Consumer Response to Sex in Advertising: Effects of Degree of Congruity on Affective Evaluations
Aleksandra Niemczyk 10841954
Master’s Thesis
Graduate School of Communication Persuasive Communication
Dr. Margot van der Goot
Abstract
While a body of research has examined the effect of incongruent use of sexual appeal in adverting, previous studies failed to incorporate degrees of congruity between the appeal and consumer’s brand schema. Drawing on the brand schema congruity theory, this article examines the consumer evaluations across the three degrees of congruity between sexual appeal and the brand. This experimental studied focused on examining consumer’s affective responses. Moreover, the role of Need for Cognition (NFC) in moderating the effect was studied. The findings did not find the anticipated inverted U-shape pattern for consumer evaluations. Out of the affective evaluations examined, ad attitude, brand attitude and WOM intention, the results show that congruity between sexual appeal and the brand produces more favorable results than extreme incongruity. Moreover, the results show that NFC does not moderate the effect. Recommendations for future research and implications for marketing professionals have been outlined.
Introduction
For almost as long as it has existed, advertising used sexual appeals as a technique to gain attention, arouse emotions and shape consumer behavior (Pollay, 1986). Previous research indicates that the use of sexual appeal in advertising has been met with somewhat mixed consumer response (LaTour & Henthorne, 1994). It has been suggested that the favorability of consumer responses to sexual appeal in advertising can be influenced by contextual factors such as its relevance to the brand (Baker & Churchill, 1997; Peterson & Kerin, 1977; Simpson, Horton & Brown, 1996) and consumer characteristics (Putrevu, 2008). Although the findings are inconclusive, the research on the contextual and consumer characteristic factors, give an opportunity to extend the understanding of consumer evaluations of sexual appeal in advertising.
Guided by the idea that sex sells, marketers are increasingly using sexual information in their messages whether or not it is congruent with the brand advertised. This has been displayed by sex used in advertising of goods ranging from personal-care products to heavy industrial machinery (Berkowitz, 1997). Traditionally, it has been viewed that for an advertising to be most effective the information in the message has to be congruent with the consumers’ perceptions of the brand (Keller, 1993). More recent research (Dahlen. Lange & Sjödin, 2005), however, indicated that information that is incongruent with existing knowledge about the brand may elicit more favorable responses. Mandler (1982)’s brand schema theory, on the other hand, suggested that the most optimal degree for consumer evaluations of information lies on the congruity-incongruity continuum.
This research aims to enhance our understanding of how sexual appeals operate. More conclusive and generalizable results can be found by rethinking a way of conceptualizing and testing the effects of sexual appeal in advertising on consumer
evaluations. By bridging the traditional literature on sexual appeal in advertising that tested contextual factors and the one in the field of brand schema congruity, this research aims to offer new theoretical insights into the effectiveness of the use of sexual appeal. The research is conducted to answer the question: “Does the degree of congruity between sexual appeal and the brand and the brand have an effect consumer affective evaluations?”. In order to do so, this article will focus on examining if the three degrees of congruity proposed by Mandler (1982) affect consumer evaluations. It will specifically focus on the affective evaluations, since they have been found to be a precursor of behavior. Moreover, it will also test a consumer characteristic in order to broaden the theoretical insights that could be used as recommendations for marketers. The chosen consumer characteristic is Need for Cognition (NFC). According Cacioppo and Petty (1982), the use of personality traits could provide a strong test of hypotheses that examine issue-relevant thinking and attitude forming. The use of NFC could add validity of the underlying argument. Therefore, the moderating role of NFC is examined in the current research.
Theoretical Background Brand Schema Theory
In order to understand the effects of the degree of congruity between a sexual appeal and the brand, Mandler’s (1982) seminal congruity theory provides a relevant and helpful theoretical framework. Prior to examining the framework in detail, the concept of brand schema will be discussed, as it plays a pivotal role in understanding Mandler’s (1982) argumentation for the hypothesized effects of degree of congruity.
Brand schema is the existing knowledge structure regarding a brand. More specifically, it is a mental representation of how consumers organize, interpret and
retrieve brand-related information (Fiske & Taylor, 1991). It can thus be assumed that brand schema is an anticipatory structure, providing readiness to search for and assimilate incoming brand information (Puligadda, Ross & Grewal, 2012). When brand-information is encountered, consumers activate their brand schema (Braun, 1999). The activated brand schema facilities retrieving stored brand information and that in turn allows for distinguishing and processing of new brand-related information (Alba & Hutchinson, 1987).
Research in the field of brand schema formation has found that consumers’ knowledge is organized around brand names rather than product attributes (Johnson & Russo, 1981). This is due to the fact that consumers are exposed to brand-specific and not product-specific communication such as advertising, packaging and previous product experiences. Familiarity with the brand is a prerequisite for forming a brand schema. Johnson and Russo (1984) demonstrated that people increasingly form rather robust brand schemas as a result of a brand’s long and visible existence in the marketplace. Therefore, the relevance of studying how brand information is interpreted with the use of brand schema is greatest when it can be assumed that the brand is familiar.
Congruity and Incongruity with Brand Schema
Brand schema forms expectations about the location, type and delivery of brand information that will be encountered in the future (Dahlén & Lange 2005). Congruity with brand schema occurs when the encountered information conforms to those expectations. Evidence shows that congruent brand information is predictable and can be effortlessly encoded by the consumers into their brand schema (Kent & Allen, 1994). Moreover, congruity does not demand cognitive elaboration and therefore does not
stimulate arousal. On the other hand, incongruity with brand schema refers to the information that does not conform to brand schema (Heckler & Childers, 1992). Research has shown that incongruent brand information demands consumers an enhanced processing and elaboration in order solve the discrepancy between the encountered information and their brand schema (Lee, 2000). A study by Dahlén and colleagues (2008) confirmed that exposure to information that is incongruent with brand schema increases the receiver’s cognitive arousal.
