University of Rhode Island

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5-2006

Ethical Judgments of Sexual Appeals in Advertising Image - Based Products to Teens

Recommended Citation
Korn, Daniel, "Ethical Judgments of Sexual Appeals in Advertising Image - Based Products to Teens" (2006). Senior Honors Projects. Paper 5. http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/srhonorsprog/5

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Ethical Judgments of Sexual Appeals in Advertising Image - Based Products to Teens

Keywords: Sex- Appeals, Advertising, Ethics, Teens

Faculty Sponsors: Christy Ashley, Ph.D., College of Business Administration Deborah Rosen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Business Administration

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Executive Summary The use of sexual appeals in advertising is increasingly prevalent in the United States. Perhaps the use is in response to the preponderance of advertisements in everyday life. The advertisements most often featuring such appeals are for image-based products. Actual images in ads can often convey emotions powerfully, which may explain the frequent use in marketing image-based products. These products include: candy, liquor, cigarettes, jewelry, fragrance, cosmetics and fashion goods. It is advertisements for products such as, but not limited to these, that often use sexual appeals. The use of such appeals is constantly scrutinized in terms of ethics, regardless of the target audience. Considerable research has been done on ethics in marketing, partly because marketing is the business function most often charged with unethical practices. Ethical judgments are subjective and complex, and deal with cultural norms. Yet, there is another dimension of ethical questions when sexual appeals are used to promote products to teens. Teens (12 17 year olds) are an increasingly attractive market segment for advertisers, as their disposable incomes are growing. Also, teens have an ability to influence the purchase decisions of their parents and friends, and often develop a brand loyalty, which continues into adulthood. Sexual appeals have the ability to get the attention of teens, and may help to sell products to that market segment. In an effort to quantitatively analyze the ways that sexual appeals are used in media targeting teens, I performed a content analysis. Magazines were used because of their clear targeting from a marketing standpoint: with a wide variety of titles, across large demographics, advertisers can use magazines to hone in on their target market. Using the Media Research Inc. (MRI) database, which compiles magazine readership statistics much like ACNielsen publishes television viewership, I selected magazines with comparatively high teen readership. 600 advertisements in eight leading magazines that reach teens were reviewed: four publications targeted at females and four with high teen male readership were selected. The results were analyzed in conjunction with the ethical questions about the use of sexual appeals. While 20% of the ads used a form of sexual appeal, they tended to use light innuendo, humor, and degree of fantasy that create a disconnect with real sexual behavior. Only 0.7% of all the advertisements showed models engaging in erotic behavior. Because there is virtually no pornographic or offensive content, these ads will continue to be used to sell products to teens. Advertisers are currently protected under the interpretation of the Constitutions free speech first amendment as commercial speech. However, the influence of consumer watchdog groups in this country has proven their effectiveness in the past, and will continue to play a role in marketing responsibility.

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Table of Contents Title Page Executive Summary Table of Contents Background Sex Sells Teen Segment Ethics Content Analysis Findings Discussion Implications Limitations Works Referenced Appendix A: Coding Scheme Appendix B: MRI Data Appendix C: Sexual ads by magazine Appendix D: Examples 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 8 9 11 17 18 20 21 22 22 23

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Background: Sex Sells Sexual appeals have been a part of marketing since the introduction of modern advertising. This technique is often used in conjunction with bandwagon mentality, repetition, or alleged subliminal messages (Mooij, 2005). The use of sex appeals is an increasingly popular technique to sell products, namely those that are image-based, such as candy, liquor, cigarettes, jewelry, fragrance, cosmetics and fashion goods. One explanation is the increase in the exposure to and preponderance of advertisements. Advertising is a pervasive in our society on television, radio, magazines, newspapers, handbills, posters, billboards, direct mail and on the Internet. Advertising is everywhere. We are besieged with commercials at airport baggage carousels, on corporate telephone lines, on flashing screens at the local market, etc (Cohan, 2001). Sex appeals seem to capture the attention of the viewer, which is one of the primary goals of advertising. Sex is manifested in advertising in many forms. The most common manifestation is having models wear sexy or revealing clothing (Reichert, 2003). Most people think that advertising in general has no influence of them. People do not typically admit that they are influenced by advertising (Cohan, 2001). Clearly this cannot be the case. Advertising supports more than 60 percent of magazine and newspaper production and almost all of the electronic media. Companies spend over $200 billion a year on advertising (Kibourne, 1999). The more likely explanation is that American consumers are conditioned to the exposure to advertisements- since they are a staple of life. The tendency in our society is to view commercial persuasion as neutral, since we are constantly exposed to it. However, this may not necessarily be the case. The use of

