The range of contexts in which erotic themes in advertisements for selling products and services are currently used is enormous. Their use to mediate commercial communication is preferred. In advertisements, eroticism is usually employed to generate “interest” from sexual information in terms of creating interest in the brand. Its aim is to attract attention, and several authors (M. Košková, 2013, T. Koprda, 2015, D. Kubaľáková, 2015) warn that it can be used to sell “unnecessary products.” Nudity, exposed bodies, and ambiguity, in addition to a seductive or beautifying effect, can grab attention, but there is also a risk of distraction from the actual message of the advertisement. The aspects of using erotic themes in advertisements mentioned above are reflected by M. R. Brown et al. (2004), who note that erotica represented by images that clearly depict adults in various stages of disrobing, engaged in obvious sexual activity, aims to provoke. Provocation is becoming one of the attributes of attracting the recipient’s attention through shock and operates through three mechanisms: distinctiveness, ambiguity, and the transgression of social and cultural taboos (J. D. Williams, W. Lee, C. P. Haugtvedt, 2004, O. Bočáková, M. Lincényi, 2013). As T. J. Lambiase and Reichert (2012) mention, up to 73% of print ads with erotic themes connect the advertised item with a threefold “buy formula” of benefits. Its content is a common thematic framework as follows: if you buy our product, (1) you will be more sexually attractive, (2) you will have more sex or better sex, (3) you will feel more attractive to yourself and others. The use of erotic themes is therefore linked to a certain human dissatisfaction with an imperfect “I,” while in the context mentioned above, the need to become perfect by buying a sexually charged product is evoked. Although the erotic theme is used in many forms, it is not always ethical, necessary, or appropriately applied. Although it is arousing and memorable, it does not necessarily lead the customer segment to remember or buy the advertised product.
The Research Objectives
The aim of the carried-out research was to determine how the Generation Y customer segment perceives selected print advertisements. We wanted to explore how two advertisements by Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein are subjectively perceived. We examined what bipolar adjectives associated with the research material chosen by us could evoke in respondents. We investigated what attitude the research cohort would have toward the given print advertisements and whether the semantic profile would vary depending on gender differentiation.
Hypotheses
Regarding the research objectives above, we set the following hypotheses: The null hypothesis H 1: We assume that the selected print advertisements with erotic themes will be perceived differently with regard to gender differentiation among Generation Y respondents. Alternative hypothesis H 1: We do not suppose that the assessed print advertisements with erotic themes will be perceived differently with regard to gender differentiation among Generation Y respondents. The null hypothesis H 2: We assume that Generation Y men perceive print advertisements with erotic themes more positively than Generation Y women. Alternative hypothesis H 2: We do not expect that Generation Y men perceive print advertisements with erotic themes more positively than Generation Y women.
Research Material
Based on the pre-research carried out, we defined the research material. The pre-research included 30 students from the Department of Mass Media Communication and Advertising, FP UCP in Nitra in the ratio of 25 women (average age: 20.5 years, SD = 0.83666) and 5 men (average age: 23 years, SD = 1.171893). Respondents were asked one open question in writing (“Enter two print ads with an erotic theme that come to mind first and briefly describe them”), which was part of the questionnaire. Based on their answers containing descriptions of the advertisements and after processing the collected data, we identified print ads with erotic themes that became the subject of our investigation. These were the print ads by Dolce & Gabbana (Fig. 1, N = 7) and Calvin Klein (Fig. 2, N = 7).
In addition to the two most frequently mentioned ads, respondents in smaller numbers reported print ads with erotic themes for Kinder Bueno (N = 6), Durex (N = 2), Axe (N = 2), Bruno Banani (N = 2), David Beckham Underwear (N = 1), Beyonce Heat perfume (N = 1), Tom Ford (N = 1), and Dove (N = 1).
Research Methods and Research File
Psycho-semantic methods are one way to determine the connotative (subjective) relevance of monitored items. These methods combine inter-individual consciousness, psycholinguistics, and the psychology of perception. They allow for understanding the experience of induced personal states, which are hardly recordable by other diagnostic methods. Although they have idiographic meaning, they have found use in marketing research (M. Džupina, E. Fandelová, D. Markechová, A. Tirpáková, 2013).
For monitoring the subjective meaning of selected marketing communications, we used the semantic differential method, which consisted of 18 seven-point scales. Individual scales were formed from pairs of bipolar adjectives focused on evaluating dimensions of intensity and activity. The following adjectives were used in the research: positive - negative, dynamic - static, active - passive, honest - dishonest, persuasive - unconvincing, weak - strong, right - wrong (or insulting – easy), moral - immoral, original - unoriginal, pleasant - unpleasant, pretty - ugly, justified - unfounded, sympathetic - unsympathetic, balanced - discriminatory, sexual - asexual, for young people - for all, intense - unique. A total of 120 respondents participated in the research (N = 120), of which 87 (N = 87) were women and 33 (N = 33) were men. The average age of the research group was 24.6 years (SD = 2.38), women 24.5 years (SD = 2.45), and men 25 years (SD = 2.17).