Heckler and Childers (1992) advocated a two-dimensional conceptualization for studying the processing effects of congruity and incongruity between information imbedded in advertising and a schema. The dimensions include expectancy and relevancy. The former refers to the degree to which information falls into a predetermined pattern or structure (Goodman, 1980). The latter refers to the degree to which information “contributes to the clear identification of a theme or message being communicated” (Heckler & Childers, 1992, p.477). Information is congruent with the brand schema when it is both expected and relevant. On the other hand, information is incongruent with the brand schema when it is neither expected nor relevant. The two dimensions proposed by Heckler and Childers (1992) will be used in this study for stimulus development.
The Effects of Congruity Between Sexual Appeal and a Brand
Sexual appeals are persuasive appeals used in adverting that contain sexual information integrated with the overall message. Researches in the field conceptualized it as “brand information messages in an advertising context that are associated with sexual information represented as either images, verbal elements, or both” (Reichert,
Heckler & Jackson, 2001, p.14). In an attempt to understand the effects of congruity between sexual appeal and a brand, several studies have been conducted.
Peterson and Kerin (1977)’s pioneering study in the field examined consumer evaluations of “demure”, “seductive” and “nude” female models in advertisements for either body oil (operationalized as congruent with the appeal) or a ratchet wrench set (operationalized as incongruent with the appeal). The results of the experiment showed that the congruent use of sexual appeal leads to more favorable evaluations than when the sexual appeal is incongruent with the product.
Simpson, Horton and Brown (1996) replicated Peterson and Kerin’s (1977) study but incorporated male models in the experiment. They examined the effects of models in various levels of undress on consumer evaluations of either body oil or ratchet wrench set. Of all conditions, they have found the most favorable consumer evaluations were for congruent conditions in which nude model was used to advertise body oil.
Baker and Churchill (1997) also examined the impact of congruity between sexual appeal and a product. In their study they measured the effectiveness of using a physically attractive model to advertise products with or without “romantic overtones”. Their stimulus material consisted of coffee seen as not having a romantic overtone (incongruent with the use of the model) and perfume, which was established as having a romantic overtone (congruent with the use of the model). The highest consumer evaluations were found for the congruent use of the model.
As it can be seen, the above-mentioned studies come to the conclusion that congruity between sexual appeal and the brand yields more favorable consumer evaluations than incongruity. However, the above-mentioned studies have four major limitations that question their findings and call for the reexamination. First of all, none of these studies use any type of systematic procedure when choosing products that
would be congruent/incongruent with a sexual appeal. Previous studies rely on the opinions of the researchers to determine which product is congruent or incongruent with a sexual appeal. Secondly, manipulation checks to determine if the subjects perceived the advertisements to contain sexual appeal were not performed. Thirdly, the experiments tested either product categories or fictitious brands. As it has been previously mentioned, it is more theoretically justifiable to examine the effects of congruity between sexual appeal and a familiar brand for which consumers’ have established a brand schema. Fourthly, the studies on sexual appeal manipulated congruity as a dichotomous variable, congruity versus incongruity, which is somewhat problematic and as there are known three degrees of congruity, each degree having varying effects on consumer evaluations.
This thesis will attempt to overcome these flaws in three ways. Firstly, it will incorporate brand schema congruity theory proposed by Mandler (1982) to predict how the degree of congruity between sexual appeal and a brand affects consumer evolutions. Secondly, it will provide a clear and relevant definition of sexual appeal, which will guide stimulus development. For the purpose of this research, sexual appeal will be operationalized as the use of a decorative female model whose primary activity is to adorn the products as sexual (Reid & Soley, 1981). Thirdly, a pretest will be conducted to verify if the appeal of the advertising to be used in the experiment is perceived as sexual and determine whether the brands used in study are familiar with the consumers. This will allow for the assumption that consumers have developed a brand schema for the brands tested. Thirdly, the current research will encompass variations along the congruity-incongruity continuum.
Degree of Congruity
Mandler (1982) theorized that congruity should be classified into three degrees: congruity, moderate incongruity and extreme incongruity. The researcher argued that the degrees of congruity should be operationalized by the ease with which the inconsistency between brand schema and new information is resolved. Congruity is when the presented information matches the established brand schema and no effortful processing is required. Meyers-Levy and Tybout (1989) described the moderate incongruity one where there is a mismatch between the existing schema and the information encountered. The discrepancy requires effort to resolve it by accessing a cognitive structure. Extreme incongruity on the other hand, either cannot be resolved or can be resolved only if effortful and fundamental changes are made in the receiver’s existing cognitive structure (Meyers-Levy & Tybout, 1989).
Effects of Degree of Congruity on Consumer Affective Evaluations
Along with conceptualizing the degrees of congruity, Mandler (1982) suggested that consumer effects of degrees would vary. As it has been mentioned, congruity does not require resolution because the information that the consumers encounter is predictable. This predictability limits the interest and in turn results in mild affective evaluations such as ad attitude, brand attitude or Word Of Mouth (WOM) intention (Meyers-Levy & Tybout, 1989). On the other hand, incongruity stimulates elaboration as consumers try to resolve the inconsistency between the information and schema. Moderate incongruity can be successful resolved (Mandler, 1982). The positive feeling affect from the resolution should follow on to ad attitude. Moreover, the processing caused by incongruity increases the salience of the brand in memory (Alba & Chattopadhyay, 1986), which in enhances brand attitude (Holden & Vanhuele, 1999). In
addition to generating higher attitudes for the ad and the brand, consumers respond to the incongruity by displaying word of mouth intention (Mandler, 1982). On the contrary, extreme incongruity cannot be resolved and creates confusion rather than interest (Jung & Tey, 2007). Additionally, when the incongruity becomes extreme processing is limited. The inability to find a resolution is likely to have negative spillover effect on ad attitude, brand attitude and WOM intention.