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advertising in general has ethical questions associated with it, but these are amplified when impressionable teens are the target of techniques such as sexual appeals. This is important because there is no denying that sex is used to target teens. Teen Segment For the purposes of this paper the teen segment is defined as 12 to 17 year-olds. This is the criterion used by the MRI. Teens are an increasingly important market segment. Product and services targeted to kids now number in the hundreds, and marketing and advertising spending totals billons (Linn, 2004). The average teen, in turn, spends over $100 per week, mostly on discretionary items. (Zolo, 2004). Recognizing teens as a legitimate market segment is relatively new phenomenon, certainly having developed within the last fifty years. Some have more conservative estimates, such as the last 20 years (Linn, 2004). One of the first books to consider children as such was Children as Consumers: Insights and Implications by Dr. James U. McNeal, in 1987. McNeal concluded the following findings in his updated book in 1992 regarding children: Present-day consumers Influencers on purchases for their families as well as for themselves Future consumers who form important branding opinions at an early age and can

dramatically impact a company's future earnings once they have grown up. These three criteria also apply to teens, who have increasingly large disposable incomes and thus purchasing power. Parents will agree that teens have a large influence on the household purchases, with what I like to call from experience the whine effect. And lastly, brand loyalty is a major motivator for businesses to attract this segment. Marketers are accused of attempting to establish cradle to grave brand loyalty among

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the purchasers of goods and services (Linn, 2004). As Kilbourne notes in the first chapter of her book: Buy this 24-year-old and get all his friends absolutely free (Kilbourne, 1999). While this statement can be applied to younger audiences, the point is the same. Peer pressure can work in ways that will increase conformity during the impressionable teen years. Ethics Considerable research has been done on ethics in marketing, partly because marketing is the business function most often charged with unethical practices. The discussion gets more complex when sex appeals are used in the teen segment. Rather than apply philosophical ethical labels to the ads, they will be evaluated by the specific complaints related to marketing to teens. Most of the general complaints fit into the following statements, which are listed in Cohans (2001) article in the Journal of Business Ethics: 1. Advertising often fosters the philosophy that human happiness depends on the possession or prestige value of material things, with little concern for the big picture of what matters in life. 2. The advertising industry is too dominant in setting societal values, creating its own values, which may be false and artificial, as to what is good for the consumer. "It certainly promotes beliefs and behavior that have significant and sometimes harmful effects on the individual, the family, the society, and the environment" (Kilbourne, 1999). 3. Advertising is an entertainment technique, which is deployed to attract and keep the attention of viewers and make them more susceptible to persuasion. 4. Marketers use small exaggerations about the superiority of their product or service, and this is seen as legal, since it is puffery, and morally permissible since

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it is considered by the average person to be the in the normative culture of advertising. 5. Advertising is preoccupied with the body and the use of sexuality to play on the physical appetites and pursuit of pleasure by the viewer, which affects the ability of men and women alike to be persuaded. (Cohan, 2001)

The latter is also known as sex in advertising. It is not a primary concern for legislators, since it is often considered a soft issue, as opposed to a hard issue like deception and the verification of claims. Advertising regulation deals with the so-called hard issues. The issues surrounding sexual content in advertisements are more difficult to define and handle because they reflect a large variety of personally subjective, culturally related and historically changing values and attitudes (Boddewyn, 1991). Marketing to young people has ethical implications. In the US, there are a host of consumer advocate organizations and so-called watchdog groups that lobby for protection of children from commercial exploitation. While they have varied focuses, most agree that the targeting by corporate America has an unhealthy effect on teens and children. These groups include: Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children (SCEC), Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME), American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: The Television and Media Committee (AACAP), Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), Citizens Campaign for Commercial-Free Schools (CCCS), Commericalism in Education Research Unit (CERU), Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR), National Institute for Media and the Family, Stay Free!, to name a few.

