Sex still sells
This is a much used phrase when it comes to marketing, however is it correct? Does the constant thought about sex infiltrated in our daily life through advertisements really increase sales?
We would like to think no, because we are more intelligent than that, right? We are not that easy to manipulate? Sex reminds us of our animalistic selves, and we like to believe that we are above the animals, not equal to them.
According to a study from Ohio State University the average man thinks about sex 19 times a day, where comparing a woman has approximately 10 thoughts about sex per day. This is not surprising as we are surrounded by sexualized pictures, advertisements and influencers.
What is it that makes our minds spin when we see a half-naked human body holding a product that has close no no relevance to the photos message? Why does that make us want to purchase the product they are advertising or the magazine they are in? Sex is present in more than 1/4 of advertisements. In men’s magazines it is statistically proven that having a cover of a half-naked woman will sell more than a magazine cover with a man they aspire to be with an interview with that man. Is it just biology?
First and foremost sex is a primitive instinct, but there is also a taboo around it, coming mostly from religion, which might make the whole concept more exciting for people. ‘The Sun’ removed their infamous page three where they showed a topless women and a topical issue that had no particular correlation to the photo. It would be believed that this would not have a large impact on the sales for the newspapers, however they lost half a million readers. Thereby, for the first time in 42 years they slipped just under 2 million readers. This clearly shows in numbers that sex really sells.
When we come to think of it, can we really fight biology? It seems like we cannot.
