Download Impact of Sex Appeals In TV Advertisement

International Conference on Arts and Business Information Systems (ICAEBIS'2012) August 25-26, 2012 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
Impact of Sex Appeals In TV Advertisement
Muhammad Imran Wazir and Ezaz Ullah Ezaz

saturation in the media environmnet, getting proper attention
in the message is more important (Reichert et al., 2001).
Both men and women have some possible moral concerns
about the use of overt sex appeals in advertisement, and they
react differently to diverse form of advertisement (LaTour et
al., 1990). Research confirms that response to sex appeal
advertisement are specific to the target audience rather than
universal (Mittal and Lassar, 2000). Asian countries
specifically with muslim cultures, are most conservative
regarding sensual gratification. So the advertisement,
packaging and products must be of muslim standards.
Most Companies are using sex appeals in advertisements in
different countries knowing very little about the responses of
consumers to those appeals in that specific culture (Liu et al.,
2009). Due to the increasing usage of sex appeals in
advertisement in recent years there is extensive literature in
Western countries on the evaluation of sex appeals
advertisement. However, very little research has been
conducted on sex appeals advertising in Asian countries like
China (Liu et al., 2006). Although, different international
brands are flooding in to Pakistan, so the research on the
Pakistani consumers is inadequate.
Most of the ads contains young age models which shows
that they are targeting young age college male/ females. When
young female adults compare their level of attractivness with
those showed models in the ads, in most cases they will
percieve negative discripency between their own and of
models attractiveness (Richins, 1991).
As Pakistan is becoming more attractive market for the
international brands, and because of extensive competition
among the brands, the usage of effective advertisement is
needed to attract the potential customers. But the question is
that either they should adopt local advertisement strategy or
global advertisement strategy ? To answer such a managerial
question the companies must should know that how the
Pakistani consumers respond to different advertisement.
Kalliny and Gentry (2007) reported some similarities and
differences between the Arab and U.S cultures. Despite all the
similarities between the two cultures, the advertising agencies
should pay attention to the differences. The advertisement
produced in one country should not be placed in any othere
country in the same manner because of the culture differenes.
The advertiser should pay attention to the cultural values,
because these values are directly related to the social and
religious values and going againt those values will be very
offensive, which may leads to create a negative perception
toward the brand as well.
Attitude toward the advertisement has been founded as an
intervenient in the process through which advertising
Abstract—The purpose of this study is to know about the
attitudes of the viewers towards the sex appeals in advertisement and
to know whether these appeals are acceptable in Pakistani society or
not, and to know whether attitudes developed by the sexual
advertisements leads the same attitude toward the brand and purchase
intention or not. The study found that the viewers do not like the
sexual appeals in TV advertisements. The data has been collected
from 150 respondents of Peshawar, in which 54 were females and 96
were male respondents. After showing different sex appeal
advertisements, respondents were given a questionnaire to fill. By
using collected data the study found that there is significant inverse
relationship between sex appeal advertisements and attitude towards
the showed advertisement (Aad), and the found results lead to the
attitude towards the brand and purchase intention. The findings will
help the national and international companies to modify and make
their advertisements according to the consumer preference.
Keywords—TV advertisement,
preferences, brand purchase intention.
sex
appeals,
consumer
I. INTRODUCTION
A
DVERTISEMENT is an effective communicational tool
used by the marketers to attract the potential customers.
The television viewers are bombarded with different sort of
advertisements and continuously faced with mass media
messages and advertisements from the television, radio and
internet. The exposure of customers and viewers to such sort
of mass media has great impact upon thinking, values,
purchases and actions (Jan, 2005). To attract the potential
customers, marketers use sex appeals practices in
advertisement.
In broad sense sex appeals are defined as the messages, and
brand information in advertisement which exposed sexuality
(Tomet al., 2001). Sex appeals in advertisement may be found
in verbal elements, visual, sound, and portray varying degrees
of nudity (Gould, 1994).