The Research Results
The final findings did not indicate a different construction of the mental image of print advertisement No. 1 with an erotic theme based on gender in Generation Y. After analysis of the results of collected observations of marketing communication ratings, we found no differences between women and men of Generation Y (Table 1, Table 2).
Table 1: Differences in assessment of print advertisement No. 1 with an erotic theme based on gender
Table 2: Differences in assessment of print advertisement No. 1 with an erotic theme, according to gender
Closer analysis of the semantic space of print advertisement No. 1 shows that both semantic profiles overlap (Chart 1). For both the women’s and the men’s groups, a tendency toward positive adjectives is observable. Women, unlike men, perceived print advertisement No. 1 as more dynamic and original. This is supported by the t-test results, where we rejected the null hypothesis and accepted the alternative hypothesis, meaning that there is a statistically significant difference between the observations at the significance level α = 0.95. The constructions of the mental image of print advertisement No. 1 are very similar in women as well as men of Generation Y with respect to characterizing the advertisement as positive, passive, unfair, unconvincing, strong, wrong, easy, moral, pleasant, nice, unfounded, sympathetic, discriminatory, sexual, for young people, and intense.
Graph no. 1: Semantic space of print advertisement No. 1 with an erotic theme, according to gender
The final findings showed identical construction of the mental image of print advertisement No. 2 with an erotic theme, depending on the gender of Generation Y. After analysis of the results collected during observation of the marketing communication rating, we found no differences between women and men of Generation Y (Table 3, Table 4).
Table 3: Differences in assessment of print advertisement No. 2 with an erotic theme based on gender
Table 4: Differences in assessment of print advertisement No. 2 with an erotic theme, according to gender
Closer analysis of the semantic space of print advertisement No. 2 showed that both semantic profiles overlap (Figure 2). For both the women’s and the men’s groups, we can observe a tendency toward positive adjectives. The mental image construction of print advertisement No. 2 is very similar in women as well as men of Generation Y with regard to characterizing the advertisement as positive, dynamic, active, unfair, persuasive, strong, wrong, easy, immoral, unoriginal, pleasant, nice, reasoned, sympathetic, egalitarian, sexual, youthful, and intense.
Graph no. 2: Semantic space of print advertisement No. 2 with an erotic theme, according to gender
Conclusion
For the purposes of our research, we carried out pre-research with 30 students from the Department of Marketing Communications and Advertising, FP, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, aged 18–24 (Generation Y). The results showed that respondents remembered print ads with erotic themes from Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein the most. Based on respondents’ descriptions provided in the questionnaire, we were able to identify these specific print marketing advertisements with erotic themes. Through this step, we defined the research material that became the subject of our study. Through the portal http://www.iankety.sk/ we created a questionnaire containing two visualizations of print ads with erotic themes by using a psycho-semantic method of semantic differential. This was then distributed to potential respondents via a generated link. After analyzing the collected results, we found that our research sample consisted of 120 respondents (N = 120), of which 87 (nt = 87) were women and 33 (Nm = 33) were men. The average age of all respondents was 24.6 years (SD = 2.38), the average age of women was 24.5 years (SD = 2.45), and the average age of men was 25 years (SD = 2.17). Based on the results, we calculated the mean values and standard deviations of questionnaire assessments. Using the t-test, we then investigated whether significant statistical differences existed in the assessment of individual print ads with erotic themes by different sexes and in the perception of the individual items of the semantic differential. After analyzing the t-test results for the two print ads with erotic themes, we concluded that there is no statistically significant difference between the assessment and perception of men and women in the Generation Y customer segment. Statistically significant differences were found only in three items of the semantic differential, accounting for only 5.5% of all bipolar adjective pairs. On the basis of the summary of results, we reject null hypothesis No. 1 and therefore conclude that the assessed print marketing advertisements with erotic themes were not perceived differently with regard to the gender differentiation of Generation Y respondents. The results of our research also show that in both cases, women perceive the print advertisements with erotic themes more positively than men, and therefore we reject the zero hypotheses No. 2 and No. 3 and adopt the alternative hypotheses. The research findings suggest that the Generation Y customer segment perceives print ads with erotic themes more positively.
Authors: Mgr. Ivana Polakevičová, PhD. Mgr. Petra Uhríková
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Grant Support * The study is a partial output of the project Vega 1/0216/15 Celebrities in the social advertising and their preference by adolescents.