Does sex in advertising really affect viewers?

Journal of Sex Research, May, 2004 by Gloria Y. Gadsden

Sex in Advertising: Perspectives on the Erotic Appeal. Edited by Tom Reichert and Jacqueline Lambiase. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003, 294 pages. Cloth, $65.00; paper, $29.95.

This edited volume is quite ambitious. It not only attempts to challenge a widely held assumption (i.e., sex in advertising has an effect on viewers), but it also strives to offer a voice to various disciplines (e.g., psychology, history, marketing, mass communication, journalism), provide "synergy" for a range of perspectives, and incorporate quantitative and qualitative data analyses. Quite a chunk to bite off, chew, and swallow successfully!

The volume, by and large, shows a relatively high level of quality. The mixture and placement of articles seems logical and the majority of sources used are both convincing and timely. Some readers may notice that missing from the text is a vigorous debate about the definition of sex and/or sexuality, but the absence of this debate does not detract from the overall value of the text, especially considering that the editors admit they are merely initiating a conversation about an inadequately investigated topic.

Chapter 1 discusses the goal of the project, declaring notions of "synergy" and "diversity." It renders some voices and perspectives invisible, particularly sociopolitical and sociocultural voices and perspectives (e.g., sociological studies, political science studies, legal studies, anthropological studies, race studies, class studies), but no one text can be all things to all people.

The book fittingly begins with a relatively formal review of the relevant literature in the second chapter. Reichert discusses cornerstone and newly generated qualitative and quantitative research on processing effects, attitudes, sexual stimuli in advertising, and definitions of key phrases while providing compelling examples. It is a fine way to begin the text, clearly delineating key concepts and ideas. However, the author frequently wanders from the past to the present, blending research from the 1960s, '70s and early '80s with more contemporary findings. This technique suggests that the entire body of literature offers an ahistorical, unified voice, a suggestion that is much too simplistic and surely misleading.

Chapter 3 unmistakably refutes the myth of a unified voice by providing readers with a comprehensive historical discussion of the who, what, when, where, and why of sexual ads as well as a healthy consideration of the purportedly inherent connection between advertising and psychology. This chapter concludes with the following provocative statement: "Advertising's explicitness does not provide proof of the depravity of its creators and sponsors, but is evidence that some of the restraints in force are outdated" (p. 61). The editors' selection and placement of this chapter is first-rate. Chapter 4 follows with a fascinating consideration of the fetish in advertising. It also introduces race and sexual orientation as important themes, although in most cases the book ignores the significance of race and sexual orientation in advertising.

The title of Part I (chapters 2-4), "Research Approaches to Sex in Advertising," might imply that readers will have an opportunity to critique approaches to researching sex in advertising. In this respect, this section is mediocre at best. Additionally, the editors claim Part I will provide "coherence." I find this section falls short of that objective as well. However, if the editors simply intended to expose readers to compelling yet distinct perspectives on sex in advertising, or to help identify spaces for additional research, they were successful.

The heart of the book seemingly commences with Part II (chapters 5-8). Unfortunately, it becomes evident at once that the reader must make a huge leap to understand the vocabulary in the early chapters of Part II. The editors clearly failed to expose readers to the jargon du jour in Part I. Chapters 5 and 6 bombard readers with terms like advertising-stimulated tension, high activation, lack of contractualism, and bipolar comparator. Both chapters yet again establish the topic of sex in advertising as legitimate, and while chapter 5 supposedly juxtaposes the jargony dribble of the past with the more lucid investigations of today, neither chapter makes the debate more user-friendly. Additionally, the chapters fail to offer anything new. The results, in general, mirror findings dated 13 years earlier (i.e., exposure to sexual ads do not produce uniform responses, overly explicit ads may produce a negative response, and men and women do not respond identically to sexual ads).

One might argue that chapter 7 (by Brooke), with its eloquent language and profound statements like "'sex sells' might more properly be understood as 'spectacle sells'" (p. 135), should have launched Part II. It not only summarizes the overall topic in a reasonable and logical manner but also validates the scientific jargon of chapters 5 and 6, introduces readers to the notion of "brand loyalty" (p. 139), and challenges previous authors' and editors' hubris [e.g., "In a culture increasingly defined by the remote control, advertisements compete not only with each other, but also with the whole range of choices available to consumers, with other channels, not to mention other media" (p. 137)]. Brooke is also brave enough to problematize the pseudo-scientific prattle found in chapters 5 and 6, declaring that "Analyses of advertising often cling to antiquated notions of how marketing functions" (p. 134). Overall, readers would not have suffered had chapters 5 and 6 been excluded from this text, but considering the purpose of Part II their inclusion is appropriate.