Effectiveness of Sex Appeals in Advertising - Essay Example

Effectiveness of sex appeals in advertising Introduction Sex appeal is an efficient method of advertising chosen by suppliers. Consumers are targeted by being influenced on their ‘animalistic behavior’. Thus consumers choose one or another product in accordance with their inner driven sexual energy. Nevertheless, sexual content should be designed in accordance with religious, cultural and moral traditions of the target audience. This research paper discusses appropriateness of sex appeals in advertising. A theoretical background of work consists of current works devoted to discussions of advertising ethics. Empirical data are chosen on the basis of qualitative interviews among representatives of UK sub-cultures: Anglo-Saxon and Asian Islamic. Interviews were focused on consumers’ reactions to Tom Ford ads. Different reactions of UK sub-cultures’ representatives witness multicultural nature of UK market and a necessity of different advertising campaigns for western and eastern nationalities. Sex appeal in advertising Advertising is abundant with sex images. UK advertising shows a frequent application of sex appeal in the mainstream advertising. The major objective of suppliers is to draw attention to the information they hold. Therefore sex appeals perform a communicative function (Saunders, 1996). With a course of time, advertising becomes more and more absorbed by sexual appeals. Thu this is an efficient strategy (Reichert, 1999). There is a necessity to differentiate between nudity and sexual explicitness. “Sex does sells,”– this phrase is a motto for modern suppliers. In spite of potential consumers’ offence, sex appeals penetrate in every sphere of production: cars are advertized by naked girls, men perfumes are sold because they are depicted on the background of vagina (ad by Tom Ford). A vivid discussion among critics may consider both usage of naked girls as an enslavement of a female body and an immoral usage of such kind of images with regard to Muslim culture, for example. Positive roles of sex appeal in advertising The effectiveness of sex appeal is discussed in detail by Bumler (1999), who underlined that sex appeal is used as “…the most powerful weapon in their [suppliers’] arsenal and therefore they use graphic images to get and hold on to audiences’ attention” (1999, pp. 34). Biological instincts of humans are stricken by such kind of ads. In other words these ads “…affect persuasion, especially in a saturated media environment typified by passive viewing exposure (Reichert, Heckler & Jackson, 2001). A lot of studies and researches are devoted to the discussion of sex appeals usage in mass media. Generally, it is claimed that such kind of ads arouse consumers’ interests, grab their interests; make ads with sex appeals attractive and memorable (Severn, Belch & Belch 1990). Shimp (2003) makes a step-by-step analysis of sex appeal usage in ads. First, he underlines that these ads capture attention of consumers; secondly, they enhance message recall; finally, these ads evoke emotional responses among customers. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) make an emphasis on emotional responses caused by sex appeals in ads. Cognitive processing of ads with sex appeals and an increase of persuasive impact evoke a desire to purchase a certain product. Emotional impact is also underlined by Latour, Pitts, and Snook-Luther (1990). These researchers state that consumers’ attention to certain brands or products is created in accordance with the usage of sex appeals in ads (Severn, Belch & Belch, 1990). The effectiveness of sex appeals usage in ads can be diminished by the appropriateness of sex appeals to the advertised product. An inappropriateness of sex appeals’ usage may arouse a negative attitude to the brand among the representatives of fair sex, being offended by an enslavement of female body (Yovovich, 1983). Therefore, the efficiency of sex appeals in ads can be proven if it is used appropriately with regard to a certain product. Negative effects of sex appeal in advertising An inappropriate and evident sex appeals lead to negative effects of ads. Sex appeals attract attention, but there is no guarantee that a product is memorized by the target audience. Maybe, an image of a naked girl near a man doesn’t remind of the name of brand to be advertized (Tom Ford’s image of men’s perfume). There is a serious research gap of negative impacts of sex appeals in ads. A communicative function of the message in the ad can be neglected by the audience and negative attitude to the ads with sex appeals. Thus Reichert, Heckler, and Jackson (2001) underline that sex appeals in ads evoke sexual stimulus among consumers but they don’t influence on a brand remembrance (Grazer & Keesling, 1995). Severn, Belch, and Belch (1990) claim that it is necessary to delimit sex appeals influence on customers’ processing of the information. This interference decreases message’s comprehensiveness. Stewart and Furse (2000) underline sexual stimuli prevalence over information on brand or product. Consequently, the usage of sex appeals in ads may be a threat for a brand or product. Sex appeals capture attention of the customers, but they are less helpful for product sales. In accordance with Judd and Alexander (1983): “…ads with decorative female models increase memory for the image in the ad with no difference in actually reading the information of the ad”. Sex appeals in ads evoke interest in a certain product, but they don’t recall positive attitudes to a certain brand. A negative attitude to the ads with naked images may dissipate attention of the consumers (LaTour, Pitts & Snook-Luther 1999). Consequently, it is possible to claim that persuasiveness of sexual appeals in advertisements may lead to ambiguous results for suppliers. Cultural, religious and moral peculiarities of target audience Globalization of the modern society has led to cultural diversity. Marketers should pay a proper attention to all layers of society with regard to its multicultural structure. Marketers should involve marketing surveys, segmentation analysis of consumer’s behavior, research methodology and marketing communications in order to develop advertising campaigns with regard to multicultural issues of the targeted audiences (Burton, 2000). The main consideration should be paid to multicultural markets, such as the UK market, for example. Representatives from different cultures, of different religious and with different beliefs should be taken into account. Target audience of the UK is a perfect background for the discussion of sex appeals in advertising. Therefore there is a necessity to conduct researches directed on the study of differences and similarities of national environment in the UK and the existent sub-cutures in that context. A further discussion of the appropriateness, effectiveness, positive and negative influences of sex appeals in advertisements will be exemplified by two different British sub-cultures, the Anglo-Saxon and the Asian-Islamic. From the previous sections of the paper it is understandable that sex in advertising is an arguable issue (Al-Makaty, Van Tubergen, Whitlow, Boyd, 1996). Different reactions from the target audience range from outcries of distress and aversion to claims that sex appeals are used with regard to modern social tendencies directed on naked body enslavement. Moreover, generally attitude to a certain brand or product may be negative. Culture, Sub-Culture, Ethnicity and Advertising On the basis of perceptual differences of representatives of different cultures and nations, sex appeals are perceived in a different way. Human way of thinking is formed under the influence of numerous cultural, religious and moral factors. The way one or another advertisement is perceived by the consumers is influenced by multicultural external factors. In such a way, if the target audience is mixed and consists of representatives of different nations and sub-cutures, a neutral approach in advertising campaign should be chosen by suppliers. Furthermore it is claimed that customer behavior is influenced by interaction of different cultural groups’ members (Boddewyn, 1991). Cultural diversity is a broad context to study the influence of sex appeal on consumption of target audience. The existence of sub-cutures is explained by a multicultural context of the society, where every member may have his own cultural, religious, and moral beliefs and traditions. Marketers are aware of a current importance of such a striking issue as ethnicity. Thus ethnicity/culture is a significant factor for marketing, while it influences on advertisements’ perception, brand loyalty, consumer values, patterns of consumption and family decision making (Burton, 2000). Moreover, marketers should remember of sub-culture representatives and their attitude to the culture of the host country. A complete assimilation of ethnic minority groups will lead to elimination of ethnicity importance (Burton, 2000). Of course, it is understandable that modern marketers tend to use similar advertising campaigns for all markets. Nevertheless, they are greatly concerned about the existent cultural barriers (De Mooij, 1998). A high importance of studies on cultural similarities and differences can be underlined unquestionably. ‘Culturally relevant stimuli’ incorporated in advertising campaigns is a proven beneficial marketing strategy nowadays. When marketers decide to develop dissimilar advertising campaigns, they direct all their efforts to win targeting audience in different countries. Group membership directly influences on a subjective perception of advertisements (Al-Makaty, Van Tubergen, Whitlow, Boyd, 1996). Values difference, the existence of certain prejudices in different sub-cultures lead to different interpretation of one or another advertisement. A sent message may differ from a received message in the world of a multicultural context. Therefore there is a necessity to choose a right ‘language’ for the ‘right audience.’ A standardized approach can be relevantly applied to western markets and not to western and eastern markets. Moreover, selective processes prevail over cultural groups: “… there is no two cultural groups see the world in exactly the same way” (Burton, 2000). An effective concept in one country can lose its effectiveness in another country. An advertisement with striking images such as nudity or erotic can be welcome in western countries but can be strictly criticized in eastern countries. This concern should be of high importance for UK market, because of its multicultural background. Values of a certain nation influence on the perception of certain ads by this audience. Cultural values determine attitude of multicultural representatives to sex appeals in advertisements. Values of ads and values of the target audience should be in mutual consistency. In the majority of cases, advertisers don’t neglect this condition and use symbols appropriate to target audience. Thus advertisers don’t stake everything. On the other hand, sex appeals used in Tom Ford’s ads are used in international advertizing campaigns and they have no consistencies with eastern culture, for example. A western consumer is a prioritized consumer. Eastern consumers can be shocked and indignant by such kind of ads. In accordance with religious beliefs of Muslims it is necessary to cover even woman’s hair and nudity or erotic in ads is out of the question (Al-Makaty, Van Tubergen, Whitlow, Boyd, 1996). Generally, studies conducted on this issue show that the usage of culturally congruent images is more beneficial for suppliers and more favorable for perception of the target audience (Saunders, 1996). A significant differentiation of consumers’ attitudes to sex appeal in eastern and western countries is determined by values’ differences in these countries. UK market is a multicultural market therefore it is necessary to take into account different perceptive peculiarities of consumers of different nations. On the basis of qualitative interviews it was concluded that individual values and knowledge next to sub-cuture’s experiences influence the types of meanings incorporated in advertisement. Advertisements with naked models were positively assessed by Anglo-Saxons (94%) and only 45% of Asian-Islamic reflected positive reactions to such kind of ads. A significant indignation and shock was expressed by some representatives from Asian-Islamic group. They claimed that the usage of a naked body in ads is ‘really shocking’. Therefore, it is necessary to underline that positive influence of ads on Anglo-Saxons consumers can be explained by a freedom of religious, cultural and moral beliefs. Asian-Islamic representatives are strictly restricted by their religious, moral and cultural beliefs. Such kind of ads is a mockery of their centennially established values. Eastern cultures are more sensitive to everything connected with sex. Islamic culture does not allow such sexual orientation propagated in any form. Nevertheless, in the process of the survey some similarities were found between the representatives of two sub-cultures. Anglo-Saxon and Asian-Islamic sub-cultures develop on the British cultural background. The main domain culture, the British culture, accepts such kinds of ads and positive reactions of Asian-Islamic sub-culture’s representatives can be explained by the influence of the main dominant culture though religious divergences influenced on consumers’ perception significantly. A positive attitude of Anglo-Saxon sub-culture’s representatives to sex appeal differs from a mainly negative perception of the Asian-Islamic sub-culture. In spite of the fact that Asian-Islamic representatives were indignant by sex appeals in advertisement they claimed that it was morally relevant to use such kind of images. There is no doubt, that chosen ads were more concerned about erotic and not nudity; otherwise Asian-Islamic would be even more indignant by such kind of ads. Religious, moral and cultural factors and sex appeal in advertising: western society In accordance with the data from the abovementioned cross-cultural interviews, there is a necessity to clarify such differences in public attitude to sex appeals in advertising. From a moral point of view, enslavement of a naked female body in advertisements is a sign of women being degraded. Unfortunately, it is an evidence of moral degradation of the society (Burton, 2000). Western community has reassessed all moral and cultural issues long ago. A positive attitude of western respondents to sex appeals in ads can be explained by a shift of female role in society from a primary to a secondary social stage. Neglect to religious traditions in western society proves moral degradation of the society as well. In accordance with religious beliefs, Mother of God is a symbol of virginity (Burton, 2000). Unlike propagated naked female images in ads, pillars of religion such as worship of woman, turned into attitude to woman as to a ‘loaf of meat’. Consequently, there is a change in cultural factors of social attitude to woman in the society. It is hard to imagine that such kind of ads like those designed by Tom Ford could appear in the beginning of the XX century. Ads with naked images appeared in the middle of the XX century. Thus social attention after World War II, economical and social changes was focused on animalistic instincts of the society. Therefore a shift of modern western world is focused on profits and benefits and any means to reach these goals are welcome. Women are sex symbols to increase profits; female bodies are “just another commodity”. Therefore there is a need to shift the accents of modern advertising to appropriate symbols with appeal not to animalistic human instincts, but to consumer’s clear mind and quality of the goods and products. Religious, moral and cultural factors and sex appeal in