Sexual appeals in social marketing : the influence of feminism and sexual attitude

Abstract

This study examined how females react to the use of sexual appeals in a social marketing context. Sexual appeal was operationalized as the use of female models who are suggestively dressed. Outcome variables, offensiveness, attitude towards the ad and behaviour intention were tested. Feminism and sexual attitude were included as moderators. Three phases were conducted: pretest, short interviews and main study. The pretest and main study used a within study experimental design. Two hundred and nineteen women participated in the main study. It was discovered that overall individuals are offended by the use of suggestiveness, have a lower attitude towards the ad and are less inclined to perform the proposed behaviour. Feminism had no influence on an individual’s reaction while sexual attitude only influenced offensiveness. This study has implications for social marketers who currently use sexual appeals to promote their behaviour as sexual appeals could results in a negative effect.