How Do Consumers Really Respond to Sex in Advertising?
Sex doesn’t sell as much as we may think
The idea that sex sells has been around for a long time, but when it comes to actual consumer behavior, is the use of sex in advertising really enough to make us open our wallets and buy a product?
According to a study conducted by advertising researcher John Wirtz, the use of sex may make an advertisement itself more memorable, but it’s simply not enough to make consumers buy a specific product. In fact, sexual appeals are not even compelling enough to make people remember a specific brand.
“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,” Wirtz explained.
“When product is moving, people don’t make changes.”
Wirtz and his colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 78 peer reviewed studies about the impact of sexual appeals used in advertising. For the purpose of the study, sexual appeals were defined as advertisements with “models who were partially or fully nude; models who were engaged in sexual touching or in positions that suggested a sexual encounter was imminent; sexual innuendoes; and sexual embeds, which are partially hidden…