Empirical findings on the effects of degree of congruity between information and schema allow to predict consumer affective evaluations when the information contains sexual appeal. Ozanne, Brucks and Grewal (1992) have adopted Mandler’s (1982) three-degree operationalization of congruity and have found an inverted U-shape pattern between the degree of congruity and consumer evaluations. The evidence from the study shows that moderate incongruity leads to more favorable consumer evaluations. The findings were also confirmed in different consumer behavior research areas such as new product evaluation (Peracchio & Tybout 1996) and responses to advertisements (Heckler & Childers 1992; Goodstein 1993) and brand extension evaluations (Maoz & Tybout 2002; Meyers-Levy, Louie & Curren 1994; Nkwocha et al. 2005).
Based on the empirical evidence that supports the inverted U-shape pattern between the degree of congruity and consumer affective evaluations, the moderate incongruity between sexual appeal and brand should yield more favorable ad attitude, brand attitude and WOM intention than congruity or extreme incongruity. The following hypothesis is therefore proposed:
H1: An inverted U-shape is visible in the effect of degree of congruity between a sexual appeal and the brand on consumer evaluations, with moderate incongruity leading to a more favorable (a) ad attitude (b) brand attitude (c) word of mouth intention than congruity or extreme incongruity.
Moderating Role of Need for Cognition (NFC)
In their influential research, Cacioppo and Petty define NFC as the “tendency for an individual to engage in and enjoy thinking” (1982, p. 116). In the advertising context, this consumer characteristic has been proven to influence attention to arguments presented and consumers’ response to ad complexity (Putrevu, Tan & Lord, 2006). High-NFC consumers are more likely to form attitudes on the basis of in-depth processing and careful evaluation of message proposition. Such consumers have developed cognitive structures, which they utilize to interpret visual and verbal cues placed in an ad (Putrevu, 2008). They are also likely to engage in more in-depth elaboration (Childers, Huston & Heckler, 1985). On the contrary, low-NFC consumers are less likely to elaborate on arguments presented by the ad. Moreover, they are less likely to comprehend complex messages as they have been often found to suffer from information overload (Malhorta, 1982).
Past literature on the effect of NFC on consumer response towards advertising, can help to predict how NFC moderates the effects of degree of congruity between sexual appeal and the brand. It can be assumed that high-NFC consumers will be able to undertake and enjoy the processing necessary to resolve moderate incongruity between sexual appeal and the brand, resulting in positive evaluations. Due to the fact even high-NFC are unlikely to possess the psychological resources needed to resolve extreme incongruity, evaluations will decrease. Therefore, moderate congruity between a sexual appeal and the brand will elicit more favorable evaluations for high-NFC. For low-NFC consumers, messages that contain both moderately and extremely incongruent brand communication may be perceived as too demanding. Therefore, congruity between sexual appeal the brand that does not require elaboration will be more favorably
evaluated. The effect of degree of congruity between a sexual appeal and the brand on consumer evaluations is moderated by NFC, in such a way that:
H2a: High-NFC consumers will have a more favorable (a) ad attitude (b) brand attitude (c) word of mouth intention for moderate incongruity between a sexual appeal and the brand than for congruity or extreme incongruity.
H2b: Low-NFC consumers will have a more favorable (a) ad attitude (b) brand attitude (c) word of mouth intention for congruity between sexual appeal and the brand than for moderate or extreme incongruity.
Given the theoretical background, the following conceptual model (See Figure 1) is proposed. It depicts the suggested relationship between of degree of congruity between a sexual appeal and the brand on consumer evaluations with a moderating role of NFC.
Figure 1. Conceptual Model
Degree of Congruity - Congruity - Moderate Incongruity - Extreme Incongruity Consumer Evaluation - Ad attitude - Brand attitude
- Word of Mouth intention
Need for Cognition - High
- Low
H1
Research Method Experimental Design
The hypotheses were investigated in an experiment using a 3 (Degree of Congruity: congruity, moderate incongruity, extreme incongruity) x 2 (Need for Cognition: high, low) between-subjects factorial design.
Sample
A convenience sampling technique was used to gather a cross-sectional sample. The target population for this research included young adults born between the years 1980 and 1997, residing in the UK and the Netherlands. The sample was chosen based on three reasons. Firstly, the sample was selected due to the homogenous nature of young adults in terms of demographic and behavioral characteristics (Yoon, 2013). A homogenous, young adult sample can provide stronger internal validity (Druckman & Kam, 2011), which in an experimental research is preferred over external validity (Bryman, 2008). Secondly, the use of young adult sample is in line with prior research that has investigated the effects of the use of sexual appeal on consumers’ affective responses (Dahl, Sengupta & Vohs, 2009; Putrevu, 2008). Thirdly, it has been found that a large portion consumer products adopting sexual appeal in the advertising of their brand targets the mentioned age group (Liu, Cheng & Li, 2009). Therefore, for the theory building and application purpose of this study, the sample qualified as appropriate.
Out of 150 completed surveys, two were deleted due to incomplete responses, resulting in total of 148 surveys that were used for further data analysis. The gender of the subjects was spread equally over the sample (50% female, 50% male). The average age of the participants was 26.27 years (SD = 5.22). Regarding the level of education,
40.5% of respondents had completed secondary education and 38.5% had a Bachelor degree.