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Research Questions Based on the public outcry and the literature on the topic, it is clear that advertisers use sexual appeals in media that target teens. Yet questions remain about the use sexual appeals in the marketing of products to teens. Magazines provide a concrete visual example of how sex appeals are used. What percentage of advertisements use sexual appeals? What type of sexual appeals are used? Are models and nudity used? To whom, what specific gender groups? What are the ethical implications? In an effort to answer these questions, I performed a content analysis. Content Analysis An analysis scheme was devised quantitatively look at subjective advertisements. Since sexy ads come in a variety of forms, Reicherts (2003) description was the primary source for the coding, along with some observational research. It is typically visual, featuring physically attractive models, depictions of sexual behavior with partners or alone, and can also include verbal innuendo and explicit copy (Gould 1994, in Reichert, 2003). The full coding system can be found in Appendix A. The coding scheme was applied to 600 advertisements, found in eight magazines. The magazines used were: Seventeen, Teen People, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Game Pro, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, and Maxim. Two magazines of each title were used from the year 2005, which corresponds to the readership statistics. These statistics are from the MRI, who conducts research on media readership, much like ACNielesen compiles television viewership statistics. The statistics for the eight magazines can be found on the chart in Appendix B. The top four magazines are primarily read by females, and the bottom four by males. All

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have relatively high teen readership, with over 1 million teens being exposed to the advertisements. The ads that were deemed to use some form of sexual appeal were coded per the scheme, and the data was compiled. While I did not have a hypothesis per se, I speculated that fragrance ads would be the largest user of sexual appeals. I did not predict a significant difference in the amount of ads from each of the two gender specific groups. However, I thought that the more racy ads would be found in Cosmopolitan and Maxim, since those two have the most provocative editorial content of the eight magazines I selected. Findings Overall, 20.2% of the total advertisements coded used some form of sexual appeal. This is 121 out of the 600 ads from the eight magazines. While 300 ads from each womens and mens magazines were coded, the majority of the ads using sexual appeals were in the womens magazines: 57% of those that did were in the womens magazines, while 43% were in the four mens magazines. The graph in Appendix C, shows the frequency of sexual appeals by magazine. The types of products that use such appeals are more varied than was expected. 21% were fashion ads for clothing, followed by 15% for perfume/cologne, 13% for various toiletries, 7% for liquor/cigarettes, 6% for cars, 6% for TV/movies, 6% food/ beverage, 6% for electronics, 6% for personal use, 6% for video games, 5% for shoes and 3% for other. While I expected to find some interesting correlations, none were that significant. Rather, the most important aspects from the findings are the descriptive statistics which

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show the percentages in each category, then compare the usage of each item in the four magazines targeted to women and those most read by men. The results are shown in the tables contained in HPR.xls, with a general description below. They are then analyzed in depth in the discussion section. See HPR. xls columns 1-3

These three questions mere primarily descriptive, and the majority of the ads were in the front and middle of the magazine, were one or two pages, and were appropriate to the product category.

This table is related to the use of models, a popular feature of magazines with sexual appeals. The degree of nudity measure shows the range of nudity. Since none of the models in any of the ads were indecently naked, this option was not included. Rather, partial nudity, provocative clothing, and the process of undress were the criteria used. The relationship category also depends on the use of models. The majority of the ads did not show more than one person. Of those that did, they were broken down into close proximity, touching, kissing, and then engaging in erotic behavior.

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This table shows the gender of models used, and in which magazines they are used. Also, related promises, which are a popular technique. They can be explicit or implied, and are aimed toward the reader.

