The assignment’s goal is to introduce an ad, explain the surface reading of the ad and the  advertiser’s intended meaning. Additionally, you should also explain an oppositional reading of the ad.
The ad must be an advertisement for an item or service that focuses on gender identity.(For example, beauty products, clothing, cars, home appliances, etc.).
To submit this assignment, answer the following questions… 
 
1. Name of the company/brand 
2. Include an online link to advertisement. 
3. Describe the advertisement 
4. What is the surface meaning of the ad? 
5. What do you think is the advertiser’s intended meaning?
C H A P T E R
7
Gender and Advertising
How Gender Shapes Meaning
The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the
doctor says, “It’s a girl.”
—Shirley Chisholm
M en are dogs and women are cats. Women are from Venus and men are from Mars.
Writers, filmmakers, psychologists, and advertisers all have used the idea that men and
women are different to develop stories, create conflict, and provide persuasive imagery. Not
only do advertisers view men and women differently, but men and women also bring
different perspectives to advertising. Thus, we can assume that men and women create different meanings from the advertisements they see. Gender roles in our society have
changed dramatically since the 1950s, and portrayals of men and women in advertising
have been researched since nearly the same time. Researchers have consistently sought to
evaluate these roles to examine whether advertising has kept up with societal changes. In
this chapter, we examine the different ways men and women view advertising and messages, as well as some of the ways that advertising portrays gender roles today.
The last several decades have seen changes in the role of women in society, both as
those who earn money and those who spend money. In 1940, women comprised about
20% of the workforce in the United States, while today that percentage reaches 50% (U.S.
Department of Labor, 2000). In addition, the family structure in the United States has
changed: smaller proportions of two-parent families and larger numbers of single parents
were characteristic of the family structure toward the end of the 20th century (U.S. Department of Labor, 2000), and that trend continues today.
Internationally, the story is similar. It is estimated that worldwide about 70% of all
working-age women now work outside of the home (Witel-Daugenti, 2011). Women make
up the majority of professional workers in many countries, even in the Mediterranean,
where women have traditionally held more menial jobs. In Spain, for example, the proportion of young women in the labor force has now reached American levels.
89
90
CONTROVERSIES IN CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING
In addition to their changing roles in the labor force and in the family, women have also
increased their power as consumers. Today, women wield incredible buying power: They
purchase or influence the purchase of 85% of all consumer goods, including 91% of all
new homes and 65% of all cars (“Marketing to Women Quick Facts,” 2011). In the United
States, women start 70% of new businesses. A study by Continuum (2011) found that
women control 65% of global spending, a total of about $20 trillion. By 2014, the World
Bank predicts that the global income of women will grow by more than $5 trillion (Wallace,
2011). Around the world, women are delaying marriage to increase their educational and
career opportunities.
GENDER AND INFORMATION PROCESSING
As discussed in Chapter 2, advertisers provide messages and leave the meaning up to consumers to develop. Advertisers are interested in similarities and differences in how men
and women receive and evaluate information. One difference involves the actual creation
of meaning from a given advertisement. Men look directly at the primary message of a
given advertisement (e.g., “buy this beer”). Women not only evaluate the primary message,
but they also pick up multiple clues from the message and weave together threads to intuit
and infer the inner meaning of the message (e.g., “buy this beer and you will be popular
and trendy”) (Popcorn & Marigold, 2000).
Once the meaning from an advertisement has been determined, men and women differ
in how that meaning is used. These different decision-making processes are related to
whether the process is linear or more nonlinear in nature. Men process messages and make
decisions more quickly than women do, perhaps because men focus on the primary message of a given advertisement and take in little other information during the process. This
is due to the observation that men have a linear thinking and reasoning style, and men tend
to have a more task-oriented focus than women have. Women, on the other hand, process
the information in an advertisement quickly and from many levels and sources, including
music, visuals, voice-over, and text. Women also tend to evaluate and weigh the various
sources to process the message and determine what steps to take next. Women’s reasoning
processes are less task-oriented and more compartmentalized than men’s are. Women’s
decision-making processes are characterized as being incremental reasoning processes,
where each piece of information builds on the previous information that is taken in. This nonlinear approach to reasoning allows women to think in terms of interrelated factors, not
straight lines. The observation that women evaluate multiple sources supports this reasoning style (Fisher, 1999).
