The Effectiveness of Using Sexual Appeals in Advertising: Memory for Sexual and Nonsexual Visual Content Across Genders

IF 1.7 4区心理学 Q2 COMMUNICATION

Journal of Media Psychology-Theories Methods and Applications Pub Date : 2018-10-01 DOI:10.1027/1864-1105/a000194

Lelia Samson

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引用次数: 19

Abstract

This study empirically investigates the effectiveness of using visual sexual appeals on the memory of men and women. It examines memory for the commercials activated by sexual versus nonsexual visual appeals. A mixed-factorial experiment was conducted. Visual recognition and free recall were recorded in 146 participants (males = 71 and females = 75). The results substantiate the evolutionary psychology claims. Support for the motivational information-processing and the distraction hypothesis was found in male viewers. The results indicate that sexual appeals enhance memory for the advertisements themselves, but they distract men from processing brand-related information. Male participants encoded and recalled less brand-related information from advertisements with sexual appeals. The study offers guidelines for advertisers and marketing producers while also providing insight into gender/sex differences in processing sexual stimuli. It also makes a key theoretical contribution to the field by parsing out the influence of sexual versus nonsexual visual content from the confounding impact of visual sexual versus verbal nonsexual memory.

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广告中使用性吸引力的有效性:性别对性与非性视觉内容的记忆

本研究实证调查了视觉性吸引力对男性和女性记忆的影响。它检查了由性和非性视觉吸引力激活的广告的记忆。进行了混合因子实验。146名参与者(男性71人，女性75人)的视觉识别和自由回忆被记录下来。研究结果证实了进化心理学的说法。在男性观众中发现了对动机信息加工和分心假说的支持。结果表明，性吸引力增强了对广告本身的记忆，但却分散了男性对品牌相关信息的处理。男性参与者编码和回忆较少的与品牌相关的性吸引力广告信息。这项研究为广告商和营销生产者提供了指导方针，同时也为处理性刺激的性别差异提供了见解。它还通过从视觉性记忆与言语非性记忆的混淆影响中解析出性与非性视觉内容的影响，为该领域做出了重要的理论贡献。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Media Psychology-Theories Methods and Applications Multiple-

CiteScore

3.20

自引率

11.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Journal of Media Psychology (JMP) is committed to publishing original, high-quality papers which cover the broad range of media psychological research. This peer-reviewed journal focuses on how human beings select, use, and experience various media as well as how media (use) can affect their cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. Submissions must substantially advance the current state-of the art on a theoretical and/or an empirical level. To name just a few typical fields and domains of inquiry, the Journal of Media Psychology considers manuscripts dealing with research on entertainment, computer-mediated communication (including social media), human-computer interaction, e-learning, computer and video games, virtual environments, or advertising. The journal is also open to research from neighboring disciplines as far as this work ties in with psychological concepts of the uses and effects of the media. Submissions of comparative work, e.g., crossmedia, cross-gender, or cross-cultural, are encouraged. Moreover, submissions including alternative analysis procedures such as the Bayesian approach are welcome. Starting in 2015, the pre-registration of research plans will also be possible. To ensure short turn-around cycles for manuscript review and fast publication, the Journal of Media Psychology relies heavily upon electronic communication and information exchange, starting from electronic submission and continuing throughout the entire review and production process.