separate simple factorial analyses were run to test for
main effects of gender and treatment ad viewed on subjects' levels of tension,
pleasure, and arousal. Table 2 shows the results of these tests.
Table 2
Simple Factorial Analysis: Gender and Treatment Ad Effect
On Tension, Pleasure, and Arousal
Construct
Main
Effects
Sum of Squares
df
Mean square
F
Sig.
Tension
combined
15.144
3
5.048
4.025
.008
nudity level
7.651
2
3.826
3.050
.059
gender
7.732
1
7.732
6.165
.014
total
241.812
184
1.324
Pleasure
combined
62.867
3
20.956
22.687
.001
nudity level
8.827
2
4.414
4.778
.010
gender
50.191
1
50.191
54.337
.001
total
231.071
184
1.256
Arousal
combined
109.290
3
36.430
27.832
.001
nudity level
.455
2
.228
.174
.841
gender
107.230
1
107.230
81.921
.001
total
334.938
184
1.875
For Hypothesis 5, a main effect of gender on tension levels is predicted across
all treatment ads, with male viewers' tension levels being higher than female
viewers' tension levels, regardless of treatment ad viewed. The overall ANOVA
for gender (male vs. female) by nudity level (low, medium, high) was significant
(F(3,184)=4.025, p<.008). Hypothesis 5 was supported (F(1,184)=6.165, p<.014).
Males had higher tension scores (M=3.75) than females (M=3.34) across all three
level of nudity treatments. This finding suggests that men will feel more
tension than women after viewing an advertisement with a male model, regardless
of the level of nudity in the advertisement.
Hypothesis 6 predicts a significant main effect will be found for gender on
subjects' pleasure levels across the three level of nudity treatment groups,
with female subjects scoring higher than male subjects. The overall ANOVA for
pleasure level by level of nudity (low, medium, high) and gender (male, female)
was significant (F(3,184)=22.687, p<.001). Hypothesis 6 was supported
(F(1,54.337), p<.001). Women had higher pleasure scores (M=5.11) than men
(M=3.99) across all three level of nudity treatment groups. This finding
suggests that women will feel more pleasure than men as a result of viewing an
advertisement with a male model, regardless of the level of nudity in the ad.
Although it was not originally hypothesized, level of nudity was found to have
a main effect on pleasure as well (F2,184)=5.282, p<.006). A Tukey HSD Post Hoc
Test shows significant differences for the combined-gender treatment groups
between the low (M=4.50) and medium (M=5.03) (p=.016) and the medium and high
level (M=4.46) treatments (p=.012), but not for the low versus high treatments.
Upon further analysis, a Tukey post hoc test, this time for pleasure by
treatment ad controlling for gender shows a significant difference between the
low and medium level treatments for females, suggesting that a change in the
male nudity level in an advertisement from lower to medium results in a
significant increase in pleasure for female viewers, but this increase
diminishes as the level of male nudity rises from medium to high. No
significant differences were found among mean scores across treatment groups for
male subjects, suggesting that male pleasure levels are not significantly
altered by changes in the level of male nudity in an advertisement.
Similar to the effect predicted in Hypothesis 6, Hypothesis 7 predicts that
female viewers' level of arousal will be significantly higher than male viewer's
level of arousal across all three treatment groups regardless of the level of
male nudity in the advertisement. The overall ANOVA for arousal by gender (male,
female) for nudity level (low, medium, high) was significant (F(3,184)=27.832,
p<.001). Hypothesis 7 was supported (F(1,184)=81.921, p<.001). Females scored
higher (M=5.17) than males (M=5.60) on arousal level across all three treatment
groups.
The results of Hypotheses 5-7 suggest that gender has significant main effects
on the emotional measures of tension, pleasure, and arousal for viewers of
advertisements with male models. In addition to these findings, a main effect
for level of nudity was found on pleasure, suggesting that a variance in the
level of male nudity in an advertisement will have a significant effect on
viewers' pleasure levels, regardless of gender.
Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Research
The research findings have revealed a number of significant findings for the
effects of male nudity level and gender on attitude towards the ad, attitude
towards the brand, purchase intention, tension, pleasure, and arousal. Based on
previous studies on level of nudity which used female models, a main effect was
expected for level of nudity and gender on attitude toward the ad and attitude
toward the brand. As expected, females in this study had higher scores on these
variables than males, supporting previous research findings.50
However, while these studies found that females tended to prefer lower levels of
nudity when viewing models of both sexes, this was supported by the present
study's findings only for attitude towards the brand. Males were expected to
score lower in attitudes towards the brand and ad as the level of male nudity
increased; however, no significant differences were found for male subjects
between level of nudity treatment groups for these variables. Significant
decreases in these scores, however, for the combined gender groups between the
medium and high level of nudity treatments suggest that ad and brand attitudes
can be maximized for viewers by using male models with a medium level of nudity.
For purchase intention, a significant main effect was found for gender as well,
with females again scoring significantly higher than males in response to
viewing an ad with male nudity. Like the results for the attitude measures, no
significant changes were observed between the low and medium level of nudity
treatments, but a significant decrease for purchase intention scores was
observed between the medium and high level of nudity treatment. This finding
supports that of Grazer and Keesling;51 that is, an advertisement promoted at an
"appropriate" level of sexual intensity (here nudity) results in the greatest
level of purchase intention.
On the emotional measures, this study's findings generally support that of past
researchers as well. LaTour52 found a main effect for gender on tension
levels, with women viewing an advertisement featuring female models scoring
higher than male viewers. In this study, the opposite was found. Male viewers
of ads featuring male nudity scored significantly higher than female viewers.
When combined, these findings indicate that viewers of the same sex as the model
in an advertisement will feel a significantly higher amount of tension as a
result of viewing an advertisement than viewers of the opposite sex.
For the variables of pleasure and arousal, this study supports the findings of
Simpson, Horton, and Brown.53 Main effects for both gender and level of nudity
were found on pleasure and arousal levels. Also, female pleasure levels peaked
at the medium level of nudity treatment. However, while their study found
female arousal to peak at the medium level of nudity treatment, the current
study found no significant differences in female arousal levels between
treatments.
The results of this study have considerable managerial implications for
practical application, specifically in regard to the use of male nudity in
advertising to target the male versus female demographics. Our findings
suggest that the use of male nudity in an advertisement will be more positively
received by women than men, and thus would lend itself to those advertising
campaigns which seek to target the female market.
A general trend in these measures towards a peak level of assessment for the
medium level of nudity treatment follows the classic Yerkes-Dodson Law, which
states that the quality of performance on a given task or evaluation tends to
fall at the middle level of treatment.54
This study also found that the gender of the viewer has a significant effect on
tension, pleasure, and arousal levels, while the level of male nudity in the
treatment ad has a significant effect on the level of pleasure regardless of the
viewer's gender. These findings indicate that the use of a male model will
cause male viewers of an ad to feel significantly more tense and less aroused
and pleasant than female viewers of the same ad. Significant findings for
level of nudity suggest an optimal level of pleasure can be attained for both
male and female viewers by using a medium level of male nudity in the
advertising execution.
Future research should undertake a comprehensive study is needed which examines
gender responses to three levels of nudity using both male and female models.
With this type of study, the same subjects' responses to ads featuring different
levels of male and female nudity could be measured, and thus more reliable
conclusions could be made about the effects of model gender and level of nudity
on the dependent measures used in the current study for both male and female
subjects.
Some serious gaps in the current body of knowledge on sexual appeals in
advertising exist with regard to such independent variables as ethnic
background, sexual orientation, level of education, age, religious beliefs, and
the editorial context in which the ad appears. These are rich areas of inquiry
for future researchers since any of these variables may impact what is
considered attractive or acceptable levels of nudity. As these and other topics
are explored by future generations of researchers, a more comprehensive
understanding of the implications for the use of both male and female nudity in
advertising will emerge.
Notes
1. David Kalish, "How Far is too Far?" Marketing and Media Decisions, 21
(November 1986):24-25.
2. Cyndee Miller, "Publisher Says Sexy Ads are OK, but Sexist Ones Will
Sink Sales," Marketing News, 26 (24,1992): 8-9.
3. Cyndee Miller, "Sexy Sizzle Backfired," Marketing News, 29 (20, 1995):
1-2.