Women and men respond to entirely different stimuli when viewing and evaluating
advertising messages (Popcorn & Marigold, 2000). Men respond positively to male imagery,
and women respond positively to female imagery. This is why you rarely see hunters in
advertisements for products directed to women or bubble baths in advertisements for
products directed to men. Interestingly though, women will use products and respond
positively to imagery that they perceive as masculine, although men do not respond positively to images or products that they perceive as feminine. Women and men also respond
CHAPTER 7?? Gender and Advertising
91
differently to the same stimulus, such as athletic imagery: Women rarely think of themselves as athletes unless they are playing a professional sport, whereas men have images
of themselves as athletes even if they do not play professionally (Wong, 2001). Therefore,
an image of an athlete, regardless of gender, is likely to generate different responses from
both men and women.
New types of research that involves neuroscanning techniques have shown that women
and men use different parts of their brains when processing information. Women’s processing is focused in the frontal lobes, where the brain also processes multitasking. Men’s
processing is distributed throughout the brain (Hotchkiss, 2008).
GENDER AND STEREOTYPES
Given that men and women differ in many ways, it should not be surprising that advertisements portray men and women differently. These different portrayals result in intended
and unintended effects, which we discuss later in this chapter.
When looking at portrayals and imagery of men and women, it is important to examine
a body of advertisements, not just one or two specific advertisements that have imagery that
may be stereotypical or in other ways problematic. Stereotypes are created by the continual,
extended exposure of consumers to patterns of imagery. It is also important to remember
that, as discussed in Chapter 6, there are valid reasons that advertisers use stereotypes. In
this chapter, we examine role portrayals of both men and women and provide numerous
ads to illustrate our points. Please keep in mind that when examples of advertisements are
included, they were selected as representative of advertising trends that appear in society,
not just as a “sore thumb” or an aberration from typical messages seen in advertising today.
Role Portrayals
Men and women today lead highly complex lives with multiple societal roles. Men and
women are parents, businesspeople, corporate board members, friends, siblings, volunteers, and more. This differs from the Leave It to Beaver society of the 1950s, where societal
roles were much more specific: Men were the breadwinners, and women were the homemakers. Today, though, society still clings to some of the values of the 1950s. Almost half
of working mothers say they spend more time each day parenting than on their careers
(compared to 19% of working fathers). On average, moms spend 3 hours more per day than
dads do on parenting tasks (VTech, 2011). Indeed, advertising has firmly held on to this
traditional portrayal of women as homemakers and uses this imagery to promote all types
of products from household goods to computers and automobiles.
The website World Savvy Monitor (2011) cites an UNESCO report on the global status of
women that suggests that, globally, media portrays women in one of four ways: “the glamorous sex kitten, the sainted mother, the devious witch, or the hardface corporate and
political climber.” The study also argued that most heroes and protagonists on television
are men, and men’s sports are far more visible than women’s sports, which is potentially
damaging to women’s self-esteem.
92
CONTROVERSIES IN CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING
Today, advertising portrayals vary based on the medium in which they appear and, for
broadcast media, the times of day when the advertisement is appearing. During the workday, for example, the primary TV audiences are retired persons and women with children.
During daytime programming, most of the women in commercials are shown in traditional
homemaker roles (the woman pictured in the Carnation ad in Figure 7.1 is lovingly watching her son drink his breakfast). Men are rarely seen in the commercials as husbands,
professionals, or spokespeople. During prime-time television, when the TV audience is
more balanced, women are shown more often in positions of authority and in settings
away from the home. Thus, during prime-time television, portrayals of men and women
are more equitable (Craig, 1992). For example, the individuals enjoying a drink in the Hilton
Garden Inn ad (Figure 7.2) are all business people: there appear to be no power dynamics
evident, and so the portrayal could be considered equitable.
Internationally, advertising still conforms to traditional gender portrayals. A metaanalysis of advertising globally (Paek, Nelson, & Viella, 2011) found that women are much
more likely to be pictured as dependent in advertising, and much more likely to be pictured
at home than males.
Figure 7.1
A traditional mom in a Carnation Breakfast Essentials ad.
CHAPTER 7?? Gender and Advertising
93
Notably, advertising in China shows equitable portrayals to some degree, as women were
shown as workers rather than homemakers, contrasting with women in ads in other Asian
cultures such as South Korean and Thai ads. Ads in China reflect cultural changes from the
communist era, where the communist-led government in China made an effort to expand
women’s roles outside the family to become economically productive. Additionally, aspects
of the Cultural Revolution minimized visual differences between men and women by
requiring that everyone wore generic worker clothes or “Mao suits.” Both these situations
may influence portrayals of women in advertising in China today.
