VOLUME 10 NUMBER 3 1993

Female Nudity
ATTITUDES TOWARD THE AD AND THE BRAND, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ADVERTISING STRATEGY
Michael S. LaTour and Tony L. Henthorne

It is not uncommon to pick up a generalinterest consumer magazine and find an advertisement for fragrances or intimate apparel (among others) featuring provocatively attired and posed female models. Numerous examples come readily to mind. Obsession perfume and cologne advertising by Calvin Klein frequently features a nude couple in various provocative positions. In a tantalizing Victoria's Secret ad, a scantily clad pair are shown in a compromising embrace. Quite often in women's magazines a scantily clad or nude female model is used to elicit a vicarious experience of sensuality. It had been predicted that the decade of the 1980s would employ substantially greater use of sexual content than in earlier times (Kerin et al., 1979). Indeed, this prediction has been found to be true. In fact, the use of sex in advertising has been increasing at a significant rate for over two decades (Soley and Reid, 1988). Today the use of sex and nudity in print advertising continues to be a very controversial topic, as is evidenced by the strength and variability of reactions to its usage. Typically, sexual (or erotic) advertising appeals have varied along two dimensions:
Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 10 No. 3, 1993, pp. 25-32, MCB University Press, 0736-3761

(1) the amount of nudity in the ad (Peterson and Kerin, 1977); (2) the degree of suggestiveness in the ad (Sciglimpaglia et al., 1978). Typically, the use of sexual communication appeals have met with somewhat mixed consumer response, which tends to be very individualistic in nature (Mitchell, 1986). While nudity and erotic content have been found generally to increase attention to the advertisement, it typically does not enhance recall or positive feelings toward the product (Alexander and Judd, 1979). Advertisements containing explicit nudity have been found to be less favorably perceived and perhaps even considered more offensive than the same ad with a moderately clothed model (Peterson and Kerin, 1977). In addition, such ads have been found to be accompanied by significant levels of psychological tension. According to theory and empirical testing, ad-induced tension arousal may be dysfunctional for ad information processing and is closely associated with substantial negative feelings toward an ad (LaTour, 1990). It has been determined also that the effectiveness of suggestive advertisements may depend heavily on the degree of congruence between the sexy model and the specific product being promoted (Peterson and Kerin, 1977).
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The pictorial component in advertisements has been shown to have a possible effect on both beliefs about product attributes and attitude toward the ad. Both of these components then have an effect on attitude toward the brand (Mitchell, 1986).

are recognized, the purpose here is not to generalize globally from these results, but rather within a viable representative sample, to evaluate the possibility of gender differences in reaction to such ads as a basis for advocating case-by-case testing with other samples, ads, and products.
THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

GENDER-SPECIFIC ATTITUDES TOWARD THE AD WERE EXPLORED

The purpose of this research is to study the response to female nudity erotic appeals so as to apply the insights gained to relevant considerations for advertising strategies. Gender-specific attitudes were explored not only toward the ad but also toward the same brand under different conditions. Past research suggests that gender-specific conditioning concerning sex "taboos" and sexuality may allow men to react far more favorably and to be more psychologically comfortable in their reactions to such stimuli than are women (LaTour, 1990). The possibility that negative reactions may be accompanied by tension generation was also explored. Strategic implications for the common practice of using such erotic ads are then discussed.
THE RESEARCH

A sample of 202 business majors (166 men, 86 women) from a southern university was selected for the study. These students provide a convenient yet viable population for the analysis of attitudes toward ads. They are also relevant as a target market for erotic appeals, given that such ads often target youth-orientated markets (LaTour, 1990). While the limitations of such a sample 26

Participants were assigned randomly to one of three treatment groups in different locations within the same building. A slide projector was used to present two ads to each group. Participants were spread out within the rooms and requested not to talk to or look at one another during the experiment. Trained research assistants monitored this process and were stationed at unobtrusive locations throughout the experimental areas. All participants were fully debriefed at the conclusion of the experiment. While it is recognized that the "artificiality" of the group setting could impact the responses, it is believed that the participants' lack of close proximity to each other would help nullify that effect. Before viewing the treatment ads, participants viewed a perfume ad featuring the same verbal message ("Excitement! Beyond Imagination") and product image (a perfume bottle) superimposed over a peaceful landscape scene. This "pre-treatment" ad was used to give the subject the impression that this was a general test of ads instead of a test of erotic appeals, and to provide a baseline level of arousal. The experimental manipulation was accomplished by three print ads featuring female models in different degrees of exposure, all with the same copy, and featuring the same perfume bottle as in the landscape ad. The first treatment

