Thus far, as a consequence, the findings fail to fully disentangle the gender-specific effects of nudity on consumer reactions. The inconsistent findings could also have been the result of the omission to consider the interplay of consumer–model gender relations. During this period, both gender roles and sexual lifestyles changed drastically, thereby questioning the representativeness of the derived meta-analytic findings for contemporary society. For example, a recent meta-analysis of 72 publications (Wirtz et al., 2018) that appeared since 1969, with nearly half (42%) of the analyzed articles published before the millennium's turn. The inconsistent findings of previous studies, which provide little empirical guidance to marketers, most likely result from empirical studies dating back over a period spanning more than 50 years. Simpson et al., 1996), involving a very limited number of real (e.g., Amyx & Amyx, 2011 Putrevu, 2008 Tai, 1999 Widing et al., 1991) or fictitious advertisements (e.g., Black et al., 2010 Kassem & John, 1973 Lombardot, 2007 Reichert et al., 2011). Previous studies measuring the effectiveness of nudity on consumer reactions either drew their conclusions from mostly small sample sizes (e.g., Putrevu, 2008 Read et al., 2018 Weller et al., 1979), often consisting of student participants (e.g., Dianoux & Linhart, 2010 Wyllie et al., 2014 Zimmerman & Dahlberg, 2008), or derived results based on only one or two product categories (e.g., Putrevu & Swimberghek, 2013 Severn et al., 1990 P. However, other studies have demonstrated that the use of sexual stimuli in an advertisement can result in either negative (Ford et al., 1991 Peterson & Kerin, 1977 Reichert, LaTour, Lambiase, et al., 2007) or no effects on consumers' reactions (Bello et al., 1983 Jones et al., 1998 Reichert, LaTour, Lambiase, et al., 2007).Ī closer inspection of the extant literature regarding the effects of nude or seminude models in advertising on consumer reactions reveals several limitations which may have caused confusing and contradictory findings. Some empirical studies on advertising effectiveness have shown that such use of blatant sexual content in advertising results in an orienting response, that is, a short-term increase in attention (Dianoux & Linhart, 2010 Dudley, 1999 Grazer & Keesling, 1995) as well as a more lasting voluntary attitudinal response with a change in cognitive preferences (LaTour, 1990 Pope et al., 2004). Critical reviews of advertising have found that “… women's bodies, and men's bodies too these days, are dismembered, packaged, and used to sell everything from chain to chewing gum” (Kilbourne, 1999, pp. Accompanying business practice, researchers have investigated the effects of sexual appeals on consumer reaction since the late 1960s (e.g., Morrison & Sherman, 1972 Steadman, 1969 Venkatesan & Losco, 1975). Withstanding major societal changes and shifts in ethical standards, nude or scantily clad models are still widely used in advertising by marketers to arouse consumer emotions. In contrast, male consumers demonstrate a significantly positive and equally strong influence of opposite-gender and same-gender seminude stimuli on all of the four variables. Female consumers show positive same-gender results for both seminude and fully clothed female models, indicating strong homophily, but nonsignificant opposite-gender effects on information search, positive attitude change, integration of brand into consideration set, and purchase intentions. The empirical data were derived from a large-scale market research initiative from Germany with 61,399 consumer evaluations of 147 real ads from 16 product categories. This study, thereby, offers a framework for the appropriate choice of seminude or fully clothed human stimuli based on advertisers' objectives and consumer–model gender interactions.
The goal of this study is to disentangle the effects of opposite-gender and same-gender nudity on female and male consumers' reactions. However, the empirical evidence concerning the effects of nudity on consumer reactions is inconclusive. It is often assumed that exposure to nude stimuli in advertising influences consumer behavior positively.
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