The advertisement with sex appeals are attract more
attention with lasting memorability and interest, as compared
to the non-sex appeals in advertisement. As compared to the
non sexual advertisements (Ads), sexual advertisement are
more likeable and more apt to increase the interest in related
topic.Therefore, most of the non profit organizations use
these appeals for different awareness purposes. Because of the
Muhammad Imran Wazir is Assistant Professor at Institute of Management
Sciences (IMSciences) Peshawar, Pakistan (phone: +92-91 5861024-5; fax:
+92-91-5861026; e-mail: [email protected]).
Ezaz Ullah Ezaz is Assistant to Director Research and Development at
CECOC University Peshawar (e-mail: [email protected]).
228
International Conference on Arts and Business Information Systems (ICAEBIS'2012) August 25-26, 2012 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
influence attitude toward the brand and purchase intention
(MacKenzie et al., 1986).
Nudity is one of the most controversial aspect that differ
the European advertisement from the advertisement in the
muslim countries. In western culture, nudity is being used
unlimited, for example underwear ads,but nudity is totally
forbidden in Muslim cultures. In this aspect islamic culture is
very conservative. However there are even some muslim
countries, like UAE where the sexual advertisements are
acceptable, but the country like Pakistan having strong
commitment with the religion and social values.
The study of Henthorne and LaTour (1995) reported that
the use of high nude appeals in print advertisement may not be
percieved as morally right or culturally acceptable to viewers.
The lack of moral equity in advertisement, results in directly
negative feelings of the viewers towards the advertisement
and indirectly towards the brand.
The globalization trend are adversely affecting the
traditions and culture of the Pakistan. If the advertisers do not
change the advertisement style then it can worsen the ethical
and moral values of Pakistani society (Usman et al., 2010).
Islamic followers found the advertisement of gender/sex
related products, social/political groups and health and care
products most offensive relative to other three religions
(Buddhism,Christianity,Non religious believers). The religion
was founded as an element of the culture that have an impact
on the every aspect of the society. Therefore, the marketer
should never underestimate its importance (Fam et al., 2004).
The ongoing telivision advertisement is unethical because
of the emphasis on sex appeals Khattak and Khan(2009). It
was found that most of the respondents showed very
significiant negative feelings about the social consequences of
the current telivision advertisement and they demand the
changes by the regulatory authorities.
To understand the positive and negative reactions of the
consumer and ethical dilemma arosed from the sex appeal
advertising, we must consider the basic concepts in the
normative ethical theories of moral philosophy (Gould, 1994).
questions in questionnaire. The advertisements were having
different sort of sex appeals that is, sex arousal sounds, poses
and the show off of the specific parts of the body which were
half naked (Figures 1, 2...8). On the bases of eight
advertisements the data has been collected.
II. DATA COLLECTION
Table 1.1 One-Sample Statistics
III. METHODOLOGY
The descriptive statistics were used for analyzing the
consequences of the sex appeal advertisements. The t-test was
performed to know the significance of the descriptive statistics
with the reference value of 3, to know the relationship among
the sex appeals in the advertisement and attitude of the
respondents towards those advertisements. Linear regression
model was used while determining the relationship between
attitude towards the advertisement, attitude towards the brand
and purchase intention. All tests were conducted at 5% level
of significance.
IV. ANALYSIS
The respondents completed six 5-point items that were
added to measure the attitude towards the ad (Aad) and three
5-point items used to measure the attitude toward the brand
(Abr). Purchase intention was measured by 5-point items. The
scale was anchored by “definitely will not” to “definitely
will”. The Cronbach's Alpha value was .790, which shows its
reliability.
With regard H1 which states that there is a significant
inverse relationship between sex appeals Ad and attitude
towards the (Aad). The results show that more respondents
dislike sex appeals in advertisement (Table 1.1). Because the
mean is 2.5522 which is smaller than neutral value equal to 3.