4. John Leo, "Decadence, the Corporate Way. (How Advertising Influences
People)," U.S News and World Report, 119 (9,1995): 31.
5. Lawrence Soley and Gary Kurzbard, "Sex in Advertising: A Comparison of
1964 and 1984 Magazine Advertisements," Journal of Advertising, 15 (3,1986):
46-54,64.
6. Soley and Kurzbard, "Sex in Advertising"; Pat Sloan, "Fashion Gives Sex
Another Try," Advertising Age, 65 (46,1994): 1,8.
7. Michael S. LaTour and Tony L. Henthorne, "Female Nudity: Attitudes
Toward the Ad and the Brand, and Implications for Advertising Strategy," Journal
of Consumer Marketing, 10 (3,1993): 25-32.; Michael S. LaTour and Tony L.
Henthorne, "Female Nudity in Advertisements, Arousal, and Response: A
Parsimonious Extension," Psychological Reports, 75 (1994): 1683-1690.; William
F. Grazer and Garland Keesling, "The Effect of Print Advertising's Use of Sexual
Themes on Brand Recall and Purchase Intention: A Product Specific Investigation
of Male Responses," Journal of Applied Business Research, 11 (3,1995): 47-57.;
Tony L. Henthorne and Michael S. LaTour, "A Model to Explore the Ethics of
Erotic Stimuli in Print Advertising," Journal of Business Ethics, 14(July 1995):
561-569.
8. Penny M. Simpson, Steve Horton and Gene Brown, "Male Nudity in
Advertisements: A Modified Replication and Extension of Gender and Product
Effects," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 24 (3, 1996): 257-262.
9. Sloan, "Fashion."
10. Robert A. Peterson and Roger A. Kerin, "The Female Role in
Advertisements: Some Experimental Evidence," Journal of Marketing, 41 (October
1977): 59-63.; Soley and Kurzbard, "Sex in Advertising"; Michael S. LaTour,
Robert E. Pitts and David C. Snook-Luther, "Female Nudity, Arousal, and Ad
Response: An Experimental Investigation," Journal of Advertising, 14 (4,1990):
51-62.
11. Soley and Kurzbard, "Sex in Advertising."
12. Peterson and Kerin, "The Female Role."
13. LaTour, Pitts, and Snook-Luther, "Female Nudity, Arousal"; Michael S.
LaTour, "Female Nudity in Advertising: An Analysis of Gender Differences in
Arousal and Ad Response," Psychology and Marketing, 7 (Spring 1990): 65-81.;
LaTour and Henthorne, "Female Nudity: Attitudes"; LaTour and Henthorne, "Female
Nudity in Advertisements, Arousal."
14. Penny M. Simpson, Steve Horton and Gene Brown, "Male Nudity in
Advertisements: A Modified Replication and Extension of Gender and Product
Effects," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 24 (3, 1996): 257-262.
15. M. Wayne Alexander and Ben Judd, Jr., "Do Nudes in Ads Enhance Brand
Recall?" Journal of Advertising Research, 18 (February 1978): 47-50.; Jessica
Severn, George E. Belch and Michael A. Belch, "The Effects of Sexual and
Non-sexual Advertising Appeals and Information Level on Cognitive Processing and
Communication Effectiveness," Journal of Advertising, 19 (1,1990): 14-22.;
Grazer and Keesling, "The Effect of Print."
16. Leonard N. Reid and Lawrence C. Soley, "Decorative Models and the
Readership of Magazine Ads," Journal of Advertising Research, 23 (2, 1983):
27-31.
17. Stephen J. Gould, "Sexuality and Ethics in Advertising: A Research
Agenda and Policy Guideline Perspective," Journal of Advertising, 23 (September
(1994): 74-79.; Michael S. LaTour and Tony L. Henthorne, "Ethical Judgments of
Sexual Appeals in Print Advertising," Journal of Advertising, 23 (September
1994): 81-90.; Tony L. Henthorne and Michael S. LaTour, "A Model to Explore the
Ethics of Erotic Stimuli in Print Advertising," Journal of Business Ethics,
14(July 1995): 561-569.
