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SEX SELLS…OR DOES IT?

SEX SELLS…OR DOES IT?

HOW LGBT SEXUAL IMAGERY INFLUENCES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LUXURY BRAND ADVERTISEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

While LGBT themes have increasingly been portrayed in advertising, little research investigates the influence of such themes on consumer attitudes. This research examines how a consumer’s political ideology affects their attitudes toward an advertised product. The findings demonstrate when politically conservative consumers view advertisements that include LGBT imagery and male models (vs female models), they report more negative attitudes toward the advertised product; however, such polarization does not occur among liberal consumers. This research also sheds light on the underlying process driving these findings. Specifically, conservatives experienced higher levels of disgust after evaluating an LGBT-themed advertisement that included (what appear to be) gay male (vs. female) models, leading to more negative attitudes towards the advertisement and the product. These findings provide theoretical and managerial implications by identifying the factor (political ideology) that might influence the acceptance of LGBT themes in advertising and establishing the mechanisms driving the predicted effects.

BACKGROUND

The difference between male and female is a common, recurring theme that transcends both plant and animal kingdoms (Gochfeld, 2007). In the human species, such differences are magnified because not only does human gender involve the standard male/female dyad, it has the potential to influence an individual’s self-identity. Consider the typical human as an example. In such a case, gender and masculinity/femininity not only define manhood/womanhood, but serve as “the primary building blocks of sexuality” (Fracher & Kimmel, 1995; p. 367). As such, sexuality is seen as a powerful expression of masculinity or femininity and this can manifest itself in the form of acceptance/non-acceptance of imagery that doesn’t conform to an individual’s self-perception. That is why ‘straight-looking’ gay men are used to portray gay males to heterosexual audiences. Such an assimilationist appeal is designed to include everyone, albeit within the confines of mainstream heteronormative ideals (Tsai, 2004). Yet, while GoM may be a factor when LGBT imagery is present, it may be that an individual’s political ideology guides any influence.

The role of political ideology: In addition to gender, political ideology has been identified as an important factor that may affect attitudes towards advertising (Crockett & Wallendorf, 2004). In fact, evidence suggests individuals of either conservative or liberal political ideology will respond depending how the viewed advertisement aligns with their values or moral foundations (Winterich, Mittal, & Ross Jr, 2009). As a result, those who conform to a conservative political ideology have been shown to have negative attitudes towards homosexuality (Whitley Jr & Lee, 2000). Thus, when evaluating an advertisement containing LGBT imagery, conservatives may be more strongly motivated to adhere to social norms than liberals (Fernandes & Mandel, 2014), be less prosocial or accepting of homosexuality (Van Lange, Bekkers, Chirumbolo, & Leone, 2012) and have distinct moral foundations (Haidt & Graham, 2007). As a result, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H1: For politically conservative consumers, the presence of (supposedly) gay male (vs. female) models in an advertisement will have a negative influence on attitudes towards the advertised product.

Disgust – The influence of emotions: Disgust towards social groups may occur when the group is believed to either be dangerous or have values differing from those of the in group (Cottrell & Neuberg, 2005). When viewing LGBT imagery in advertisements, disgust has been found to be the most prevalent emotion experienced for those who have a negative attitude to homosexuality (Hester & Gibson, 2007). Thus, for politically conservative consumers, their prevailing (negative) attitude toward homosexuality is likely to affect their attitude toward any ad featuring (what appear to be) gay models (Angelini & Bradley, 2010), particularly when models are male, as opposed to female (Lim, 2002). As such, the following hypotheses are proposed:

H2a: For politically conservative (vs. liberal) consumers, the presence of gay male (vs. female) models will cause higher levels of disgust.

H2b: For politically conservative (vs. liberal) consumers, the presence of gay male (vs. female) models will have a negative influence on attitudes toward the ad.

H2c: For politically conservative (vs. liberal) consumers, the negative influence of gay male (vs. female) models on attitude towards the product will be mediated by disgust and attitude toward the ad in a serial mediation.

METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS

The study employed a 2(gender: male/female) x 2(race: same/mixed) x 2(level of sexuality: implicit/hyper) between- subjects design. While the influence of gender was the focus of the study, race and level of sexuality were included to test the effects of gender in the presence of other factors, thereby adding to the robustness of the findings. For the 8 conditions, separate advertisements were created for a fictitious product and brand (luxury watches) by manipulating the images of the models.

The tagline ‘Love Is Love’ was included adjacent to the product and brand name, as it is synonymous with the LGBT movement (Nichols, 2014). Participants (n=546) were recruited from an online panel in the United States. A moderated regression analysis was run using existing scales for attitude toward product (Aggarwal & McGill, 2011), political ideology (Kaikati, Torelli, Winterich, & Rodas, 2017) and attitude toward the advertisement (Lawrence, Fournier, & Brunel, 2013).