Values rights to the neutral were tends to likeness and to the
left were tend to the dislikeness. The results showed
significant effects (that is, p<.05) which confirm to indications
of significant overall model results. The observed t value for
this test is -11.507, with an associated (two tailed) significant
of 0.0000<0.05, which shows the inverse relationship between
sex appeals ad and attitude towards the ad (Aad).
The population of the study was the diverse area’s students
of MBA from Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar
KPK and the random sampling technique has been used on the
sample of 150 respondents between the age group 20-30.
Among the 150 sample, 96 were male and 54 were female
students. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection
which was taken from LaTour and Henthorne (1994) study
and was modified according to Pakistani environment and
cultural. The questionnaire was of three parts “attitude toward
the ad, attitude toward the brand and purchase intention”. The
questionnaire was designed to measure, attitude of consumers
towards the sex appeal advertisements, attitude towards the
brand and purchase intention. Likert scale was used for each
variable ranging from 1 to 5 where 1 coded as “strongly
disagree” and 5 coded as “strongly agree”. Before filling the
questionnaire, one sex appeal advertisement was shown to the
each and every respondent through laptop, in order to allow
them sufficient time to make their mind according to the given
Var
N
Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Aad 150 2.5522
.47657
.03891
Table 1.2 One-Sample Test
Test Value = 3
Var t
Sig.P
(2Df tailed)
Aad 11 14
.000
.5 9
07
229
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Mean
Differenc
e
Lower Upper
-.44778
-.5247 -.3709
International Conference on Arts and Business Information Systems (ICAEBIS'2012) August 25-26, 2012 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
To test the H2, regression analysis has been used. The
analysis enabled us to examine the positive relationship
between independent variable (Aad) and dependant variable
attitude towards the brand (Abr). Table 2.3 shows that the
independent variable (Aad) has Beta =.509 with high
significance(P<.05 and F-51.69) , which means that each unit
change in the independent variable (Aad) change the
dependent variable (Abr) 0.50 times positively. In simple
words positive Beta value shows that “if attitude toward the
sex appeals would favorable, then the attitude toward the
brand would be favorable as well. But if the Aad would be
unfavorable, then Abr would unfavorable as well”. The R
square (25.9%), which means that the change in dependent
variable (Abr) because of independent variable (Aad) is 25.9
%.
Table 2.1
Model
R
1
.509a
Table 3.1
Mode
l
R
1
.259
.726a .527
1
a. Predictors: (Constant), Aad
ANOVA
Sum of
Squares
1 Regression 40.601
Df
Mean
Square
1
40.601
.785
Residual
116.230
148
Total
156.830
149
F
.524
ANOVAb
Mean
Square
82.698
1
82.698
Residual
74.133
148 .501
Total
156.830
149
Regression
Sig.
51.699 .000a
1 (Constant)
Aad
B
Std.
Error Beta
t
Sig.
P
(Constant)
.874
.172
5.094
.000
Purchase
intention
.716
.056
Model
Standardized
Coefficients
1
B
Std. Error Beta
t
Sig.
.153
.395
.388
.699
1.095
.152
.509
165.09
.000a
9
Unstandardize
d
Standardized
Coefficients
Coefficients
Table 2.3. Coefficientsa
Model
Sig.
P
F
Coefficientsa
Table 3.3
a. Predictors: (Constant), Aad
Unstandardized
Coefficients
.70774
a.
Predictors:
(Constant),
Purchase intention
b. Dependent Variable: Attitude towards brand
(Abr)
b
Model
R Std. Error of
the Estimate
Sum
of
Squares df
Model
.88619
Table 2.2
Adjusted
Square
Table 3.2
Std. Error of the
Estimate
.254
R
Square
a. Predictors: (Constant), Purchase intention
Model Summary
Adjusted
R
R Square Square
Model Summary
.726
12.849 .000
a. Dependent Variable: (Abr)
Furthermore the study found that as compared to the male
respondents, females have more negative attitude towards sex
appeals advertisements.
