Consumer responses to sex appeal advertising: a cross‐cultural study

Abstract

Purpose -Sex appeal has been widely used in most countries. However, little is known about consumers' responses to sex appeal advertising in different cultures. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of sex appeal on ad and brand evaluation among Australian, Chinese and US consumers. Design/methodology/approach -The paper adopted a three (Australia, China and the USA) £ two (male or female model) £ two (low or high level of sex appeal) between-group factorial design. Findings -Australian, Chinese and US consumers have significantly different attitudes when exposed to the same ad. However, consumer buying intentions towards the advertised brand are not significantly different. Despite the general assumption that Chinese consumers might react least favourably to sex appeal ads, this paper finds that they hold similar attitudes towards sex appeal ads as US consumers and even more favourable attitudes than Australian consumers. Product involvement is found to be a significant covariate.Research limitations/implications -The sample includes young consumers, who may be more tolerant to sex appeal advertising than older generations in China. A similar situation may exist in Australia and the USA. Practical implications -Understanding how consumers in different cultures respond to different advertising appeal strategies is important for international advertisers. Originality/value -This is the first reported empirical study that compares Chinese consumers' responses to sex appeal advertising with those in Western countries. Findings add to the understanding of the standardisation-localisation debate.

What Can We Know From Selfies- An Exploratory Study Onselfie and the Implication for Marketers

“…breasts, bottoms, and chest/belly muscle). A crosscultural study on sex image used in advertising revealed that Chinese consumer had the least positive attitudes when it comes to sex images used in advertising in comparison to the counterparts from USA and Canada (Liu, Cheng, & Li, 2009). Along with the results of this study, it may imply that the image of being "sexy" is less valued by Chinese, and this attitude can be reflected on their selfies.…”

Investigating effective factors on multimedia advertising: A case study of travel agencies

“…Jeon and Beatty (2002) studied comparative advertising effectiveness in different national cultures. Liu et al (2009) addressed consumer responses to sex appeal advertising for a cross-cultural study. They examined the effect of sex appeal on ad and brand evaluation among Australian, Chinese and US consumers and found that Australian, Chinese and US consumers had significantly different attitudes when exposed to the same advertisement but consumer buying intentions towards the advertised brand were not substantially different.…”

The effectiveness of sex appeal in print ads in relation to a visual register of the message: Articulating a new framework

“…Severn, Belch, & Belch, 1990), gender differences concerning social confirmation and purpose, as well as cultural aspects of nudity in advertising (Beetles & Harris, 2005;Goffman, 1979;Kilbourne, 1999;Liu, Cheng, & Li, 2009;Williamson, 1986), the role of personality in the consumer response to sexual appeals (Black, Organ, & Morton, 2010;Maričić & Radulović, 2013) morality of sexual appeals (Gould, 1994;LaTour & Henthorne, 1994), sexual imagery and portrayal of women in magazine ads (Kang, 1997;Reichert, 2003; Thompson, 2000), emotional response to male nudity (Reichert, Lambiase, Morgan, Carstarphen, & Zavoina, 1999; Simpson, Horton, & Brown, 1996) and male responses only to the use of sexual themes (Grazer & Kessling, 2011). Based on the existing types of sexual content in advertising (nudity, sexual behaviour, physical attractiveness, sexual reference and sexual embeds) this research builds on previous paper (see Autor, 2012) to explore the effects of sexual appeal in print ads related to semiotic codes.…”