Sex in advertising research: A review of content, effects, and functions of sexual information in consumer advertising

Annual Review of Sex Research, 2002 by Reichert, Tom

This article is a review of academic research on the content and effects of sexual information in advertising (i.e., sex in advertising). In addition to covering common types of sexual content analyzed in research, inquiry on processing and emotional response effects is reviewed. Several areas for continued research are identified, especially with regard to advertisers' use of sexual outcomes as reasons for using brands and the ability of sexual information to influence brand perceptions. This review has applicability to advertising and marketing research and practice, as well as to any area that employs sexual information for persuasive purposes (e.g., safer-sex social marketing campaigns). In addition, it is hoped that sex researchers will recognize and elaborate on the role of sexual response identified in this research to further inform advertising theory and effects research.

Key Words: advertising effects, consumer behavior, media effects, see advertising, sexual response, sexual stimuli.

Sex in advertising, the use of sexual information in mediated promotional messages, has maintained a presence since advertising's beginning. Early on, wood carvings and illustrations of attractive women (often unclothed from the waist up) adorned posters, signs, and ads for saloons, tonics, and tobacco. In several cases, sex in advertising has been the motivation for increased consumer interest and sales. To increase cigarette sales in 1885, W. Duke & Sons inserted trading cards into cigarette packs that featured sexually provocative starlets. Duke grew to become the leading cigarette brand by 1890 (Porter, 1971). Woodbury's Facial Soap, a woman's beauty bar, was almost discontinued in 1910. The soap's sales decline was reversed, however, with ads containing images of romantic couples and promises of love and intimacy for those using the brand (Account Histories, 1926). Jovan Musk Oil, introduced in 1971, was promoted with sexual entendre and descriptions of the fragrance's sexual attraction properties. As a result, Jovan, Inc.'s revenue grew from $1.5 million in 1971 to $77 million by 1978 (Sloan & Millman, 1979)

In contemporary mainstream consumer advertising (e.g., magazines, network and cable television), sex is present in promotional messages for a wide range of branded goods. Ads feature provocative images of well-defined women (and men) in revealing outfits and postures selling clothing, alcohol, beauty products, and fragrances. Advertisers such as Calvin Klein, Victoria's Secret, and Pepsi use these images to cultivate a ubiquitous sex-tinged media presence. Also, sexual information is used to promote mainstream products not traditionally associated with sex. For example, the Dallas Opera recently reversed declining season ticket sales by marketing the more lascivious parts of its performances. As a result of its sexual promotion strategy, season ticket packages sold out faster than ever before (Chism, 1999).

Since the 1960s, researchers using social science methods have attempted to understand the role of sex in advertising for selling brands. Specifically, they have attempted to understand exactly how sexual content influences the advertising communication process. In this article, I organize this body of research by first defining and describing common types of sexual content examined by investigators, and then by reviewing major approaches in pertinent effects research. Finally, I set forth areas for future research that can enhance the congruence between sexual appeal research with advertising practice. These areas include further analysis of sex-related appeals in ads, examining whether and how sexual content can influence brand perceptions, and the utility of including personality variables (e.g., erotophobia/philia) in future studies. This review is limited to United States-based research because the bulk of sex in advertising research consists of U.S. media content and population samples. Included in the review is illustrative content analysis research, as well as an exhaustive collection of effects studies.

The purpose of this review is not to help marketers make better use of sex in order to persuade consumers but to clarify and provide a groundwork that helps academic researchers and public policymakers realize how mediated sexual content can influence consumers. Only by first understanding what Gould (1994) called teleological research, which addresses effects and consequences of sexual appeals on the target audience, can ethics-related policies, such as choice enhancement-- policies that increase consumer choices and foster individual responsibility-or consumer protection be adequately addressed.

Sexual Content in Advertising

Just as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart (1964, p. 197) described pornography, "I know it when I see it," similarly vague descriptions are used to convey sex in advertising (see Strong, 1979). When the general public considers sex in advertising, a wide variety of exemplars come to mind. Some consider sexual content to be promotional messages about feminine hygiene products (Johnson & Satow, 1978). Others describe imperceptible sexual images inserted into ads, popularized by Wilson Key (1973) in his book Subliminal Seduction, as sex in advertising. For some individuals, fetishized objects and parts of the body come to mind (Schroeder & Borgerson, 2003). Many young adults think of buxom bikini-clad young women and shirtless, welldefined handsome men hawking products as examples of sex in advertising (Reichert & Ramirez, 2000).