The last table details the contextual factors, use of word innuendo, and object innuendo. While the latter was rarely ever used, word innuendo was more popular, and related promises were an oft-included portion of the ads using sexual appeals. Discussion The 20% figure is consistent with research that indicates that usage of sex appeals has increased in the past twenty years (Carpenter, Reichert, 2004) and that such ads attract attention and increase inters more than nonsexual ads, but may not improve recall or attitude toward the brand (Youts, Stutts, Zank, 2005). Regardless of the product being advertised, one out of every five advertisements used a sexual appeal. This, too, is mirrored by some research, which found that individuals prefer provocative stimuli in advertisements, and this is a change that has occurred over the last 20 to 25 years (Brown, Voges, Pope, 2004).

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The first seven questions were concerned with identifying the basic information, such as the name, date, and position of the ad in the magazine. Also, the number of pages and whether or not the ad was linked to the editorial were identified. With regard to gender, females only were featured in 53% of the ads using sexual appeals. This is mirrored in the research on the topic, where both men and women have been shown to act more favorably to female models. The human female is used as a means of attracting attention to a product of serviceboth men and women find the sexual innuendoes of female bodies to be emotionally appealing (Cohan, 2001). While there are differing types of women models used, classified as exotic, trendy, classic, girl-next-door, sex kitten, or cute- they are rarely unattractive (Gulas, McKeage, 2000). The use of only male models accounted for only 13% of the ads using sexual appeals. The majority of these were for mens products where a man was necessary, rather than as a means to attract women to the copy. 35% of them used both or more than one of each gender. It is not surprising, given these results, that the most common ethical complaints relate to the use of women. Most advertisers do not want to show unattractive or even average models that would give neutral or negative associations to their products. However, the use of attractive models, most of which are women, has ethical problems for teens. My findings on the gender of models supports the claim that women are most often used, which has implications for both sexes. For teen girls, constant exposure to attractive and often thin models can show a disparity between her and the alleged ideal. This may encourage eating disorders or other measures to become thin. Female models are also used to attract male readers, including teen males. This subjectification of women in some ads as sex objects is degrading and unethical. However, many of the female models are clothed and

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not shown to entice men. It is important to note that 38% of the ads using sexual appeals featured men, either alone or with female models. The majority of the men have muscular, toned bodies, creating an ideal body that females may come to expect and that teen males cannot achieve. Teen males may stunt proper development by beginning weight lifting too early, in an effort to attain the ideal male body. The degree of nudity of the models is another important means of measurement. 66% of the ads that used sex appeals used some form of nudity. The findings indicate the process of undress was used more in the mens magazines (67% of the 15% of ads that used sex appeals that used this type of nudity), while most of the partial nudity and provocative clothing were featured in the ads to women (62% of the 54% of ads with sex appeals used partial nudity were in the womens magazines, while 69% of the 45% of ads that used sex appeals that featured provocative clothing were in the mens magazines.) 35% of the ads that used sexual appeals did not use this any nudity, meaning that a. there were no models to be nude, or b. the models featured were demure and showed no signs of partial undress. The amount of dress is a large component of the ethical complaint of sex appeals in advertising. Yet only 14% of the total ads use any form of nudity. This is important, because it shows that the use of quasi-nude models is not overly prevalent. Some claim advertising underscores the teachings of parents (Linn, 2004), by showing sexy models and thereby encouraging sexuality amongst teens. Yet the results of the content analysis show that the vast majority of ads are not using any form of nudity. No advertisements showed any nudity that would not be shown in a PG-13 movie. A more legitimate ethical complaint might be on the style of clothing worn by female models, which could encourage young girls to show more skin. However, this causality has not been proved.

