Consumer Responses to Exòlicit Sexual Stimuli in Advertising: Artistic vs Provocative Style

This study extends prior research on sexual appeal advertising by developing a model of consumer responses to explicit sexual stimuli conveyed through different expressive styles. The model includes ad-, brand- and behaviour-related variables. A between-subjects experimental design (N=369) was conducted and structural equation modelling was used to estimate the hypothesized relationships. Findings reveal that the use of an artistic format stimulates a better response, both on male and female, than the use of images in merely provocative poses. From a female consumer perspective, all paths were positive and significant when exposed to the artistic nudity stimuli, with the only exception of the positive emotions-purchase intention relationship. Results suggest a moderating role of the mode of representing sexual images on attitude-intention relationships: attitude towards the advertisement generated significantly stronger positive influence on purchase intention for women watching artistic nudity ad, while attitude towards the brand produced significantly stronger positive effect on purchase intention for women watching provocative nudity ad. From a male consumer perspective, the response was similar, but any effect was present between attitude towards the advertisement and purchase intention. Support was found for a moderating influence of expressive styles on positive emotion-to-attitude towards the brand path: positive emotions exerted an influence for male watching artistic nudity ad. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.