Student Researcher: Shannon Lynch (BA Student). This paper was based on an undergraduate Honors thesis.
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Shyam Sundar Sethuraman
Introduction
The effects of media images on society, especially in advertising, seem to be a constant topic of both debate and research in the communication field. An ad is supposed to place a product or service in an ideal setting or situation so as to entice the viewer to become interested in purchasing it. Beyond creating awareness of new products, brand image, and brand loyalty, evoking purchase intentions in consumers is the ultimate goal of an advertiser. Therefore, an important question that crops up relates to the ideal setting for a product or service that will make it sell. Two factors, in particular, become salient as points of interest when researching the topic namely, the appeal that an ad uses and the context in which it is used. For instance, does the adage "sex sells" ring true? Does materialism play a bigger role in influencing consumer behavior? Does the placement of an ad in or around a related editorial article magnify the ad's appeal and therefore increase purchasing intentions toward the product featured in the ad? This study attempted to answer these questions.
Hypotheses
Based on prior research on advertising appeals, as well as contextual priming theory, the following hypotheses were forwarded:
H1: Participants exposed to materialistic advertisements will show greater purchasing intentions than those participants exposed to sexual advertisements.
H2: Participants exposed to sexual ads will rate them as more appealing than those participants exposed to materialistic ads.
H3: Participants in contextual priming conditions will rate an ad as more appealing than will participants in non-priming conditions.
H4: Participants in contextual priming conditions will show greater purchasing intentions than will participants in non-priming conditions.
Method
Seventy-two participants in a 2X2, between-participants, factorial experiment were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions. In two conditions, participants read an article modeled after an article in a young adult magazine, which surrounded two different product advertisements. These represented the contextual priming conditions. In the non-priming conditions, participants were exposed to only the ads. One of each of the contextual priming and non-priming conditions had materialistic copy and/or ads. The other contextual priming and non-priming condition used sexual copy and/or ads. After participants were exposed to the stimulus materials, their cognitive and affective responses were measured with a paper-and-pencil questionnaire.
Results
H1: Not supported. Participants exposed to materialistic advertisements did not show significantly greater purchasing intentions than those participants exposed to sexual advertisements.
H2: Supported. Participants exposed to sexual ads rated them as more appealing than those participants exposed to materialistic ads.
H3: Disconfirmed. Participants in non-priming conditions rated the ads as more appealing than did participants in contextual priming conditions.
H4: Partially supported. Participants in contextual priming conditions showed greater purchasing intentions than participants in non-priming conditions. However, this finding was only observed with materialistic ads.
Conclusions
Findings from the study partially dispute the idea that "sex sells" by showing how, in certain settings, sexual appeals can have a negative impact on selling a product. The findings also suggest that ads with materialistic appeals can have an effect on purchasing intentions because they equate possessions with social position and success. In addition, the results of the study lend support to contextual priming theory by showing how it can be successful in promoting positive cognitive, affective, and conative responses to advertised products when used to exaggerate an ad's appeal.
For more details/information about this study, please contact:
Shyam Sundar Sethuraman
Associate Professor and Director
Media Effects Research Laboratory
College of Communications
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802
Ph: (814) 865 2173
E-mail: sss12@psu.edu
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