Today, we are seeing an increase in portrayals of women and men in ways that neither conform to nor conflict with stereotypical understanding. Several societal changes
may have contributed to the growth of such portrayals. First, there are a substantial
number of women holding positions at a range of media organizations. Many of these
women are working professionally to present a more realistic view of women in the
media. Advertisements today are also starting to portray more nontraditional images of
Figure 7.2
An equitable portrayal of men and women in an ad for Hilton Garden Inn.
94
CONTROVERSIES IN CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING
men. For example, advertisers such JC Penney and Philadelphia Cream Cheese have
shown men taking care of children and doing housework (Figure 7.3). Some countries,
such as Malta, have created guidelines on gender equity and portrayals in the media.
Malta’s guidelines read that “men and women should both be seen as making decisions
to support the family and with regard to household tasks and home management”
(Aquilina, 2007).
However, not all of these portrayals can be considered equality portrayals. Some advertisements present images of fathers who are “childish but lovable goofballs” (Crain, 2001)
and irresponsible fathers and lazy foolish husbands (Sacks & Smaglick, 2008). As an advertising trend, this could be problematic if such images are not balanced with other images
of men that show them as confident and capable in traditional homemaking situations. A
study done by ad agency Leo Burnett in 2005 found that 80% of men believed media
portrayals of men are inaccurate (Sacks & Smaglick, 2008).
Figure 7.3
I n this ad for Philadelphia Cream Cheese, the man in the image seems comfortable
in his childcare role.
CHAPTER 7?? Gender and Advertising
95
Dr. Pepper is one of several companies using advertising to encourage men to be a “man’s man.” For
example, in their ads for Dr. Pepper 10, they use the tagline “Not for Women.” This technique was
also used by Miller Lite in a series of ads where men and women saved men from unmanly behavior.
Agencies believe such techniques won’t offend men because they do not tie themselves emotionally
to ads the way women do. Men are also more brand loyal and may relate to products that seem loyal
to the “brotherhood.” Is this the new wave of stereotypes in advertising?
Beauty Stereotypes
When we think of the people who appear in advertisements, we often think of men and
women who are perfect physical specimens. They are young, with perfect skin free from
acne and nary a wrinkle in sight; they are fit, with a six-pack stomach and no hint of cellulite, and they have full heads of glossy, thick hair. Women tend to be thin, and men tend
to have well-developed upper torsos. An ad for Tom Ford fragrances epitomizes this trend
(Figure 7.4). Now, we know in our heads that these people are professional models who are
paid well to maintain themselves. We also know that advances in technology allow any
flaws and imperfections to magically disappear from photographs. However, many view
these images as presenting a standard of beauty and fitness that is in many cases impossible to attain, yet attempts are made to attain it anyway by purchasing products.
The cult of beauty is as old as the cult of the male warrior. Think of fairy tales from your
youth: Girls and women tend to be portrayed either as good (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty)
or bad (the Wicked Witch of the West, Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters). The good
women tend to be young and beautiful, and the bad women are either old or ugly (of
course, examples such as the Snow Queen are exceptions to the rule). Similarly, good men
are handsome princes, and bad men are ugly ogres. Both the ugly ogre (who kidnaps the
princess) and the handsome prince (who rescues her) desire the beautiful princess. These
myths from our childhood continue to resonate with us as adult consumers.
Theories of beauty are culturally constituted, primarily because of common socialization experiences. Thus, individuals in a society possess shared cultural ideals. One of these
ideals is that we, as human beings, find specific facial and body configurations pleasing to
view (Ashmore & Soloman, 1996). We have associated these pleasing feelings with an overall positive attitude toward beauty, and as a result, we have determined as a culture that
beauty is good and preferable to ugliness (Wolszon, 1998).
Since our culture constantly undergoes subtle changes, beauty norms have also changed
over time (Soloman & Ashmore, 1992). It has specifically been observed that societal expectations for beauty change with every generation (Jacobson & Mazur, 1995). The standard of
voluptuous beauty of Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s changed to the standard of trendy
beauty of Twiggy in the 1960s and to supermodels such as Naomi Campbell and Linda
Evangelista in the 1980s. Regardless of the “beauty paradigm” currently promoted by
society, individuals strive to attain the ideal of beauty that is prevalent in their culture
(Englis, Soloman, & Ashmore, 1994).