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The next category, relationship, also relates to the models used, as well as the ethical complaint of arbitrary values from the advertisements. Yet only 31% of the copies using sexual appeals showed some form of relationship. That is 6% of the total advertisements used. The 31% figure corresponds to the 32% of the ads using both genders. The discrepancy is from three ads that did not show a relationship among the genders and two ads featured multiple close females. Of the one-third that showed a relationship, the vast majority of the couples/ groups were close or touching. Only 6 ads in total featured kissing, and only 4 showed erotic behavior. The other couples groups were less aggressive, and 53% and 55% of the closeness and touching was in the womens magazines. So while provocative advertising and erotica are potentially being used, in the magazines reviewed only .7% of the ads showed erotic behavior and 1% showed kissing. In the defense of advertising, that is likely less of a percentage than walking down a high school hallway during class change or watching five minutes of a network sitcom would provide. The implications of this finding support the view that current usage of relationships as a sex appeal is ethical. The related promises portion was particularly revealing. As mentioned, this is a common way advertisements use sex: to infer that use of the product could make the person sexually attractive, for example. 86% of the ads used at least one sex-related promise. Looking in the context of all the ads, that is 15%. Of those, the most popular was the promise of feelings of sexual attractiveness. Note that the numbers equal more than 100%, since there can be more than one. 61% of the ads used this, 68% of which were in the womens magazines. The promise of youthfulness/ revitalization was also popular: 26%, 77% of which was used in the womens magazines. 45% of the ads promised sensual feelings with using the product, once again with a high percentage,

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67% in the womens magazines. This brings us to the question, what are the men being promised? Firstly, they are essentially being told, if you use this product, you wont be unsexy. Perhaps the most reasonable claim, with 9% of the ads promising the avoidance of the adverse effect, 64% of the 9% appearing in the mens magazines. Secondly, they are being told that product usage will likely lead to sexual behavior, while this was used in 18% of the ads, 55% of the time it was used in the mens magazines. None of these promises are overtly stated, but are rather implied in the copy. Some may argue that even implying product claims is unethical. The ads that use implied promises encourage the ethical complaint of subliminal messages, which has an impact on all types of advertising. The implied promise to the reader that product usage will likely lead to sexual behavior is arguably unethical. It is also incorrect: using Axe deodorant versus any other deodorant brand will not lead to sexual behavior. Thus, it may be ethically wrong, since it is false. Likewise, telling women that using a certain perfume brand will lead to rejuvenation and sexiness is also ethically questionable. However, in most cases, there is no objective proof that a promise is being made. Therefore, this is legal. Since the ads are subjective, many readers may not interpret the ad as making a promise. It is a technique to show certain product attributes. In the case of Axe, implied increase in sexual behavior is displayed with humor and to attract attention. Consumers expect advertisements to show the product in the most favorable light. They are used to sales talk and puffery in ads, just as implied promises are nothing new. While some extreme promises may be unethical, most are expected and generally ethically acceptable, in my opinion. Contextual factors were another revealing portion of this study. Most of the ads, 87%, contained at least one of the following features: Romantic locale (43%), lighting

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effects (40%), fantasy (23%), or humor (20%). The first three were much more popular with the womens magazines. 71% of both romantic locale and lighting effects were in the womens magazines, with 62% of the copies that used fantasy in the womens ads. Theses results are consistent with gender stereotypes and ethical complaints: women are portrayed more as ideals and goals, and are subjectified. Meanwhile, humor was used most in the mens ads, at 79% of the total humor usage. Usage of humor with sex appeal techniques usually makes the ad more ethically acceptable, since it softens the serious or sexual tone. Since most humor is used with ads targeted to males, either marketers believe men respond to humor more favorably than women, or they want to soften the sexy tone in the mens magazines ads. With regard to word innuendo, the majority of this was used in the mens magazines, and often in conjunction with humor. 25% of the ads using sexual content, 5% in all used at least one form of word innuendo. The most popular was slightly explicit, whereby 15% of the ads using sexual appeals used it, which was equally distributed among the mens and womens magazines. Of those using double entendre, all 7 were in the mens magazines. Only 4 ads were deemed very explicit, all in the mens magazines, and 2 were a direct discussion of a sexual act, one in each. Innuendo is a popular way in which marketers can ethically use sex: it is saying something without overtly saying it. Double meanings and loaded words are the reasons that certain movies like Shrek have broad appeal: the adults can laugh at the implied comment while the children take the words at face value. This method is generally accepted as ethically okay. Some could argue that todays teens can perceive word innuendo as sexual, and encourage each other to seek out these double meanings. While explicit innuendo is

