There is no question about it—sex sells. According to the article, “Women Hate Sexually Explicit Ads, Unless They’re Selling Something Expensive,” written by Katy Waldman, it proves how sex doesn’t always sell. A study done by researchers led by Kathleen Vohs at University of Minnesota demonstrates how sexual ads aren’t always preferred. The study done was between men and women. Some of the ads had explicit sexuality, while others had majestic snowcapped mountains and no sexuality. The product was the same wristwatch, but the prices were different for each ad. According to the study, the majority of women preferred the expensive $1,250 watch rather than the cheap $10 watch, which was paired with a sexual woman. For the men, it wasn’t much of a difference choosing between the expensive or cheap watch, even when the ads contained men. Waldman’s main objective was to demonstrate that women are attracted to sexual ads when the product is expensive.
Sexual ads are known to sell more often than not, but when there is a woman in an ad wearing or showing an expensive product, most women will want this product more. The author explains how women don’t normally like to be perceived as easy or cheap, and when there is an ad for a low-priced watch paired with a sexual model, it makes women feel as though they are also cheap. Women are just as likely to be attracted to a sexual ad as men, so this information may be confusing to why men don’t have a preference of a sexual ad with an expensive product or not, whereas majority of women do.
Waldman wrote, “The story goes that since women sell sex to men in exchange for resources—including hard-to-quantify ones like attention—they want the world to perceive their eroticized bodies as ‘rare and precious’. This shows that comparing women to expensive products makes them feel more worthy and important.
This could be good or bad. It could indicate how women are the following: insecure, picky, or powerful. Woman could be insecure about their bodies and the only way of feeling self worth is if they’re compared to an expensive product in an ad. Also, they could be more picky about what they want for a gift, such as an expensive ring. It could be good by demonstrating woman power, and how most women won’t fall for anything cheap and want to feel as though they are worth something more than a cheap object.
Yes, most consumers are attracted to sexuality, but sexuality comes with a cost—literally. With this article, it is known that women like to be compared with higher priced products to feel as though they are just as important.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/12/05/study_says_women_find_sexually_explicit_ads_more_appealing_when_they_are.html