96
CONTROVERSIES IN CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING
Figures 7.4
An ad for Tom Ford fragrances feature models with beautiful bodies.
Today, cultural norms in the United States continue to promote the importance of an
individual’s physical attractiveness, beginning in infancy and continuing through childhood and adolescence (Martin & Gentry, 1997). For women, beauty has been institutionalized to the point where an entire industry devoted to beauty has been created. Beauty is
tied not only to appearance but also to mental health and physical well-being (Brand,
1999). This beauty ideal is an overall “look” that incorporates one’s physical features as
well as a variety of products or services such as clothing and cosmetics (Englis et al., 1994).
Striving to meet the cultural ideal is a key selling message used by many types of advertisers involved in selling beauty-oriented products (Jacobson & Mazur, 1995).
In the United States and in several other cultures, an important part of the beauty ideal
today includes a thin body type, and several studies have demonstrated how the female
body depicted in all media, including advertising, has become increasingly thin (Turner,
Hamilton, Jacobs, Angood, & Dwyer, 1997). Research has indicated that women in advertisements tend to be young, thin, and white (Kuczynski, 1998). Women who do not fit into
this category, such as black and/or older women, are either invisible (Gantz, Gartenberg, &
Rainbow, 1980), presented as tokens (Bailey, Harrell, & Anderson, 1993), or are portrayed
negatively (Plous & Neptune, 1997). There is a cultural taboo against large female bodies
CHAPTER 7?? Gender and Advertising
97
(Wilson & Blackhurst, 1999), and advertisements often present large women as having bad
bodies that limit both their wardrobes and their social engagements.
Critics point to women’s fashion and beauty magazines as one of the most influential
and potentially damaging media channels because they are directly concerned with the
cultural ideal of beauty and provide a vehicle where advertisers can easily link their products to the process of trying to attain the beauty (Englis et al., 1994). The types of women
portrayed in these magazines, both in advertising and in editorial pages, are parts of the
unattainable beauty ideal. The average woman in the United States is 5 feet 3 inches tall
and weighs 164 pounds (CDC, 2004), but the average model is 5 feet 11 inches tall and
weighs 115 pounds (Tung, 2002).
Men, too, are subject to cultural ideals of beauty. While the exposure of the male body
has historically been off-limits in advertising and other media, the past few decades have
shown an increase in the use of the male body to promote products. Beauty standards
have been set for men; for example, in terms of facial appearance, men are expected to
have square jaws and full heads of hair. Male beauty is also equated with physical strength.
As media globalization increasingly provides a view of Western culture to Eastern countries,
Western ideals of beauty are becoming popular (Jacinto, 2011). These ideals are often translating into risky and expensive actions: Chinese women, traditionally shorter than their
Western counterparts, now chose to undergo surgical procedures to make them taller. In
Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, women are undergoing surgery that “opens” the eye by
reconstructing the eye socket to achieve a more Caucasian look. In India, cosmetic companies sell “fairness creams” to lighten the skin tone.
Decorative and Sexual Stereotypes
Closely associated with the idea of a beautiful face and body is the idea of decorative
portrayals. When people are portrayed in advertisements, they are either actively involved
with the product or service being advertised or passively decorating the advertisement. For
example, a model could be seen as having just finished drinking milk (an active portrayal),
or the model could be holding the product without interacting with it (a decorative portrayal), such as we see in the Elfa ad in Figure 7.5. Decorative portrayals show the people
in the advertisements as passive and disengaged, whereas active portrayals show the person interacting directly with the product. Many advertisements featuring beautiful men
and women tend to feature them as decorations. A study of advertising globally (Paek et al.,
2011), found that women are four times more likely to be presented visually without a
speaking role) than males.
The fact that women tend to be portrayed in decorative roles much more often than
men suggests that advertisements do not render a realistic depiction of the female gender
role (Paff & Lakner, 1997). Specifically, many decorative depictions of women tend to show
women in sexual or alluring positions. A sexual depiction is often an explicitly aggressive
image of a woman that focuses on her lips, breasts, or groin area. An alluring depiction is
less explicit and might feature a woman reclining submissively on a piece of furniture or
on the floor or looking at the camera with her lips suggestively parted, as seen in the Kmart
ad featuring Sofia Vergara (Figure 7.6).