Stimulus Development
Developing the stimulus material for the analysis consisted of three stages. In the first stage, print advertising as a medium was chosen. The decision was based on the fact that print advertisements, compared to radio or TV, allow for internal pacing (Lee, 2000). The receiver has an opportunity to process the information as long as needed, which allows for differences in elaboration induced by the congruity or incongruity between sexual appeal and the brand to occur. Moreover, using print advertising allows for the results of the study to be more relevant in the marketing practice. Sexual appeal is more prevalent in magazines, 40% of magazine ads contain sexual content, than in TV where only 12% of spots contain sexual content (Reichert, 2002).
The second stage aimed to determine the product category from which then brands would be chosen to create different degrees of congruity. Relevance and familiarity with the product category is a prerequisite for being familiar with the brand. Therefore, an exploratory qualitative research with one focus group was conducted. The five participants of the focus group, similar in characteristics to the study population, revealed that jeans were both relevant and familiar to them. Hence, jeans were chosen for the research.
The third stage involved running one pretest (N =15) with three measures to confirm the selection of sexual appeal of the ad, find familiar jeans brands and determine the degrees of congruity. The first question of the pretest asked the respondents to rate an ad picturing a young female topless model wearing jeans on a seven-point scale (1=not very sexual, 7= very sexual). Choice of sexual appeal was been
justified (M = 5.62, SD = 1.19). An open-ended question that followed asked the respondents to describe the ad in their own words. Adjectives such as “sexy”, “very sexual” and “provocative” were used.
In the pretest, the participants were also asked to rate jeans brands on familiarity using a semantic differential scale ranging from 1(not familiar with) to 7 (very familiar with). The results showed that eight brands; Calvin Klein (M = 5.23, SD = 1.79), Diesel (M = 5.92, SD = 1.32), Levi’s (M = 6.46 , SD = .78), Wrangler (M = 4.27, SD = 1.9), Lee (M = 4.85, SD = 1.99), Cheap Monday (M = 4.3, SD = 2.54), Volcom (M = 4.3, SD = 2.54) and Tommy Hilfiger (M = 5.31, SD = 1.97) were familiar and could be used to determine which of the brands were congruent, moderately incongruent or extremely incongruent with the ad.
To determine the degrees of congruity, participants were requested to rate the ad with the model in terms of relevancy and expectancy in communicating the eight aforementioned jeans brands on a nine-point semantic differential scale (1=irrelevant/unexpected, 9=relevant/expected). The criterion for choosing the three degrees of congruity conditions was adapted from Heckler and Childers’ (1992) study. Congruent degree would be established when the ad was both expected and relevant in communicating the brand. Moderately incongruent degree would be determined when the ad was unexpected but relevant in communicating the brand. Whereas, extremely incongruent degree would be determined when the ad was unexpected and irrelevant in communicating the brand.
Based on the mean ratings of relevancy and expectancy, three brands out of the eight were selected that appeared to best represent each degree of congruity. Calvin Klein was used for the congruent degree condition (M = 7.36, SD = 1.55), Levi’s for
moderate incongruity condition (M =5.08, SD = 1.85) and Wrangler for extreme incongruity condition (M = 3.3, SD = 1.34)
The three brands were used to construct experimental ads that correspond to each of the three degrees of congruity. To maintain consistency and eliminate potential confounds, the three ads were created using a single design template to keep the tagline, model and layout constant. The designer of the ad ensured that the stimuli were comparable to real commercial print ads (See Appendix A).
Procedure
The experiment was created and administered using Qualtrics, online software, in December 2015 and was open for the duration of seven days. The study took 5 to 10 minutes to complete. Prior to commencing the experiment, the participants were told that the purpose of the study was to explore advertising strategies. They were also warned that the study contained sexual content that may be experienced as offensive, and they had the possibility not to continue further. In order to commence the study, the respondents had to confirm that they were over 18 years old. The questionnaire started with instructions on how to proceed. The participants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions. Once the respondents were exposed to the experimental stimulus, they were asked to fill out the questionnaire. The questions were arranged to first measure ad and brand attitude, followed by word of mouth intention. Questions measuring NFC were asked after that. After answering a short set of demographic questions, participants were thanked for their participation. See Appendix B for the structure of the questionnaire.
The questionnaire was designed in a way to ensure that the respondents answered all questions and paid attention to them. The respondents were not able to
proceed to the next question without completing the one they were on. The implementation of this approach aided the reduction of missing data in the survey. Moreover the survey consisted of an attention filter, which was placed among the questions measuring NFC. The attention filter was a statement phrased “This is an attention filter. Please select ‘strongly disagree’ for this statement’. When the respondents did not select ‘strongly disagree’ as instructed they were automatically brought to the end of their survey and their responses were not recorded. This aimed to eliminate response bias. The sample that remained for further analysis can be assumed to have answered the questions truthfully throughout the duration of the study.
Dependent Measures
Ad attitude (Aad) was measured with nine-item semantic differential scale. The
chosen scale was adapted from Hons and Quester’s (2005) study on the influence of congruity between product and nudity on advertising effectiveness. The scale was constructed using items dislike/like or unappealing/appealing. Because it has been found that sexual appeal can elicit feelings of offence (Gould, 1994; LaTour & Henthorne, 1994), items tasteless/tasteful and offensive/offensive were incorporated into the scale. The items were measured on a 7-point semantic differential scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). See Appendix B for a full scale of items. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the nine items load on one factor (EV = 6.68, R2 = .70). An index was produced by averaging the response to the items (Cronbach’s α = .89; M = 4.26, SD = 1.75).
