How and why does the Tradition of Sex Sells still work?

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Research1

Problem Statement1

Rationale2

Aims and Objectives3

Purpose of the Study3

Research Questions3

Main Research Question3

Subsidiary Research Questions4

Theoretical Framework4

Ethical Concern5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW7

What is Sex in Advertising?7

Does Sex Sell?7

Sexual Appeal and Advertising8

Step 1: Communication9

Step 2: Attention10

Selling Dreams11

Type of appeal11

Level of explicitness12

Step 3: Comprehension13

Amount of information14

Selling Product15

Step4: Yielding15

Age16

Young generation attitude towards Advertisements16

Level of acceptance17

Step5: Retention17

Repetition18

Clutter19

Time19

Step 6: Action19

Psychoanalysis and Selling Dreams20

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY22

Research Design and Methodology22

Secondary Research Methods22

Primary Research Methods23

Qualitative and Quantitative Research Method23

Selection of Participants24

Data preparation and statistical procedures24

Literature Search24

Steps in mixed methodology25

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND FINDINGS27

Analysis of Survey Questionnaire27

Sample Size27

The Survey27

Question 01: Advertising and young generation28

Question 02: Sexual appeal28

Question 03: Men's Representation29

Question 04: Sex in advertising29

Question 05: Sex Sells30

Question 06: Female and Advertisements31

Question 07: Brands (Products) and Sexual Appeals31

Descriptive Analysis32

Acceptance rate33

Results Interpretation33

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION35

Areas for Future Research36

BIBLIOGRAPHY37

APPENDIX40

Questionnaire40

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Research

Sexual appeals in persuasive messages are becoming more prevalent and more explicit. Advertisers commonly use sex as a tool to attract attention to and interest in their products. Although many advertisers and researchers have attempted to answer this question, the overall answer seems to be "it depends".

Researchers still do not understand when and why sexual appeals are effective. This paper reports why the tradition of sex sells stills work and how the concept of sex in advertising is expanding globally. Moderators of this relationship were also examined to determine how different types of sexual information, experimental and consumer characteristics, and measures of effectiveness affect consumer processing and evaluations of products, brands, and advertisements. It was hoped that a better understanding of the circumstances in which sexual appeals do work would be reached in this study by quantitatively examining the extensive body of research on the effectiveness of sexual appeals in advertising.

Problem Statement

Basically, increasing the likelihood of being exposed to a message should increase the likelihood of being persuaded by that message. Because the current study was a meta-analysis of experiments in which 100 percent presented a portion of participants with a sexual message, participants had no control over message presentation.

In real life, however, although message recipients have little control over whether or not sexual messages actually exist, they have more control over their own exposure to such messages. The main influence on whether or not people will be exposed to sexual appeals, and thus able to possibly act upon those messages, may be the sex of both the message viewer and any model portrayed in the message. The overall influence of sex will be discussed separately at the end of ...