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Essay / Discussion on whether it is ethical to use sexual appeals in advertising
The paper discusses whether it is ethical to use sexual appeals in advertising. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay The study also examines: (1) whether sex sells, how it is used in advertising, (2) the use of men and women in sexual adverts(3) the role ethics plays in the use of sexual appeal in advertising to show how bad it is. This study is important because it not only focuses on the use of sexual appeal in advertising, but it also examines to what extent it is ethical to do so. Advertisers try to appeal to people's emotions and coerce them into buying things they don't need. Although sexual appeal does not cause any direct or personal harm, it should not be a tool used in the advertising industry. A good example to prove this point would be to look at AX commercials. One advertisement shows a man with his arm around a woman with the arrow pointing to the front of her low-cut shirt. Next to the arrows is the statement: “To get what you want” (Ordonez, p. 48). In this case, strong overt sexual appeal is used to place brand recall on AX. As a result, it is safe to say that the brand has also been labeled as a company involved in heavy overt sexual advertising. Although the use of highly sexualized print advertisements is perceived more negatively, women's attitudes are significantly more negative than those of women. that of their male counterpart. As the morals and ethics of society change over the years, what is considered appropriate and acceptable by society must also change. It is therefore essential to re-evaluate the assumptions on which strategic decisions regarding print advertising are based. Advertisers should consider prospects' social issues and the consequences at stake when considering an ad containing sexual appeal. This view is part of consequentialism, opposing the categorical imperative. Although it can be effective depending on the audience and bring happiness to actual or potential customers, sexual imagery in advertising has many consequences that should not be ignored. Women have often been the target of sexual advertising because it seems to work in many cases. . Sex is a powerful and simple method to attract male attention and make a product desirable. In advertising, it is easy to attract a man's attention by using women's bodies and associating getting women if he buys the product. Even if it works, it objectifies them and the principle of utility cannot be universal for this reason. Happiness is not the ideal outcome when viewers are exposed to sex in advertising. Some people are offended (women, children, parents and people with certain customs). Additionally, it calls some companies "sexual," and that's not the label they originally intended to receive. Overall, the outcome does not outweigh any other consideration, which is why using sex as an advertising tool is morally wrong. Whether for good or bad, sexual appeal only works in certain advertisements. Many other studies have been conducted on this topic. Jones, Stanaland and Gelb conducted an experiment in 1998 to see how men and women responded to advertisements forcheesecake and beef. A beef commercial that contains a sexy male model at the center of the ad. In the cheesecake ad, there is a sexy female model at the center of the ad. The study concluded that women had higher recognition scores for the ad showing an unsexy male model than for the cheesecake ad, and that men had higher recall scores for the ad showing an unsexy woman as for the cheesecake advertisement. higher recognition scores than women for the beefcake ad, and men viewing the cheesecake ad had lower recognition scores than women viewing the beefcake ad. Additionally, men remember the cheesecake ad less than women. They concluded their study by stating that "unsexy ads seemed to do the most good with the least harm" (p. 36). This can be linked to the principle of utility: the idea that the moral value of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility by maximizing happiness or pleasure in short. among all people. Depending on the target market (or audience), happiness can be maximized for both groups (those who are attracted to sexy ads and those who are not). In response to this case study, Tom Reichert, author of the book: Sex in Advertising: Perspective on the Erotic Appeal, explains that “sex doesn't always sell, but sexiness does” (p. 55). Using sex appeals in the advertising industry is a good way to target certain market segments. but it doesn't work with everyone. The use of sexual appeal in advertising has been widespread for a long time. Reichert conducted a study in 2000 that found four. Features of sexy ads: physical characteristics of models, behavior/movement, intimacy between models, and contextual features such as camera effects. He tried to find what people consider sexy in advertising. Those that came up most frequently were physical characteristics (66%), movements and verbal and non-verbal communication of the model (39%), contextual characteristics (26%) and proxemics (15%) (p. 267- 269). He noticed that what people called sexy differed between genders. The study showed that women had a greater response than men (35%), compared to 20% for men. Additionally, it showed that 28% of women responded to references to physical distance or interaction between models, compared to 6% of men (p.269). It is crucial to evaluate the audience who will see the advertisements before invoking sexual appeal in the advertisement. A recent study found that there is no industry-wide plan for advertisers to use men as voiceovers in commercials. Rather, it is individual advertisers and agencies that make decisions about specific products and advertising executions. For example, the gender of a spokesperson and advertiser can affect advertising evaluations of a gender-specific product, but not for products without a gender image (Whipple & McManamon p.87). The use of overt sexual appeal in print advertising has increased significantly in contemporary advertising practice. Today, it is common for a reader of any age to look at a mainstream magazine and find an advertisement featuring models in provocative poses and outfits for many consumer products (Henthrone & LaTour p.82). Since the start of the 21st century, the use of sexual appeal in print advertising has become commonplace. Calvin Klein is one of the.