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pictured a partially clothed (semi-nude) female with her breasts and lower abdomen covered by the perfume bottle image; 39 men and 25 women were randomly assigned to this group. The second version featured the same model with her breasts and lower abdomen exposed (nude); 40 men and 30 women were assigned to this group. The third version (viewed by 37 men and 31 women) featured a fully clothed male and a fully clothed female model (demure subjects) standing apart from each other in a non-suggestive pose. (While consideration was given to the inclusion of male nudity, the relative dominance of female nudity erotic appeals in the print media caused us to focus our effects in that vein. Future research may wish to address more fully the issue of female versus male nudity.) The three treatment ads were selected from alternatives presented and discussed in focus group interviews. The pictorial portions of the ads were taken from general readership magazines. After viewing the ads, the participants were asked to respond to questionnaires designed to measure attitudes toward the ad, attitudes toward the brand, and tension. In addition, "perceived eroticism" was measured in order to compare such perceptions with attitude responses.

Perfume has erotic connotations, and perfume ads often contain some degree of nudity; therefore subjects should not be surprised by the nudity. In addition, the sample selected is from a student population where perfume is heavily used. Men often buy perfume for women (LaTour, 1990). Two sample tests indicated no statistically significant differences (p<0.05) between those respondents who recognized the brand of perfume in the ad (n=23) and those who did not, in terms of attitude toward the ad and toward the brand ratings. Therefore, it was possible to combine the cases for analysis.
OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE VARIABLES

TENSION RESPONSES DISPLAYED STRONG INTERNAL RELIABILITY

Eight adjective item scales were selected from previous studies dealing with responses to advertising (LaTour, 1990) for a summed item scale measure of the attitude toward the ad. The same procedure was followed for attitude toward the brand (see Table AI). Both scales exhibited strong internal reliability. Two items ("sexy" and "erotic") were summed for a "perceived eroticism" scale. A multiple-item tension scale, which has been featured in previous work (LaTour, 1990) was also utilized. Specifically, respondents were asked if they felt "nervous", "edgy", or "alarmed" when exposed to the treatments. These tension responses displayed strong internal reliability and, therefore, were summed into a "tension" scale.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

Perfume was chosen as the product type in order to reduce the possibility that ad induced reactions would be the result of dissonance between the product type and the picture.
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The influence of the treatments (nude, semi-nude, and demure models) and gender differences on the four dependent

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variables was evaluated. The dependent variables were represented by summed scales for: (1) attitude toward the ad; (2) attitude toward the brand; (3) perceived eroticism of the ads; and (4) tension generation. All statistical tests were evaluated for significance with the p< 0.05 level as the benchmark. (Refer to the Appendix for discussion of the statistical analysis employed.) The specific dependent variable analysis revealed significant ad treatment group differences on the attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, tension, and the perceived eroticism scales. Also, examination of the interaction effects revealed statistically significant differences between gender/treatment combinations for all the dependent variables except eroticism. Specifically, as would be expected, the "nude" ad group saw the ad as the most erotic of the groups, significantly more than the two other groups. While this finding appears intuitively obvious, it does lead to some interesting implications when compared with the interaction effects for gender and ad treatment as they impact attitudes toward the ad and brand.

than those exhibited by women. Women were significantly more favorable in their attitude toward both the ad and brand for the demure and semi-nude treatment than for the nude ad. In addition, men viewing the nude model treatment exhibited a significantly stronger positive attitude toward the brand than did men viewing the demure model treatment. Along with having a much more negative attitude toward the ad and the brand, women viewing the nude model treatment displayed a much greater statistically significant level of tension than men viewing the same ad. Even though both sexes perceived the nude treatment as equally erotic, their reactions in terms of attitude toward the ad and the brand differed. (Table I provides a summary of the major findings.) Clearly advertisers should not be content with generating just "perceived eroticism".
DISCUSSION AND MANAGERIAL RECOMMENDATIONS