7.190 .000
a.
Dependent (Abr)
Variable:
Table 4.1 Attitude toward Ad
To test H3, regression analysis used again. The analysis
enabled us to examine the positive relationship between
independent variable, attitude towards the brand (Abr) and
dependant variable Purchase intention. Table 3.3 shows that
the independent variable
(Abr) has Beta =.726 with high significant (P<.05 and F=169)
which means that each unit change in the independent variable
(Abr) change the Purchase intention positively .726 times.
In simple words positive Beta value shows that “if attitude
toward the brand (Abr) would favorable, then the purchase
intention would be favorable as well. But if the Abr would be
unfavorable, then the purchase intention would unfavorable as
well”. The value of R square is 0.527(52%), which means that
because of independent variable (Abr) 52.7% change occurs
in dependent variable (PI).
Male/femal
e
Mean
N
Std. Deviation
female
2.3889 54
.38171
male
2.6441 96
.50124
Total
2.5522 150 .47657
Table 4.2 Attitude toward the brand (Abr)
230
Male/female
Mean
N
Std. Deviation
female
2.9074 54
.83532
male
2.9722 96
1.12251
International Conference on Arts and Business Information Systems (ICAEBIS'2012) August 25-26, 2012 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
purchase intention. The outcomes of this research showed
significantly negative feelings of the respondent about the
social cost of the sex appeal in TV ads.
The results of the study may help the regulatory authority to
ban such sort of advertisement, because the study found that
both male and female have nearly same negative attitude
towards the sexual advertisements and brands shown in those
advertisements. But as compare to the male, female were
having high favorable purchase intention than male to the
brand. It may, because of the unavailability of close substitute
of those products. The findings of the study reveal that sexual
appeals in advertisement are unacceptable in our society, and
people don’t like sex appeals in advertisements. If any
unethical appeals will find in advertisement, it will lead to
build a negative attitude towards the ad, which will further
leads to build a negative attitude toward brand and purchase
intention.
The marketer should keep in mind that the globalization
strategy is unacceptable everywhere, because of the
differences in cultural values and norms. So to make a
marketing campaign, the perception and cultural values of the
target market should never ignore.
A conclusion section is not required. Although a conclusion
may review the main points of the paper, do not replicate the
abstract as the conclusion. A conclusion might elaborate on
the importance of the work or suggest applications and
extensions.
Table 4.2 Attitude toward the brand (Abr)
Male/female
Mean
N
Std. Deviation
female
2.9074 54
.83532
male
2.9722 96
1.12251
Total
2.9489 150 1.02594
The attitude towards the brand was mostly equal for both the genders
(Table 4.2). But regarding purchase intention, females are having
more favorable intention than male respondents (Table 4.3).
Table 4.3
Purchase intention (PI)
Male/female Mean
N
Std. Deviation
Female
2.9630 54
.67189
Male
2.8646 96
1.20193
Total
2.9000 150 1.04110
V. DIRECTION FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
 The additional research may be done to find “the impact of
sex appeals in print advertisement”.
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VI. LIMITATIONS
[3]
One of the major limitations of this study is the respondents
because they were not fully participative due to their privacy
issues. The limits of the study prevent it from generalization
of the obtained results.
The main concern of this research was only the television
advertisements, which is another limitation of this study. The
outcomes and the behavior of the respondents may be
different for print advertisements.
Keeping in mind the above mentioned limitations, the
outcomes of this research have pointed out some important
effects of the sexual appeal in TV advertisement. The results
obtained from the study also contributed important
information about the effects of using TV ads which has sex
appeal.
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Generally, our society is considered as a Muslim society,
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cultural boundaries. In spite of modernism and globalization,
people of Pakistan have some ethical concerns about the
advertisements. Our research shows that most of the people
don’t like sexual appeals in advertisement, and such sort of
dislikeness leads to negative attitude towards the brand and
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