Decorative roles are seen as arguably representing society’s view of the appropriate
place for women in society: taking a passive position (Paff & Lakner, 1997). A recent study
98
CONTROVERSIES IN CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING
Figure 7.5
T he model in the Elfa ad is not interacting with the product and is merely
decorative.
of magazines advertisements in Germany, Poland, and the United States found that both
genders are frequently portrayed in decorative roles (Skorek & Schrier, 2009), with more
women than men appearing this way.
When decorative and sexual imagery is used, advertisements often include nonverbal
cues as an indication that women lack authority and possess less power than men
(Simmons, 1986). Probably the most important scholar in the area of nonverbal cues is
Erving Goffman, whose book Gender Advertisements (1979) explored a range of portrayals
of women and men in terms of power. Goffman’s findings include that women are generally pictured at a smaller relative size, especially height. Men tend to be pictured as taller
than women, putting them in a position of power, authority, and rank (Figure 7.7) Body
language often suggests that women are submissive toward products, such as the woman
lying on the floor with her Burberry trench barely covering her body (Figure 7.8), whereas
men are dominant over products (Figure 7.9).
Women are also seen as more tactile than men; that is, they more often are touching,
cradling, and caressing objects. Goffman sees this type of touching as ritualistic, as
opposed to more utilitarian aspects of touching such as touch that grasps, manipulates,
CHAPTER 7?? Gender and Advertising
Figure 7.6
99
Sofia Vergara looks alluringly at the camera in this Kmart ad.
or holds. Again, this suggests the more passive nature of women in advertising. Similarly,
women tend to appear removed from the social situation of the activity pictured in the
ads. Often, their gaze is averted (Figure 7.10). Goffman (1979) refers to this as licensed
withdrawal.
The overarching concern with decorative and sexual portrayals is that the individuals
involved in such portrayals may become objects, similar to the objects that the people are
trying to sell. With passive portrayals, there is a disconnection between the person and the
object and possibly even between people (Kilbourne, 1999). Such feelings may pass on
from the advertisement to the world, creating general feelings of disconnectedness among
those who see the ad (Kilbourne, 1999).
INTENDED EFFECTS
In the previous chapter, we examined why stereotypes are generally used by the advertising industry. In this discussion of effects, we recap some of the key effects that relate
100
CONTROVERSIES IN CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING
Figure 7.7
E ven lying down, it is clear that the man in the iComfort ad is taller than the
woman and is in a position of power over the woman.
specifically to gender and advertising, as well as provide some additional intended and
unintended effects regarding the types of portrayals we have discussed so far in this chapter.
The Stage Is Quickly Set
Advertisers are not alone in using stereotyped imagery. Television programs, magazines, feature films, and other mass-mediated content all provide a somewhat limited
vision of men’s and women’s roles in society that has become familiar to us as consumers. Stereotyped imagery is effective by virtue of its familiarity: Images such as the busy
homemaker, the brawny construction worker, and the buttoned-down executive are
instantly recognizable. Given that they are working within time and space constraints,
advertisers have almost always relied on stereotypes to establish rapport with consumers
and move on to more important information about the product or service being advertised. It is efficient for advertising to use gendered stereotypes because the scene
becomes immediately set.
CHAPTER 7?? Gender and Advertising
Figures 7.8 and 7.9
submissive woman is portrayed in the Burberry fragrance ad. A man
A
dominates the car, and the motor oil, in the Pennzoil ad.
101
102
CONTROVERSIES IN CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING
Figure 7.10
n averted gaze of the female model in the Ralph Lauren ad. Note the
A
man’s gaze is more direct.
Beautiful Things Are Appealing
As social beings, we like to look at beautiful things. Even as babies, we are more attracted
to beautiful pictures than to ugly ones. Advertising images capitalize on this idea of liking,
as attractive men and women are often used to transfer positive affect from the model to
the product (Gulas & McKeage, 2000). Studies show that this “affect transfer” works well.
Seeing attractive people activates thoughts of “goodness,” which extends to evaluations of
other people and objects—such as the product the person is associated with (Psysociety,
2011). This affect transfer also relates to sales: Consumers report increased purchase intentions for the advertised product after seeing ads for the products that feature attractive
people (Petroshius & Crocker, 1989).
A study by Phillips and McQuarrie (2011) goes beyond simple brand attitudes and finds
that individuals reading gendered fashion ads in magazines like Vogue reported that they felt
creative, interested, inspired, and enthusiastic. Such ads elicited happy moods, and individuals gained positive experiences. Ads for beauty products, while not eliciting the same types
of responses, resulted in a “priming effect” in which an implicit reference to a problem to be
solved brings an individual’s preexisting feelings to the service. Thus, individuals who believe
they have some physical flaw will relate well to a beautiful image in an ad to correct that flaw.