advertising: eastern society The issue of sex appeals’ usage in ads and its appropriateness raise a vivid discussion among representatives of eastern culture. Religious norms of Islam propagates woman’s role as an excellent wife and a mother (Albers-Miller, 1996). No one except her husband or her closest relatives can look at Islamic girl without her hair covered. It is out of the question that naked female body can be used as “just another commodity” to gain profits or benefits. There is no moral degradation of eastern society. Religious, moral and cultural values and traditions have not changed for centuries. A respectable attitude to women in eastern culture is still preserved and can’t be underestimated. A surprising percentage of Asian-Islamic respondents (45%) who had positive attitude to ads with naked images can be explained by a cultural background of the UK as the domain culture. It is possible to claim for sure that such kind of survey could hardly be conducted in eastern countries. If even to suppose the slightest possibility of this kind of survey, all the respondents would have a negative attitude to such kind of ads for sure. An indignation expressed by eastern respondents can be explained by generally accepted religious, moral and cultural norms of eastern culture. An enslavement of a naked female body is not understandable for representatives of eastern society (Albers-Miller, & Gelb, 1996). A respectable attitude of eastern respondents to woman makes them indignant by such kind of ads. An advertising campaign designed by Tom Ford and his naked images would fail for sure in eastern countries. In such a way, attitude of representatives of western and eastern cultures to sex appeals in advertising is explained by their religious, moral and cultural beliefs and values. Sex does sell, but only in the society where such kind of images is appropriate. Moreover, sex appeals in ads may divert attention from the brand or product to a naked or erotic image. An appeal of advertisers to animalistic instincts evokes them, but motivation to buy a certain product may be weak or even may not occur at all. Conclusion On the basis of the discussion of ethics of advertising on multicultural background of UK market it is quite clear that appropriateness of sex appeals’ usage in ads is an arguable issue. An occurrence of undesirable reactions and indignation is a negative outcome of ads with sex appeals. In spite of the fact that western and eastern respondents have different opinions about sex appeals in ads, their main emphasis is made on appropriate images use in advertising. Unfortunately marketers pay little or no attention to multicultural markets, such as UK market. It is quite clear that such a diverse social structure of the UK requires different advertising campaigns for different sub-cultures, like in case with the survey based on data received from representatives of Anglo-Saxon and Asian-Islamic sub-cultures. Moreover, effectiveness of sex appeals usage in advertising can be questioned as well. The way one or another advertisement is perceived by the consumers is influenced by multicultural external factors. On the basis of the considered literary sources, consumer’s attention may be distracted from a product or brand being substituted in his memory by the image of a naked girl. At the same time, a deep-rooted phrase: ‘Sex does sells’ is an irrefutable reason for advertisers to use sex appeals in their ads. In accordance with our research, there is a gap in the study of religious, moral and cultural factors influencing on consumer’s attitude to sex appeals in ads. Therefore it is necessary to conduct a study based on data collected on the basis of surveys conducted among representatives of western and eastern cultures in order to reveal real reasons for their acceptance/non-acceptance of sex appeals in ads. Representatives from different cultures, of different religious and with different beliefs should be considered. In order to obtain exact results, it is relevant to refer to certain ads. In our research we’ve chosen a discussion of Tom Ford’s ads. On the basis of qualitative interviewing with people from different backgrounds (Anglo-Saxon and Asian-Islamic sub-cultures) a further conclusion can be made: ethical aspect of advertising is a relevant issue for modern society. The majority of respondents of western sub-culture expressed positive attitude to sex appeals in ads though they didn’t mention the effectiveness of such kind of ads and their influence on their potential consumption of an advertised product. Unlike representatives from western sub-culture, representatives of eastern sub-culture were negatively influenced by such kind of ads thus their potential consumption of the advertised product will hardly occur. Consequently, on the basis of the conducted interviewing it is quite clear that sex appeals in ads influence on a potential choice of an advertised product only in a passive way. The effectiveness of sex appeals usage in ads can be diminished by the appropriateness of sex appeals to the advertised product. There is an occurrence of positive/negative emotions among potential consumers with regard to the sex appeals of the advertised product and not with regard to a certain brand. 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