Brand attitude (Abr) was measured by an eight-item adapted scale (LaTour &
Hnthorne, 1993) that captured two dimensions of brand attitude: attractiveness and performance. Items unappealing/appealing and uninteresting/interesting measured the
attractiveness of the brand, whereas low quality/high quality and unsatisfactory/satisfactory measured the performance. The measure used a seven-point semantic differential scale. The eight items loaded on one factor (EV = 5.79, R2 = .72). The averaged index had a Cronbach’s α = .95; M = 4.6, SD = 1.21.
Word of Mouth intention (WOM) was measured with Reicheld’s (1993) single
question “How likely are you to recommend [Brand] to a friend?”. The responses were given on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from ranging from 1 to 7(1 = not all likely, 7 = very likely) (M = 4.12, SD = 1.88).
Moderator
Need for Cognition (NFC) was measured with a five-item scale taken from
Epstein (1991), who adapted the items from the NFC scale developed by Cacioppo and Petty (1982). The items were “I like to have to do a lot of thinking, “I seek situations that require thinking in depth about something”, “I prefer to do something that challenges my thinking abilities rather than something that requires little though”, “I do not prefer complex to simple solutions” (negatively worded) and “Thinking hard and for a long time about something give me a lot of satisfaction”. The measure used Likert-type scale ranging from ranging from 1 to 5 (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly disagree). The five of the items loaded on one factor (EV = 3.1, R2 = .62). The averaged index had a Cronbach’s α = .73; M = 3.5, SD = .73.
Results Preparatory Analysis
Control Variables. In order to conduct a legitimate test of the hypotheses which link the independent variables with the dependent variables, firstly it was necessary to
determine whether there was a need to control for other variables that could have confounding effects on the mentioned relationship. The preparatory analysis consisted of running tests to establish whether the variables age, gender and education level were equally distributed between the three conditions. The results from a one-way ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference in age between the conditions F (2, 145) = 0.029, p = .971. Furthermore, Chi-square tests were performed to determine whether gender and education level were equally distributed across the conditions. Results from the tests revealed that both gender X2 (2, N = 148) = 2.83, p = 0.243) and education level
X2 (6, N = 148) = 5.93, p = 0.431 were equally distributed. Therefore, the aforementioned variables did not need to be controlled for in further analyses.
Hypotheses Testing
The first hypothesis (H1) predicted that moderate incongruity between a sexual appeal and the brand would lead to a more favorable ad attitude (Aad), brand attitude (Abr) and word of mouth intention (WOM), than congruity and extreme incongruity. The second hypothesis stated that the main effect would be moderated by NFC in such a way that (H2a) high-NFC consumers would have more favorable ad attitude (Aad), brand attitude (Abr) and word of mouth intention (WOM) for moderate incongruity than congruity or extreme incongruity, whereas (H2b) low-NFC consumers will have more favorable ad attitude (Aad), brand attitude (Abr) and word of mouth intention (WOM) for congruity than moderate or extreme incongruity. The two hypotheses were tested simultaneously using three two-way ANOVAS, one for each of the three dependent variables.
The first two-factor analysis of variance showed a non-significant main effect of degree of congruity on ad attitude, Aad (F (2,142) = 1.24, p =.292, η2 = .02). However,
there was no significant interaction effect between degree of congruity and NFC, (F (2,142) = 1.5, p =.226, η2 = .02).
The second two-factor analysis of variance, testing the effects on brand attitude, revealed a non-significant main effect of degree of congruity, Abr (F (2,142) = 2.11, p =.125, η2 = .03). There was no significant interaction effect between degree of congruity and NFC, (F (2,142) = 3.28, p = .071, η2 = .04).
The third two-factor analysis of variance, showed a significant main effect of degree of congruity on WOM, (F (2,142) = 4.34, p =.015, η2 = .06). Although the effect was significant, word of mouth intention was the highest for the congruent condition (Mconruent = 4.56, SD = 1.68) and not as hypothesized for moderate incongruity (Mmoderate_incongruity = 4.32, SD = 1.72). Extreme incongruity had the lowest effect on WOM intention, (Mextreme_incongruity = 3.55, SD = 2.07). A post-hoc test indicated that the only significant difference found was that between subjects who were in the congruent degree condition and those who were in the extremely incongruent condition (Mdifference = 1.01, p = .015). There was no significant interaction effect between degree of congruity and NFC, (F (2,142) = .41, p = .666, η2 = .006).
In conclusion, the three ANOVAS performed did not support the hypotheses H1, H2a an H2b.
Discussion Conclusion
Existing research on the effects of the degree of congruity between advertising and the brand provide conclusive results. However, little attention has been given in the context of sexual appeal. The primary goal was to determine whether on degree of congruity between sexual appeal and the brand has an effect on consumer affective
evaluations. This study also aimed to find if, NFC, a consumer characteristic that has been found to be highly correlated with the optimal degree of congruity (Srivastava & Sherman, 2011), moderates the effects.
The results of the study depict that the degree of congruity between a sexual appeal and the brand does not have a significant effect on both ad attitude and brand attitude. However, the results did find a significant effect of degree of congruity on WOM. A significant difference in the effect was found between congruity and extreme incongruity, but not for moderate incongruity. The results show that congruity produces a more favorable WOM intention than extreme incongruity. The results from the interaction analysis did not find a significant moderation effect of NFC on consumer evaluations. From this study’s results, it can be concluded that consumer evaluations to the degree of congruity between sexual appeal and the brand are not conditional on NFC factor.
