A Projective Assessment of the Effects of Freudian Sexual Symbolism in Liquor Advertisements

Abstract

The present investigation provided a projective assessment of the effects of Freudian symbolism in advertising. 48 male and 48 female undergraduates served as subjects. Liquor advertisements containing phallic and vaginal symbols and advertisements lacking such symbols were presented to the experimental and control groups, respectively. Subjects were then administered a standard Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). All subjects believed that they were participating in a study of memory and retrieval. Clark's scoring system for TAT sexuality content was used to assess the effects of both sets of advertisements. Analyses of variance indicated group differences for two of the three dependent TAT sexuality variables. Results supported the psychoanalytic assumption that genital symbols promote sexual arousal without an observer's conscious awareness. Specifically, the effects of the utilization of Freudian symbolism as a manipulative variable in advertising were demonstrated.

Effect of product design on repurchase intention, electronic word‐of‐mouth, and museum visit intention: Museum random boxes in China

“…In a food experience study, Batat (2019) noted that sensory cues like food symbolism can trigger pleasure. In a study of advertising, Ruth and Mosatche (1985) found that symbolism promotes arousal. Baek and Ok (2017) proposed that esthetics and symbolic design positively relate to emotional arousal.…”

Measuring Responses to Commercials: A Projective-elicitation Approach

“…The commercial to which the subjects were exposed was a "sexy" beer commercials that aired on a network television sports show a year earlier. A "sexy" commercial was selected based on the Freudian assumption that it would induce more arousal and anxiety than a nonsexual commercial, an assumption for which there is empirical evidence (Ruth and Mosatche 1985). The commercial depicted bikini-clad women dancing near a fully-clothed, Caucasian "rapper."…”