Sex Appeal In Advertising

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND

In advertising there is a lot of tactics of persuasion been employed through advertisements and referred as advertising’s appeals such as sex appeal, humor appeal, fear appeal, happiness appeal, sadness appeal and guilt appeal which are known as emotional appeal. These made a ton of profits in advertising industry which is why the advertisers keep using this method especially sexual appeal in fashion advertisements. The sex appeal creates a fantasy for the consumers based on advertising messages and it is quite top in advertising industry. This is being supported by the scholars which are Richmond & Hartman (1982), that sex appeal in advertising is also effective in eliciting fantasy or expressing the imaginative

Generally, towards the print ads, copywriters unhesitatingly used nudity pictures to draw attention from specific advertisements to their sponsoring products. Yet, despite its presence in advertisements, sexuality in advertising can cause negative consumer perception, decrease brand recall and prevent women from buying a product. However, they are lucky because all of these effects will be prevented as supported by the scholars which is state that sexual appeal in advertising are attention grabbing, likeable, arousing, effect inducing, memorable and somewhat more apt to increase interest in the topic advertised in comparison to non-sexual appeal ( Severn et al., 1990 ).

This research aims to primarily understand the sexual appeal in fashion advertisements is by further conducting a critical analysis of its effectiveness. Finally, provide literature overview regarding the effectiveness of sex appeal in fashion advertisements in female magazine, the effects of sex appeal in advertisements on consumer buying’s decision and consumers perception of the sexual appeal in fashion advertisements in female

The effectiveness of sex appeal in fashion advertisements in female magazine.

2. The effect of sex appeal in advertisements, on the consumer’s buying decision.

3. The consumer’s perception of the sexual appeal in fashion advertisements toward female magazine.

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

As for the research hypotheses, these are the hypotheses made based on what the purposes are:

1. Consumer preferences will be increase when sex appeal is used in advertisements.

2. Consumers are more incline towards the sex appeal in advertisements compare to buying the products.

3. The physical stimuli toward the advertisement are the consumers’ perception of sex appealing.

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 The Effectiveness of Sex Appeal in Fashion Advertisements in Female Magazine

The scholars by Reichert & Ramirez (2000), in their article Defining Sexually Oriented Appeals in Advertising: A Grounded Theory Investigation, defined that according to Richmond and Hartman (1982), ascertain that sexual stimuli will enhance brand recall only if it has an appropriate relationship with the product category and the advertising execution. When sex appeal is used inappropriately, such as utilizing it solely as an attention device, exploiting the female body, degrading the female role or insulting propriety, weak brand recall may occur and may in fact produce a negative attitude towards the brand. By the scholarship which are Grazer & Keesling (1995), they are supported the argument which is there are uncertainties