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likely wrong to use to sell to teens, only four used this technique. Also, innuendo is echoed in society and is not exclusive to ads, making it more ethically acceptable. The use of object innuendo was surprisingly low. Only 6 ads (4%) used this method: 3 that connoted a sexual organ, 3 that implied a sexual act, all of them in mens magazines. This supports the view that very few ads are pornographic or obscene and consequently need to be censored for younger viewers. The vast majority of the ads are ethical. While some extreme advertisements may be inappropriate for teens, they do not show nudity or contact, but rather imply certain behavior or meanings, which is more ethically acceptable. The primary ethical concern relates to the models used, and the effects of their appearance on the self-image of teen males and females. Implications It is important to remember that marketing is, by definition, an exchange. When teens buy a product in exchange for money, they are indicating that said product has an equal or higher value than the price they paid. While some argue it is unfair and unhealthy to advertise at all to teens, purchasing statistics show they are a willing an active participant in the exchange of value. Also, one of the common arguments is that advertisements are not exposing teens to sexual material. Rather, they are an extension of what teens see daily on MTV and even Nickelodeon. In this view, advertisements reflect the culture and society, rather than dictate it. Ethics and the sense of right and wrong are likewise socially influenced. Thus, if advertisements are a reflection of the culture, they are less likely to be ruled wrong or unethical. Also, the culture within advertising encourages skepticism by

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consumers, who expect marketers to use any means necessary to attract attention and sell a product. The role that consumer rights groups play is an important factor in this country. Complaints from such groups led to Abercrombies controversial magalog to require a minimum age requirement for all purchases. Also, as with Janet Jacksons wardrobe malfunction, networks and media companies are particularly weary of inappropriate content at any age. In closing, it is clear that at the time being, sexual appeals will continue to be used. While I cannot specifically say whether they are ethical or not, the majority of the findings reveal that the types of appeals are tame, and in my opinion should not have detrimental effects on teens. However, this does not mean that there is no cause for concern. Younger and younger demographic groups are being targeted, and companies are getting creative in reaching them. By using online games and websites, as well as in-store displays, product packaging, and cell phone picture messages, the new wave of using sex to sell is coming. While I lack the resources, I encourage those interested to study the long-term effects of such appeals. Limitations It is important to point out that since I was the only coder in this study, and I interpreted the data, there is a large chance for my bias. However, I attempted to keep an open mind and was consistent throughout the process. Also, while a sample size of 250 would be representative, the 75 ads from each magazine are not a large enough sample to make generalizations about the particular magazines. Some issues and times of year are more prone to using sexual appeals, like the increase of scantily clad models during

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spring and summer. For reasons such as this, the individual magazine findings cannot be generalized.

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Works Referenced Boddewyn, Jean J. 1991. Controlling Sex and Decency in Advertising Around the World. Journal of Advertising, 20, (4) 1991. Brown, Mark R., Nigel K. Pope and Kevin E. Voges. The Effect of Provocation in the Form of Mild Erotica on Attitude to the Ad and Corporate Image. Journal of Advertising; 33 (1) 2004. Carpenter, Courtney and Tom Reichert. An Update in Sex in Magazine Advertising: 1983 to 2003. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly; 81, (4) 2004. Cohan, John Alan. Towards a new paradigm in the Ethics of Womens Advertising. Journal of Business Ethics; 33 (10) 2001. Drumwright, Minette E. and Patrick E. Murphy. How Advertising Practicioners View Ethics: Moral Muteness, Moral Myopia, and Moral Imagination. Journal of Advertising; 33 (2) 2004. Gulas, Charles and Kim McKeage. Extending social comparison: An examination of the unintended consequences of Idealized Advertising Imagery. Journal of Advertising; 29, (2), 2000. Kilbourne, Jean. Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel. New York: Touchstone, 1999. Linn, Susan. Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Children. New York: The New Press, 2004. Mooij, Marieke de. Global Marketing and Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes. 2nd. Ed. London: Sage Publications, 2005. McPhail, Thomas M. Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders, and Trends. 2nd Ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. Reichart, Tom. The Prevalence of Sexual Imagery in Ads Targeted to Young Adults. The Journal of Consumer Affairs; 37, (2), 2003. Stutts, Mary Ann, Yolanda Youts, and Gail M. Zank. The Changing Role of Males Portrayed as Sexual Images in Magazine Advertisements. American Academy of Advertising. Conference Procceedings. 2005. Zollo, Peter. Getting Wiser to Teens: More Insights into Marketing to Teenagers. Ithica, NY: New Strategist Publications, 2004.