MALES DISPLAYED THE STRONGEST POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Interaction effects showed that males viewing the nude treatment displayed the strongest positive attitude toward both the ad and the brand. Also, their attitudes were significantly more positive 28

The use of nudity in print ads certainly has the potential for generating strong attitudes and significant levels of tension. Substantial controversy has centered on the strength and variability of individual reactions to perceived nudity in print ads. The results of this exploratory research hold interesting and important considerations for advertising strategists. While making broad generalizations from this student sample is cautioned, these findings suggest that gender-specific reactions are important for strategists to evaluate for their target markets. In particular, several highlights of these findings are relevant: The nude ads were perceived as being the most erotic. While this finding was not unexpected, it is

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Nude 1. Compared with individuals in other groups this ad was significantly stronger on perceived eroticism Most favorable attitude toward the ad and the brand and signficantly more so than women in the nude ad group Significantly more favorable attitude toward the brand than men in the demure group

Semi-nude Significantly less erotic than perceptions of the nude ad

Demure Significantly less erotic than perceptions of the nude ad Signficantly less favorable attitude than for males viewing the nude ad

2. Men

3.

1. Compared with individuals in other groups this ad stronger on perceived eroticism 2. Women Significantly less favorable attitude toward the ad and the brand than men viewing the nude and women viewing the seminude and demure ads

Significantly less erotic than perceptions Significantly more favorable attitude toward the ad and the brand than women viewing the ad

Significantly less erotic than perceptions Significantly more favorable attitude toward the ad and the brand than viewing the nude ad

3. Significantly more tension than men viewing the nude ad

TABLE I. Summary of Findings

interesting to note that the nude ads were also found to generate the most overall tension. Typically, high levels of tension have been found to be associated with negative feelings toward the ad. These results, if taken alone, would suggest that advertisers may wish to downplay the amount of nudity in their ads as a means of possibly reducing tension or
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uneasiness. However, the most meaningful results of this research come from an examination of the specific gender/ad treatment combinations. Men viewing the nude ads displayed the strongest positive attitudes toward both the advertisement and the brand. The attitudes displayed by

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men viewing the nude ads were significantly more positive than those exhibited by men viewing the demure ads. This finding suggests that ads containing female nudity may result in more favorable responses from men. However, this point should be considered with caution. It is recommended that specific ads be subjected to pretesting with samples from various target markets within the contexts of different periodicals. If a sexy theme is going to be used, care should be given to the selection of the appropriate periodical medium. The readership and target market of the periodical should be evaluated carefully. Currently, many ads featuring high levels of female nudity are presented in highdistribution women's magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Better Homes and Gardens, and Elle. However, the results of this research indicate that women displayed the least positive attitudes toward sexy or erotic advertising and that these negative reactions were accompanied by significantly high levels of tension. This finding suggests that advertisements containing high levels of female nudity in female-oriented magazines may, pending case-by-case testing, be less effective than advertisements containing either a low level or no female nudity. Conversely, men displayed the most positive attitude toward such ads, but a review of male-oriented magazines such as Gentlemen's Quarterly, Rolling Stone, and even Playboy display a relatively lower level of female nudity in ads, than
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do their female-oriented counterparts. Advertising strategists should consider just how much nudity is too much nudity. For the marketer, the question of just how much nudity is too much nudity is an important one, and the resulting implications are substantial. The level of nudity considered acceptable by some has been shown to provoke outrage and cries of sexism by others. In particular, feminists may be the most negative in their response because of their feelings that women are often portrayed as sex objects (Ford et al., 1990). A recent Wall Street Journal article examined this controversy and concluded that advertisers want to do what is considered "right", but that extreme confusion exists with regard to what is "right" (Lipman, 1991). If there is a high likelihood that individuals within the target market will express favorable attitudes toward the use of nudity, then selection of the appropriate periodical may continue with care. A danger exists when readership of the periodical also includes a substantial number who are not likely to express favorable attitudes toward this type of ad. This point is important to keep in mind given that this research indicated that female nudity did have a substantial impact on the individual's attitude toward both the ad and the brand. However, it has been shown that "cultural conditioning" may have a moderating effect on conservatives, as well as feminists, with regard to the acceptability of female nudity in advertising (Ford et al., 1990).