The current findings are not in line with past literature on the effects of the degree of congruity and role of NFC as the moderating variable. Prior research has found that consumer evaluations vary along the congruity-incongruity continuum. Theorized by Mandler (1982) and then tested by other researchers (Dahlén, Lange & Sjödin ,2005; Halkias & Kokkinaki, 2014), moderate incongruity should increase the favorability of evaluations than congruity or extreme incongruity (Meyers-Levy & Tybout, 1989). A more recent study confirmed the inverted U-shape pattern of consumer evaluations across the degrees of congruity (Halkias & Kokkinaki, 2014. Their study showed that consumers formed more favorable ad and brand attitude when exposed to moderate incongruity. Moreover, basing on Mandler’s (1982) theory, Törn (2012) found that incongruity between ad and brand generated more positive WOM intention than congruity. As it was mentioned, this study’s results show the opposite effect to the
predicted direction for WOM intention, which was enhanced under congruity. As for the moderation effect, Dahlén, Lange and Sjödin (2005) found that high-NFC consumers had more favorable brand attitude towards incongruity than congruity, whereas low-NFC had less more favorable brand attitude toward congruity than incongruity. As it can be seen, expectations for the effects of degree of congruity between sexual appeal and the brand have not been met. However, it must be noted that this study specifically tested sexual appeal as a type of brand information messages embedded in the ad. While, the abovementioned studies used other types of brand information in their research design when testing the effects of degree of congruity between the ad and the brand.
Past literature that focuses on the effects of sexual appeal in advertising, can explain why this study did not find the predicted results. Empirical studies have indicated that use sexual appeals generate higher favorability in consumer reactions when compared to non-sexual appeals (Dudley, 1999; Reichert, Heckler & Jackson, 2001). Moreover, even when consumer perceives the sexual appeal as inappropriate, studies have shown that sexual appeal leads to improved attitudes (Putrevu, 2008). Therefore the mere exposure to sexual appeal, regardless whether it is congruent, moderately incongruent or extremely incongruent with the brand, elicits favorable consumer evaluations.
Borrowing from the literature on the predominance of the use sexual appeal depicts why consumer evaluations did not vary significantly across the degrees of congruity. Over the past years consumers have become accustomed with the use of sexual appeal. Research has indicated that there has been a rise of sexual appeals in print advertising (Lass & Hart, 2004). Also, sexual appeal has become the norm in the promotion of transformational products, such as personal care, perfume, alcohol or apparel (Reichert, Childers & Reid, 2012). Therefore, it can be assumed that consumers
expect for advertising of a brand to contain such appeal. Referring back to the literature, expectancy is one of the two dimensions determining whether information encountered with is congruent or incongruent (Heckler & Childers, 1992). From this stream of thought, it can be derived that three degrees of congruity between sexual and a brand do not exist, as there is just congruity. This could explain why the predictions that were based on the theory of the inverted U-shape pattern for consumer evaluations across the degrees were not met.
To conclude, the current study did not find an effect of the degree of congruity between a sexual appeal and the brand. Moreover, NFC does not have an affect on consumer evaluations to degree of congruity. Nevertheless, it sheds a light on the responses to sexual appeal. It appears that favorability of the consumer evaluations will not vary if the appeal is used congruently, moderately incongruently or extremely incongruently placed to advertise a brand.
Limitations and Future Research
This research has important limitations that need to be addressed. The first limitation involves a narrow conceptualization of sexual appeal employed in this study. The study only examined one type of sexual appeal. The advertisements used in the experiment portrayed a semi-nude female model. However, advertising research has identified five types of sexual appeal; nudity/undress, sexual behavior, physical attractiveness, sexual referents and sexual embeds (Reichert & Lambiase, 2003). It cannot be generalizable whether different types of sexual appeal used in advertising would produce the same effects. For example nudity as the type of sexual appeal has been more predominately used than sexual behavior (Reichert & Lambiase, 2003. Perhaps, the experiment would yield different results for sexual appeals that are not as
commonly used in mainstream advertising.
Another key limitation of the study involves the lack of empirical investigation on the potential moderating factors. Indeed, the study did incorporate NFC, however there are other known consumer characteristics that could potentially effect consumer evaluations. Such include sensation seeking, optimal stimulation level, prior knowledge, novelty and sensation seeking and preference to consistency (Törn, 2008). Moreover, the study did not consider market-generated factors such as perceived risk and personal relevance. Examination of the aforementioned moderates could have benefited the thesis to broaden the knowledge on how consumers evaluate degree of congruity.
In light of the findings of the study and its limitations, suggestions for future research can be made. For example, as it has been mentioned, this study only looked at one type of sexual appeal. To broaden our understanding, the future research should incorporate this study’s operationalization of three different degrees congruity between sexual appeal and the brand and test it for different sexual types of sexual appeal. Moreover, to expand on the knowledge how sexual appeals operate, the future research should include more consumer characteristics in their examination. Testing the abovementioned moderators could expand our existing knowledge on whether individual differences moderate the effect degree of congruity between sexual appeal and the brand on consumers’ evaluations.
Managerial Implications
The results of this study provide useful implications to the marketers who are considering implementing sexual appeal in their marketing strategy. When a brand owner wants to reposition itself on the market by using information challenges consumers’ established brand knowledge, implementing sexual appeal may not lead to
more favorable results. Sexual appeal that is moderately incongruent or extremely incongruent with the brand’s established schema, may not lead to more favorable consumer evaluations such as ad attitude, brand attitude or WOM intention. Other brand information that challenges the brand’s established schema, other than sexual appeal would be advised for a successful repositioning strategy. Moreover, whether the brand’s target consumer possess high or low NFC will not have an effect on the favorability of the evaluations.
