Are religious customers skeptical toward sexually appealing advertising?

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to shed new light on the consumer response toward sex appeal in advertising and investigates ad skepticism in a culturally diverse context. Design/methodology/approach By using the qualitative research methodology, the following study draws upon informant opinions regarding the extent of graphic nudity in print advertising is needed to avoid undesirable reactions from potential consumers and how religiosity influences their attitudes toward sexually appealing advertisements. The information was obtained through semi-structured in-depth interviews with 22 interviewees from four groups, namely, academia, advertising practitioners, religious figures and general consumers. Findings The remarkable findings to emerge from the interviews relate to the following: the role of religiosity vis-à-vis nudity and the “lowering of the gaze” concept in Islam, the objectification and stereotypical portrayals of women, the irrational depiction of sexuality and intimacy and factors that lead to contextual interpretation. Research limitations/implications The result provides further evidence that skepticism does not only exist on a cognitive basis but also on an emotional level as a response to the exaggeration, unrealistic and irritating claims made in some adverts. Practical implications This study suggests that advertisers should advance their cultural comprehension by taking into account the moral and social differences. Originality/value This has been the first study to investigate the skepticism toward sex appeal in advertising and integrate both cognitive and affective context of skepticism.

Femvertising practices on social media: a comparison of luxury and non-luxury brands

“…Research indicates that women are often depicted as sex objects or sex symbols in advertising (e.g., Choi et al, 2020;Furnham and Mak, 1999;Stankiewicz and Rosselli, 2008;Wirtz et al, 2018). For luxury brands, in particular, past evidence shows that marketers often use sexual content in order to emphasise luxury attributes, such as elegance and exclusivity (Sugiarto and de Barnier, 2019), which reflect hedonic benefits that consumers aspire to attain from luxury purchases. This strategy appears to be unique to luxury brands that try to boost self-esteem by presenting women as sexier and more beautiful.…”

“…Sexual appeals and unrelated sexuality are a common practice in advertising across various product categories as it attracts attention and triggers audience emotions (Trivedi and Teichert, 2021; Wirtz et al , 2018). However, these practices have been criticised on ethical grounds, as they promote sexual objectification (Sugiarto and de Barnier, 2019), which involves “valuing people primarily for their sex appeal, and setting sexiness as a standard of physical attractiveness” (Nowatzki and Morry, 2009, p. 95).…”

“…Nevertheless, most of the extant research on femvertising addresses traditional media (Strebinger et al , 2018; Sugiarto and de Barnier, 2019) with limited focus on social media platforms (Feng et al , 2019), in spite of brands’ increasing spending on social media advertising (Statista, 2022a) and the fact that femvertising campaigns’ success is partially attributed to the viral nature of social media (Saxena and Khanna, 2013). Additionally, there is scarce evidence regarding the use and effectiveness of femvertising across different contexts.…”

Who Cares More About the Environment, Those with an Intrinsic, an Extrinsic, a Quest, or an Atheistic Religious Orientation?: Investigating the Effect of Religious Ad Appeals on Attitudes Toward the Environment

“…For example, Forever 21 and In-N-Out Burger used religious cues in their promotional efforts, such as imprinting “John 3:16,” a famous biblical verse, on shopping bags. Decades of studies have confirmed that religious beliefs can impact consumer behavior and responses to advertising messages (Rice & Al-Mossawi, 2002 ; Sugiarto & de Barnier, 2019 ).…”

Consumer reactions to nudity in print advertising: Comparing same‐gender and opposite‐gender effects

“…Gratuitous sexual stimuli are used across the media vehicles by marketers based on the notion that “sex sells” (Richmond & Hartman, 1982; Wyllie et al, 2014). In an effort to trigger primal biological instincts of consumers, thereby promoting attention to and interest in the advertisement (Dahl et al, 2009), marketers have increasingly resorted to using completely nude or partially clad models in advertising (Beetles & Harris, 2016; Sugiarto & de Barnier, 2019). In line with Reichert et al (2011), seminude models are identified as the ones that are partially clad (e.g., a female model in bra and underwear, while a male model in underwear or shorts).…”