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Appendix A
1. Name of Magazine 1 Seventeen 5 Game Pro 2 Teen People 6 Sports Illustrated 3 Cosmopolitan 7 Rolling Stone 4 Glamour 8 Maxim
2. Date
January 2005 2 February 2005 3 March 2005 4 April 2005 5 May 2005 6 June 2005
1

10. Gender of Models 1 Only Female 2 Only Male 3 Both 4 N/A 11. Related Promises Product will.... 1 avoiding averse affect 2 sexual attractiveness 3 feelings of being sexual/ sensual 4 feelings of youthfulness/ sexual revitalization 5 likely lead to sexual behavior 6 N/A 12. Contextual Factors 1 Romantic locale 2 Lighting affects 3 Fantasy 4 Humor 4 N/A 13. Degree of Innuendo (words) 1 double entendre 2 slightly explicit 3 very explicit 4 direct discussion of sexual act 5 N/A 14. Innuendo (objects) 1 absence of something that implies sexual tone 2 connotes sexual organ 3 objects connote sexual act 4 N/A 15. Product Category 1 perfume/ cologne 2 fashion clothing 3 shoes 4 toiletries 5 cars 6 electronics 7 TV/ movies 8 cigarettes/ liquor 9 personal care 10 ________

July 2005 8 August 2005 9 September 2005 10 October 2005 11 November 2005 12 December 2005
7

3. Position in Magazine

Front 1/3 Middle 1/3 3 Back 1/3

4. Product category appropriate/ relevant 1 Yes 2 No 5. Number of Pages 1 One 2 Two Three or More

6. Related to Editorial, Story 1 Yes 2 No 7. Sexual Appeal Used 1 Yes- (Continue) 2 No- STOP 8. Degree of Models Nudity: 1 partial nudity 2 provocative clothing 3 process of undress 4 None of the above/ N/A 9. Relationship 1 couple is close 2 touching 3 kissing 4 engaging in erotic behavior 5 None of the above/ N/A

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Appendix B

Circulation
(In Thousands)

Audience (in Thousands) Teen Men Women

Readers Per Copy Teen Men Women

Seventeen Teen People Cosmopolitan Glamour Game Pro Sports Illustrated Rolling Stone MAXIM

2,055 1,497 2,666 2,295 443 3,494 1,280 2,393

4,989 6,073 2,050 1,636 1,989 3,236 1,568 1,028

313 995 183 135 1,687 2,406 654 698

4,676 5,079 1,866 1,500 303 830 914 330

2.43 .15 4.06 .66 .77 .71 .07 .06

2.28 3.39 .70 .65 .68 .24 .71 .14

4.49 3.81 .93 .69

1.23 .51 .43 .29

Appendix C Sexual Appeals by Magazine

57

55

54

65

65

62

59

62

without with

18
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20
le

21
n

10
ou r Pr o

10
te

13
d

16
ne im M ax

13

Pe op

ita

op

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G am

Il l us

tra R ol

Se v

Te e

os m

Sp o

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lin

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ol

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Appendix D The enclosed ads are samples of those using sexual appeals. Most all of them can be categorized using the coding scheme from Appendix A.