References
Alba, J., & Hutchinson, J. (1987). Dimensions of consumer expertise. Journal of
Consumer Research, 13(4), 411. doi:10.1086/209080
Baker, M., & Churchill, G. (1977). The impact of physically attractive models on advertising evaluations. Journal Of Marketing Research, 14(4), 538. doi: 10.2307/3151194
Braun, K. (1999). Postexperience advertising effects on consumer memory. Journal of
Consumer Research, 25(4), 319-334. doi:10.1086/209542
Bryman, A. (2008). Social research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cacioppo, J., & Petty, R. (1982). The need for cognition. Journal Of Personality and
Social Psychology, 42(1), 116-131. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.42.1.116
Childers, T., Houston, M., & Heckler, S. (1985). Measurement of individual differences in visual versus verbal information processing. Journal of Consumer Research,
12(2), 125. doi: 10.1086/208501
Dahl, D., Sengupta, J., & Vohs, K. (2009). Sex in advertising: Gender differences and the role of relationship commitment. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(2), 215-231. doi:10.1086/597158
Dahlén, M., Lange, F., Sjödin, H., & Törn, F. (2005). Effects of ad-brand incongruence.
Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 27(2), 1-12.
doi:10.1080/10641734.2005.10505178
Dahlén, M., Rosengren, S., Törn, F., & Öhman, N. (2008). Could placing ADS wrong be right?: Advertising effects of thematic incongruence. Journal Of Advertising,
37(3), 57-67. doi:10.2753/joa0091-3367370305
Dudley, S. (1999). Consumer attitudes toward nudity in advertising. Journal Of
Marketing Theory and Practice, 7(4), 89-96.
Druckman, N., & Kam, C. (2011) students as experimental participants: a defense of the ‘narrow data base’.” In N. Druckman & H. Kuklinksi (Eds.), Handbook of
Experimental Political Science (pp. 41-57). Cambridge: NY: University Press.
Epstein, S. (1991). Cognitive-experiential self-theory: An integrative theory of personality. In R. Curtis (Ed.), The self with others: Convergences in
psychoanalytic, social, and personality psychology (pp. 111-137). New York:
Guilford Press.
Fiske, S.T., & Taylor. S.E. (1991). Social cognition. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Goodman, G. (1980). Picture memory: How the action schema affects retention.
Cognitive Psychology, 12(4), 473-495.doi:1016/0010-0285(80)90017-1
Goodstein, R. (1993). Category-based applications and extensions in advertising: Motivating more extensive ad processing. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(1), 87. doi:10.1086/209335
Gould, S. (1994). Sexuality and ethics in advertising: A research agenda and policy guideline perspective. Journal of Advertising, 23(3), 73-80.
doi:10.1080/00913367.1994.10673452
Halkias, G., & Kokkinaki, F. (2014). The degree of ad-Brand incongruity and the distinction between schema-driven and stimulus-driven attitudes. Journal of
Advertising, 43(4), 397-409. doi:10.1080/00913367.2014.891087
Heckler, S., & Childers, T. (1992). The role of expectancy and relevancy in memory for verbal and visual information: What is ncongruency?. Journal of Consumer
Research, 18(4), 475. doi:10.1086/209275
Holden, S., & Vanhuele, M. (1999). Know the name, forget the exposure: Brand
familiarity versus memory of exposure context. Psychology And Marketing, 16(6), 479-496. doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-6793(199909)16:6<479::aid-mar3>3.0.co;2-y Johnson, E., & Russo J. (1981). Product familiarity and learning new information.
Advances in Consumer Research, 8. 151-155. Retrieved from http: //
www.arcwebsite.org
Johnson, E., & Russo, J. (1984). Product familiarity and learning new information.
Journal of Consumer Research, 11(1), 542. doi:10.1086/208990
Jung, K., & Tey, L.(2007). Extending the fit hypothesis in brand extensions: effects of consumer involvement, innovativeness and extension. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.994764
LaTour, M., & Henthorne, T. (1993). Female nudity: attitudes towards the ad and the brand, and implications for advertising strategy. Journal of Consumer Marketing,
10(3), 25-32.doi:10.1108/07363769310041956
Keller, K. (1993). Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1). doi.:2307/125205
Lass, P., & Hart, S. (2004). National cultures, values and lifestyles influencing consumers' perception towards sexual Imagery in alcohol advertising: An exploratory study in the UK, Germany and Italy. Journal of Marketing
Management, 20(5-6), 607-623. doi: 10.1362/0267257041323936
LaTour, M., & Henthorne, T. (1994). Female nudity in advertisements, arousal and response: a parsimonious extension. Psychological Reports, 75(3f), 1683-1690. doi:10.2466/pr0.1994.75.3f.1683
Lee, Y. (2000). Manipulating ad aessage involvement through information expectancy: Effects on attitude evaluation and Confidence. Journal of Advertising, 29(2), 29-43. doi:10.1080/00913367.2000.10673607
Liu, F., Cheng, H., & Li, J. (2009). Consumer responses to sex appeal advertising: A cross - cultural study. International Marketing Review, 26(4/5), 501-520. doi:10.1108/02651330910972002
Malhotra, N. (1982). Information load and consumer decision making. Journal of
Consumer Research, 8(4), 419. doi:10.1086/208882
Mandler, G. (1982). The structure of value: Accounting for taste. In M.S Clark & S.T Fiske (Eds.), Affect and cognition: The seventeenth annual carnegie syposium on
cognition (pp. 3-36). Erlbaum, NJ: Hillsdale.
