Sex no longer sells: scientists have found out how women and men relate to objectification in advertising

A group of Italian scientists conducted a large study of sexism in modern advertising and its impact on consumer interest. It turned out that today the use of deliberately sexualized images in marketing causes negativity among women and has almost no effect on men’s interest in the product.Dead or Alive 6

The study was published on September 23, 2020, and today Svyatoslav Torik, a game design expert at Nexters, drew attention to it.

The main conclusions of Italian scientistsWomen are less attracted to products that advertise sexualized female models.

• This also reduces their consumer interest in comparison with more neutral advertising.For the most part, men do not care how sexualized a woman is represented in advertising — this does not affect their desire to buy a product in any way.
• At the same time, the demonstration of sexualized male models in advertising reduces the consumer interest of both women and men.The researchers also found that over the past decade, men and women have become accustomed to more neutral advertising.
• Therefore, the number of negative reactions to sexualized images has increased compared to the results of earlier studies.At the same time, men with a high level of “hostile sexism” (characterized by direct statements about the inferiority of women) still show interest in the product after viewing advertisements with sexualized female images.
• Thus, researchers consider sexual objectification in advertising to be counterproductive for women and useless for men.
• They question the effectiveness of the well-known formula “sex sells” and note that today “sex does not sell” products (contrary to prevailing ideas).Scientists find the use of sexualization in advertising paradoxical.
• Their research shows that such a marketing strategy today can have negative consequences and harm the ultimate goal of any advertising — to sell a product.Researchers also note the psychological damage that sexualized advertising can cause to women and men.
• In their opinion, today this topic should be raised more often in the public field.At the same time, scientists note that their study does not take into account some factors.

For example, it does not provide accurate information about the reasons why men have a negative attitude towards sexualized male models. They also note that in future research on this topic, it is necessary to more systematically and accurately divide the advertised products depending on gender.