Investigating the Use of Sex in Media Promotion and Advertising

The latest scholarship on one of today’s most pressing issues

Today, it is obvious that sexual content is a prevalent aspect of the media and that the intensity of this content has increased in recent years. Less obvious, however, are the direct effects the strategic use of sexual content has on audiences. Investigating the Use of Sex in Media Promotion and Advertising presents the latest scholarship on the role of sex in the most common media outlets—television programming, radio “shock jocks,” music videos, magazines, and advertising. The eye-opening contributions from over a dozen recognized experts in the field provide useful empirical evidence on media-conveyed sexual stimuli and look toward moving the public dialogue on sex in the media further along.

Often, opinions regarding sex in the media have little or no scientific grounding and even when scientific-grounded arguments are offered, they suffer from wide gaps in research-based knowledge. Investigating the Use of Sex in Media Promotion and Advertising is the important compilation that fills these knowledge gaps. In delving into this pressing issue, it not only offers timely findings that provide an indication of the nature, prevalence, and effects of sexual information when used as a promotional tool, but suggests new directions for the study of sex and media as well. This informative text is also extensively referenced and features numerous tables to clearly present research data.

Chapters in Investigating the Use of Sex in Media Promotion and Advertising examine:

• the nature and extent of sexually appealing newscasters primarily on cable news programs
• commentary and camera angles of women’s sporting events in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games
• the efficacy of both sexual content and sexual self-schema on consumers’ attitudes toward promotional announcements, advertised programs, viewing intention, and self-reported arousal
• the history and content analysis of “shock jock” radio like the Howard Stern and the Bob & Tom shows
• the relationship among sexual content in music videos, viewer enjoyment, and actual product purchase intention
• Maxim magazine’s cover formula and the competitive response from other men’s lifestyle magazines
• the efficacy of men’s magazines’ sexual cover models on consumer outcome variables, including interest and purchase intention
• an international perspective of nudity in advertising in magazines versus on television
• a case study of the sexual appeals used in several billboard ads for the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas
• and much more!

Filled with insightful and groundbreaking information, Investigating the Use of Sex in Media Promotion and Advertising is a vital resource for advertising and media professionals as well as educators and upper-level and graduate students in media, communications, and advertising programs.