Additional variables (respondent gender; sexual preference; age, education, religion, nationality) were recorded as controls. As predicted, a significant effect was observed between gender (of models) and attitude toward the product. Consistent with the hypothesis (H1), spotlight analyses revealed conservatives reported more negative attitudes toward the product when the ad included male (vs. female) models (B=.52, SE=.26, t=1.99, p<.05). By contrast, politically liberal consumers reported similar attitudes toward the product, irrespective of the gender of the models in the advertisement (B -.40, SE=.25, t=-1.59, p>.10).

Similar analyses were conducted to test H2a and H2b. Results provide support for the hypothesis (H2a), such that conservative viewers showed higher levels of disgust when viewing advertisements that included male (vs. female) models (B=-1.28, SE=0.30, t=-4.26, p< 0.01). Likewise, results provide support for the hypothesis (H2b), whereby conservative viewers reported a more negative attitude towards advertisements featuring male (vs. female) models (B=1.56, SE=0.34, t=4.5, p< 0.01).

No significant effects were shown for politically liberal viewers. To test for the mediation effects (H2c), a moderated serial mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS (model 85) where separate bias-corrected bootstrap models were created, with 5,000 bootstrap samples taken from existing data. Results show a significant indirect effect for politically conservative viewers (B=.21, SE=.065, CI: .0938-.3523). These results provide support for the hypothesis (H2c).

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

This research set out to investigate how LGBT imagery, GoM and political ideology influence consumer attitudes. According to existing literature, the findings provide what appears to be the first evidence an individual’s (conservative) political ideology will have a negative influence on their response to LGBT imagery involving male models. In addition, this study identifies ‘disgust’ as the causal mechanism that results in negative consumer attitudes towards the advertisement and negative attitudes towards the product, in a serial mediation model moderated by an individual’s political ideology. The findings also demonstrate – contrary to existing literature – even implicit LGBT imagery that doesn’t include hypersexualized models will generate a level of ‘disgust’ in conservative viewers. Managerially, this research provides important implications for marketers, more specifically in the context of LGBT-themed print advertising. In particular, while consumers are more than ever familiar with the LGBT movement and its imagery in advertising, marketers must be cautious using such imagery among politically conservative consumers. Overall, this research draws attention to the importance of LGBT themes in advertising and the effects these can have on consumers’ product attitudes.

RESEARCHERS

Gavin Northey, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
Rebecca Dolan, The University of Adelaide, Australia
Felix Septianto, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
Patrick van Esch, Central Queensland University, Australia
Michael Barbera, Clicksuasion Labs, United States

REFERENCES

Aggarwal, P., & McGill, A. L. (2011). When brands seem human, do humans act like brands? Automatic behavioral priming effects of brand anthropomorphism. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(2), 307-323.

Angelini, J. R., & Bradley, S. D. (2010). Homosexual imagery in print advertisements: Attended, remembered, but disliked. Journal of Homosexuality, 57(4), 485-502.

Cottrell, C. A., & Neuberg, S. L. (2005). Different emotional reactions to different groups: a sociofunctional threat-based approach to “prejudice”. Journal of personality and social psychology, 88(5), 770.

Crockett, D., & Wallendorf, M. (2004). The role of normative political ideology in consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(3), 511-528.

Fernandes, D., & Mandel, N. (2014). Political conservatism and variety-seeking. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24(1), 79- 86.

Fracher, J., & Kimmel, M. (1995). Hard issues and soft spots: Counseling men about sexuality. In M. Kimmel & M. Messner (Eds.), Men’s lives (Third ed., pp. 365-374).

Allyn and Bacon. Gochfeld, M. (2007). Framework for gender differences in human and animal toxicology. Environmental Research, 104(1), 4-21.

Haidt, J., & Graham, J. (2007). When morality opposes justice: Conservatives have moral intuitions that liberals may not recognize. Social Justice Research, 20(1), 98-116.

Hester, J. B., & Gibson, R. (2007). Consumer responses to gay-themed imagery in advertising. Advertising & Society Review, 8(2).

Kaikati, A. M., Torelli, C. J., Winterich, K. P., & Rodas, M. A. (2017). Conforming conservatives: How salient social identities can increase donations. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(4), 422-434.

Lawrence, B., Fournier, S., & Brunel, F. (2013). When companies don’t make the ad: A multimethod inquiry into the differential effectiveness of consumer-generated advertising. Journal of Advertising, 42(4), 292-307.

Lim, V. K. (2002). Gender differences and attitudes towards homosexuality. Journal of Homosexuality, 43(1), 85-97.

Nichols, J. (2014). ‘Love Is Love’ Project Documenting LGBT Couples And Families.

Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/11/love-is-love-lgbt_n_4575789.html

Tsai, W. (2004). Gay Advertising as Negotiations: Representation of Homosexual, Bisexual, and Transgender People in Mainstream Commercials. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the Association for Consumer Research Gender, Marketing and Consumer Behavior Conference.

Van Lange, P. A., Bekkers, R., Chirumbolo, A., & Leone, L. (2012). Are conservatives less likely to be prosocial than liberals? From games to ideology, political preferences and voting. European Journal of Personality, 26(5), 461-473.

Whitley Jr, B. E., & Lee, S. E. (2000). The Relationship of Authoritarianism and Related Constructs to Attitudes Toward Homosexuality. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30(1), 144-170.

Winterich, K. P., Mittal, V., & Ross Jr, W. T. (2009). Donation behavior toward in-groups and out-groups: The role of gender and moral identity. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(2), 199-214.

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      MASTER SERVICES AGREEMENT

      LAST UPDATED AUGUST 6, 2019

      This Master Services Agreement (“Agreement”) is entered into this day by and between Clicksuasion Labs. (“Clicksuasion”), 293 Olmsted Blvd, Second Floor, Pinehurst, NC 28374, USA, on behalf of itself and its owned and operated affiliates, and (“Client”), in the delivery of consulting and other professional services, collectively the “Parties”   This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect until terminated by either party with 30 days’ written notice.

      1. DEFINITIONS:
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      • “Client” means any person or entity who requests Services or engages in Exploratory or Discovery communication with the intent to hire Clicksuasion Services.

       

      1. SCOPE: “Clicksuasion” shall provide consulting, research and other professional services to Client or to Client’s clients.

       

      1. WORK ASSIGNMENTS: The specific services to be provided by Clicksuasion shall be described in one or more Statements of Work (“SOW”) (or “Proposal”) issued pursuant to this Agreement and agreed upon in writing by the Parties prior to the termination of this Agreement, except where mentioned in paragraphs 5 and 16. The SOW shall be incorporated herein by reference and all terms and conditions of this Agreement shall apply to the SOW as if fully set forth therein. The SOW shall include a summary of the work, skills required, fees to be paid, and instructions on reimbursable expenses.  In the event of any conflict between the contents of any SOW and this Agreement, the SOW shall govern.

       

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      1. INVOICING AND PAYMENT: We will invoice Client at the beginning of any project and when stated in the SOW. Unless otherwise stated, invoiced charges are due net-thirty (30) days from the invoice date. Client is responsible for providing complete and accurate billing and contact information to Clicksuasion and promptly notifying Clicksuasion of any changes to such information, including, without limitation, Client’s obligation to promptly report any Services-related performance issues or problems negatively impacting Client’s satisfaction with the Services so that Clicksuasion may attempt to remedy such. For clarity, if Client fails to notify Clicksuasion of a Services-related issue within five days from incurring it, such issue may not be relied upon as a reason to terminate this Agreement for Cause. In the event that payment is made via a third party agent, Client shall indemnify Clicksuasion and keep Clicksuasion indemnified against any loss, damage, costs and expenses Clicksuasion may suffer or incur as a result of any default by the third party agent in making payment in accordance with the terms of the SOW or as otherwise set forth in this Agreement. Client further authorize Clicksuasion to use a third party to process payments, and consent to the disclosure of your payment information to such third party. Clicksuasion shall invoice Client for fees and direct out-of-pocket expenses incurred as per the SOW. Payment in full is due upon completion of work or if other arrangements have been made between Clicksuasion and Client. Invoices unpaid after 15-days shall incur a late fee of 24 percent per annum until paid in full. Billing shall be on a time and materials basis.  Client’s non-payment of any Invoice shall entitle the Clicksuasion to stop performance under the terms of this Agreement, any Amendments thereto and/or any SOW without recourse by Client. Client is responsible for all fees and damages associated with the collection and legal solutions of late payments. All non-disclosure agreements between Client and Clicksuasion are void upon the first aged invoice 30-days past due. Additionally, the non-disclosure agreement must be re-signed by both parties to be effective beyond the first aged invoice 30-days past due. If any amount owed by Client under this or any other agreement for Clicksuasion services is thirty or more days overdue, Clicksuasion may, without limiting Clicksuasion’s other rights and remedies, accelerate Client’s unpaid fee obligations under such agreements so that all such obligations become immediately due and payable, and suspend Client Services until such amounts are paid in full. Clicksuasion will give Client at least seven days’ prior notice that the Client account is overdue before suspending services to Client.

       

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      1. GOVERNING LAW: This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of North Carolina without reference to any principles of choice or conflicts of laws. Any action instituted by either party arising out of this Agreement, the SOW or the Proposal shall be litigated exclusively in Moore County, North Carolina.  The Parties expressly consent to the exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue of Moore County, North Carolina.

       

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