18. Severn, Belch, and Belch, "The effects."
19. Donald Sciglimpaglia, M.A. Belch, and R. R. Cain, Jr., "Demographic and
Cognitive Factors Influencing Viewers' Evaluations of 'Sexy'Advertisements," in
Advances in Consumer Research, ed. William L. Wilke, (Provo, UT: Association
for Consumer Research, 1978): 62-65.
20. LaTour and Henthorne, "Female Nudity: Attitudes."
21. Simpson, Horton, and Brown, "Male Nudity."
22. Severn, Belch, and Belch, "The effects."
23. Grazer and Keesling,"The Effect of Print."
24. Rajeev Batra and Michael L. Ray, "Affective Responses Mediating
Acceptance of Advertising," Journal of Advertising Research, 13 (September
1986): 234-248.
25. LaTour, "Female Nudity in Advertising, an Analysis"; LaTour, Pitts, and
Snook-Luther, "Female Nudity, Arousal"; LaTour and Henthorne, "Female Nudity in
Advertisements, Arousal."
26. Simpson, Horton, and Brown, "Male Nudity."
27. Robert E. Thayer, "Activation-Deactivation Adjective Checklist:
Current Overview and Structural Analysis," Psychological Reports, 58 (1986):
607-614.
28. LaTour, Pitts, and Snook-Luther, "Female Nudity, Arousal."
29. LaTour and Henthorne, "Female Nudity in Advertisements, Arousal."
30. LaTour, "Female Nudity in Advertising, an Analysis."
31. Thomas J. Olney, Morris B. Holbrook, and Rajeev Batra (1991), "Consumer
Responses to Advertising: The Effects of Ad Content, Emotions, and Attitude
Toward the Ad on Viewing Time," Journal of Consumer Research, 17(March),
440-452.
32. Simpson, Horton, and Brown, "Male Nudity."
33. LaTour and Henthorne, "Female Nudity: Attitudes"; LaTour and
Henthorne, "Female Nudity in Advertisements, Arousal."; Simpson, Horton, and
Brown, "Male Nudity."
34. LaTour and Henthorne, "Female Nudity: Attitudes"; LaTour and
Henthorne, "Female Nudity in Advertisements, Arousal."; Henthorne and LaTour, "A
Model to Explore"; LaTour, Pitts, and Snook-Luther, "Female Nudity."
35. Severn, Belch, and Belch, "The effects."
36. Simpson, Horton, and Brown, "Male Nudity."
37. Simpson, Horton, and Brown, "Male Nudity"; Scimpaglia, Belch, and Cain,
"Demographic and Cognitive."
38. Simpson, Horton, and Brown, "Male Nudity."
39. LaTour and Henthorne, "Female Nudity: Attitudes."
40. Batra and Ray, "Affective Responses."
41. Olney, Holbrook, and Batra, "Consumer Responses."
42. Thayer, "Activation-Deactivation."
43. LaTour, Pitts, and Snook-Luther, "Female Nudity."
44. LaTour, Pitts, and Snook-Luther, "Female Nudity"; Simpson, Horton, and
Brown, "Male Nudity."
45. LaTour, Pitts, and Snook-Luther, "Female Nudity."
46. Stephen P. Brown and Douglas M. Stayman, "Antecedents and Consequences
of Attitude Toward the Ad: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research, 19
(1,1992): 34-51.
47. Olney, Holbrook, and Batra, "Consumer Responses."
48. Thayer, "Activation-Deactivation."
49. Olney, Holbrook, and Batra, "Consumer Responses."
50. Scimpaglia, Belch, and Cain, "Demographic and Cognitive"; LaTour and
Henthorne, "Female Nudity: Attitudes"; LaTour and Henthorne, "Female Nudity in
Advertisements, Arousal."; Henthorne and LaTour, "A Model to Explore"; Simpson,
Horton, and Brown, "Male Nudity."
51. Grazer and Keesling,"The Effect of Print."
52. LaTour, "Female Nudity in Advertising, an Analysis."
53. Simpson, Horton, and Brown, "Male Nudity."
54. Stanley Coren, Clarke Porac and Lawrence M. Ward, Sensation and
Perception, (NY: Academic Press, 1979).
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Gender Response to Sexual Appeals in Ads Featuring Male Models
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