News just in: sex doesn’t sell! And apparently the earth is flat and trees are blue too…
No, we’re being serious, a new study has found sexy ads just aren’t hitting the spot for consumers anymore.
Researchers at the University of Illinois, Ball State University, and University of California-Davis looks at ad data involving more than 17,000 consumers from 1969 to 2017 – not just in the US, but Europe, Australia, and Asia too.
While they found consumers were more likely to remember overly-sexual ads (we’re only human after all), they were less likely to remember the brands.
Which is like the ‘anti-advertising.’
Moreover, if they actually remembered the brand, they were more likely to have a negative attitude towards the brands that used sexual references in their ads than those that didn’t.
^ Isn’t this how everyone eats their takeaway… eye-roll
“We found literally zero effect on participants’ intention to buy products in ads with a sexual appeal,” the study’s lead author, John Wirtz, told the University of Illinois.
“This assumption that sex sells—well, no, according to our study, it doesn’t. There’s no indication that there’s a positive effect.”
And, in the least surprising news of all time, men (on average) liked the ads with sexual appeals. But we guess if they don’t remember the brand then overly-sexualised ads could be a thing of the past.
Here’s hoping!
And may we make the suggestion for more cute puppy ads in their place?