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This point was emphasized during a discussion one of the authors had with an ad executive whose client is a major cosmetic company. The executive was asked to explain why an ad for a company product featuring a female nude model was included in women's magazines in Western and Northeastern states, but excluded from states in the Southeast. The decision was said to be based on previous strong negative reactions to similar ads from the readership in the Southeast. Communication strategy can be altered according to such reactions, possibly simply by featuring a less explicit version of the ad. Considering that our sample was from the Southeast, additional research across regions is warranted.

conducted, utilizing random probability sampling, to allow for more global generalization of results.

References
Alexander, M.W. and Judd, B. Sr (1979), "Do Nudes in Ads Enhance Brand Recall", Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 18 No. 1, February, pp. 47-50. Ford, J.B., LaTour, M.S. and Lundstron, W.J. (1990), "Contemporary Women's Evaluations of Female Sex Roles in Advertising", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 8 No. 1, Winter. Kerin, R.A., Lundstrom, W.J. and Sciglimpaglia, D. (1979), "Women in Advertisements: Retrospect and Prospect", Journal of Advertising, Vol. 8, pp. 37-42. LaTour, M.S. (1986), "Arousal as an Intervening Variable in a Marketing Communication Context", unpublished dissertation, Ann Arbor, Ml, University Microfilm. LaTour, M.S. (1990), "Female Nudity in Print Advertising: An Analysis of Gender Differences in Arousal and Ad Response", Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 7 No. 1, Spring; pp. 65-81. Lipman, J. (1991), "Sexy or Sexist? Recent Ads Spark Debate", Wall Street Journal, 30 September, p. B1. Mitchell, A.A. (1986), "The Effect of Verbal and Visual Components of Advertisements on Brand Attitudes and Attitude toward the Advertisement", Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 13, June, pp. 12-23. Peterson, R.A. and Kerin, R.A. (1977), "The Female Role in Advertisements: Some Experimental Evidence", Journal of Marketing, Vol. 41 No. 4, October, pp. 59-63.
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SIGNIFICANT ATTENTION SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO DETERMINING THE VIEWER'S REACTION

Addressing these various reactions to sexy or erotic ads should be part of the overall promotional strategy for the firm. If significant segments of the population react negatively to the perceived use of erotic appeals, the consequences may be substantial for the product and organization. Therefore, significant attention should be directed to determining a priori the viewer's reaction. Further, attention should be directed to the testing of tension generated by exposure to such ads and the impact of this tension on attitude toward the ad and the brand. Finally, more conclusive research into the topic should be

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Sciglimpaglia, D., Belch, M.A. and Cain, R.F. Jr (1978), "Demographic and Cognitive Factors Influencing Viewers' Evaluations of 'Sexy' Advertisements", in Wilkie, W.L. (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. VI, Association for Consumer Research, Provo, UT, pp. 62-5. Soley, L.C. and Reid, L.N. (1988), "Taking It Off: Are Models in Magazine Ads Wearing Less?", Journalism Quarterly, Vol. 65 No. 4, Winter, pp. 960-6.

Aad

items

Ab items Undesirable (rs) Distinctive Poor (rs) Appealing Inferior (rs) High quality Unsatisfactory Seductive

Distinctive Irritating (rs) Food Inappropriate (rs) High quality Offensive (rs) Interesting Unattractive (rs)

Afofe: (rs) = reverse scored item

Appendix: Statistical Analysis

Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) of group differences revealed a significant treatment main effect (p < 0.0009) and a significant treatment by gender interaction effect (p< 0.001). Gender main effect was determined to be significant (p<0.05). However, the most useful information on gender effects was found in analysis of the interaction of gender with the different treatments, or specifically looking at differences between unique gender-treatment group combinations.
TABLE Al. Adjective Items

Michael S. LaTour is Associate Professor of Marketing at Auburn University; and Tony L. Henthorne is Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Southern Mississippi, USA.

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