CHAPTER 7?? Gender and Advertising
103
These predilections can be further explained by a theory called the match-up hypothesis, which suggests that attractive persons are highly effective endorsers for products that
are used to enhance the consumer’s own attractiveness. Effectiveness in this case was
measured in terms of both consumer attitude toward the brand as well as their purchase
intentions (Till & Busler, 2000). Moreover, attractive endorsers are often considered more
appropriate and a better fit than unattractive endorsers, regardless of the product (Till &
Busler, 2000).
Role-Product Congruity
The idea that beautiful people can augment the persuasive ability of advertising for
beauty-oriented products and services leads to the next intended effect of the use of some
gendered stereotypes: role-product congruity theory. The role-product congruity theory
simply suggests that advertising effectiveness can be increased when appropriate models
are used. At first, it was suspected that female models were more effective in promoting
feminine products than males, and vice versa (Kanungo & Pang, 1993). This suggests that
beautiful women are effective at selling products to make women feel more beautiful. The
role-product congruity theory goes beyond that simple suggestion to examine individual
gendered role portrayals for different product categories. Research has shown that certain
stereotyped portrayals of men and women are appropriate for specific categories of products (for example, a portrayal of a mom is appropriate for a product used in the home)
(Ferguson, Kreshel, & Tinkham, 1990). This suggests that we as consumers have some idea
of acceptable images that relates to the context of the advertisement.
The role-product congruity theory has also been used to examine relationships between
images of spokespeople and products. Let us go back to the previous discussion that
physically attractive models in advertisements have a positive influence on consumers’
attitudes toward beauty-enhancing products (Kahle & Homer, 1985). One explanation for
this is schema theory, which suggests that memory is a blend of specific memories as well
as general abstractions about people, activities, and objects (Gwinner & Eaton, 1999). Paek
et al. (2010), in a study of prime-time television commercials in seven different countries,
found that product type was the most consistent predictor of prominent character gender
and voice-over gender among numerous factors, meaning that the match up or congruence
between gender-role portrayal and product type still matters. Advertisers across countries
seem to practice widely consistent role portrayals of human models in their advertising to
match the advertised products. The authors suggest that this is evidence of the continuing
reliance on stereotypes in the advertising industry regardless of cultural values or changing
gender-role identities worldwide. The researchers argue that these depictions are likely to
limit women’s roles in purchasing products (e.g., women will be less likely to learn about
automobiles in preparation to purchase them if they don’t see women in car ads).
The Theory That Sex Sells
We have discussed that advertisers use attractive images to positively connect products
to feelings that we already have. Before that connection can take place, the ads must get
our attention. Often, sexual imagery is used to break through the ever-growing clutter in
104
CONTROVERSIES IN CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING
the advertising environment. As Twitchell (1996) said, at a minimum, “sex doesn’t sell, but
it certainly captures attention” (p. 157).
A sexual appeal is a strong psychological appeal, second only to self-preservation. In
humans, as in all animals, sexual desire is an instinctive reaction as we search for the perfect mate (Taflinger, 1996). Sexual imagery used in advertising for products like perfume,
makeup, and clothing, then, can be explained or rationalized in part by this mating desire
in humans: We want to look good to attract a mate and to propagate our species. However,
sexual imagery has been shown to have a stronger persuasive ability for men than for
women. It may be because men have a different set of criteria for selecting a mate than
women do: Men traditionally tend to recognize that a woman who is young, healthy, and
beautiful will be a good mate. Therefore, many advertisers use sexual imagery to get a
man’s attention and then associate buying the product with getting a mate (Taflinger, 1996).
These types of messages focus on instinctual or physical types of meaning in messages.
For women, the persuasive power of sexual imagery works on a somewhat different level.
A healthy, fit male model will attract the attention of many women and may even create desire
for the product. Women, though, also pay attention to the long-term potential of a man—for
example, his ability to be a good father and to provide them with money, power, and prestige.
All these factors are almost impossible to put into any single advertisement (Taflinger, 1996).
Arguably, then, it is difficult for advertisers to use sex successfully to sell to women.
Instead, advertising uses romance to make a sexual connection with women. Romantic
images are less blatant and more ambiguous than traditional sexual messages: They provide images of courtship, relationships, and the process of falling in love (Figure 7.11).
Sexual imagery in adv