Sexual appeals in ads do not sell products, three decades study suggests
Ads with sexual appeals might make a commercials memorable, but it does little for the brand or the product it is trying to sell, scientists say after studying three decades of ads.
Sex does not actually sell, it just makes things memorable, a new study finds as researchers looked at 80 ads form the last three decades trying to understand how sexual appeal plays a part in selling the products they advertise.
“We found that people remember ads with sexual appeals more than those without, but that effect doesn’t extend to the brands or products that are featured in the ads,” says University of Illinois advertising professor John Wirtz, the lead author of the research.
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Wirtz and his co-authors conducted a first-of-its-kind meta-analysis of 78 peer-reviewed studies looking at the effects of sexual appeals in advertising. Their findings were posted online this week by the International Journal of Advertising.
“We found literally zero effect on participants’ intention to buy products in ads with a sexual appeal,” Wirtz said. “This assumption that sex sells – well, no, according to our study, it doesn’t. There’s no indication that there’s a positive effect.”
And adhering to the idea that sex sells could actually be detrimental to the brand as the analysis also showed that viewers are not only less likely to remember the brand but also more inclined to have negative attitudes towards the brand. Unsurprisingly, men liked the ads more but scientists were amazed about just how much resentment women had about the sexual commercials.
“The strongest finding was probably the least surprising, which is that males, on average, like ads with sexual appeals, and females dislike them,” Wirtz said. “However, we were surprised at how negative female attitudes were toward these ads.”
When not separating the results by gender, the effect of sexual appeals on participants’ attitudes toward ads was not significant, he said, but separately “they’re just going in completely opposite directions.”
The study suggests that while advertisers could promote sexual ads because they want their work to be remembered, for the company selling the product, it might not be the best choice, especially if they cater to the female buyers.
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