Maoz, E., & Tybout, A. (2002). The Moderating Role of Involvement and
Differentiation in the Evaluation of Brand Extensions. Journal of Consumer
Psychology, 12(2), 119-131. doi: 10.1207/s15327663jcp1202_05
Meyers-Levy, J., Louie, T., & Curren, M. (1994). How does the congruity of brand names affect evaluations of brand name extensions?. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 79(1), 46-53.doi: 10.1037//0021-9010.79.1.46
Nkwocha, I., Bao, Y., Johnson, W., & Brotspies, H. (2005). Product fit and consumer attitude toward brand extensions: The moderating role of product involvement.
Journal of Marketing Theory And Practice, 13(3), 49-61.
doi:10.1080/10696679.2005.11658549
Ozanne, J., Brucks, M., & Grewal, D. (1992). A study of information search behavior during the categorization of new products. Journal of Consumer Research, 18(4), 452. doi:10.1086/209273
Peracchio, L., & Tybout, A. (1996). The moderating role of prior knowledge in schema-based product evaluation. Journal of Consumer Research, 23(3), 177.
doi:1086/209476
Peracchio, L., & Tybout, A. (1996). The moderating role of prior knowledge in schema-based product evaluation. Journal of Consumer Research, 23(3), 177.
doi:10.1086/209476
Peterson, R., & Kerin, R. (1977). The female role in advertisements: some experimental evidence. Journal of Marketing, 41(4), 59. doi:10.2307/1250235
doi:10.1509/jmr.10.0051
Putrevu, S. (2008). consumer responses toward sexual and nonsexual appeals: The influence of involvement, need for cognition (nfc), and gender. Journal of
Advertising, 37(2), 57-70. doi:10.2753/joa0091-3367370205
Putrevu, S., Tan, J., & Lord, K. (2004). Consumer responses to complex advertisements: The moderating role of need for cognition, knowledge, and gender. Journal of
Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 26(1), 9-24.
doi:10.1080/10641734.2004.10505153
Reichert, T., & Lambiase, J. (2003). Sex in advertising. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Reichert, T., Childers, C., & Reid, L. (2012). How sex in advertising varies by product category: An analysis of three decades of visual sexual imagery in magazine advertising. Journal Of Current Issues & Research In Advertising, 33(1), 1-19. doi:10.1080/10641734.2012.675566
Reichert, T., Heckler, S., & Jackson, S. (2001). The effects of sexual social marketing appeals on cognitive processing and persuasion. Journal of Advertising, 30(1), 13-27. doi: 10.1080/00913367.2001.10673628
Reid, L., & Soley, L. (1981). Another look at the “decorative” female model. Current
Issues And Research in Advertising, 4(1), 123-133.
doi:10.1080/01633392.1981.10505313
Sherman, C., & Quester, P. (2005). The influence of product/nudity congruence on advertising effectiveness. Journal Of Promotion Management, 11(2-3), 61-89. doi:10.1300/j057v11n02_06
Soley, L., & Reid, L. (1988). Taking it off: are models in magazine ads wearing less?.
Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 65(4), 960-966.
doi:10.1177/107769908806500419
Srivastava, K., & Sharma, N. (2012). Consumer attitude towards brand-extension incongruity: The moderating role of need for cognition and need for change.
Journal of Marketing Management, 28(5-6), 652-675.
doi:10.1080/0267257x.2011.558383
Törn, F. (2012). revisiting the match-up hypothesis: Effects of brand-incongruent celebrity endorsements. Journal Of Current Issues and Research in Advertising,
33(1), 20-36. doi:10.1080/10641734.2012.675557
Yoon, H. (2013). Understanding schema incongruity as a process in advertising: Review and future recommendations. Journal of Marketing Communications, 19(5), 360-376.doi: 10.1080/13527266.2012.671187
Appendix A
Figure 1: Congruity
Appendix B
Figure 1: Questionnaire
Dear participant,
With this letter, I would like to invite you to participate in my thesis research study to be conducted under the auspices of the Graduate School of Communication, a part of the University of Amsterdam. By participating you are helping me to complete my thesis research and my Master’s degree in Communication Science. Your time and
involvement is highly appreciated.
The title of the study for which I am asking for your participation is ‘Advertising Strategies’. You will be exposed to a jeans print advertisement and then asked some questions regarding the ad you have been exposed to. Please be warned that the study contains sexual content that may be experienced as offensive. The study is anonymous and confidential.
The survey should not take longer than 10 minutes.
As this research is being carried out under the responsibility of the ASCoR, University of Amsterdam, we can guarantee that:
1) Your anonymity will be safeguarded, and that your personal information will not be passed on to third parties under any conditions, unless you first give your express permission for this.
2) You can refuse to participate in the research or cut short your participation without having to give a reason for doing so.
3) Participating in the research will not entail your being subjected to any appreciable risk or discomfort, the researchers will not deliberately mislead you, and you will not be exposed to any explicitly offensive material.
4) No later than five months after the conclusion of the research, we will be able to provide you with a research report that explains the general results of the research. For more information about the research and the invitation to participate, you are welcome to contact the project leader Aleksandra Niemczyk (niemczyk00@gmail.com) at any time.
Should you have any complaints or comments about the course of the research and the procedures it involves as a consequence of your participation in this research, you can contact the designated member of the Ethics Committee representing ASCoR, at the following address: ASCoR Secretariat, Ethics Committee, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15793, 1001 NG Amsterdam; 020‐525 3680; ascor‐secr‐fmg@uva.nl. Any complaints or comments will be treated in the strictest confidence.
I hope that I have provided you with sufficient information. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you in advance for your assistance with this research,
Please click ‘confirm’ if you are 18 years old or older.
Below you can see a print advertising for a jeans brand [brand name]. When you are ready, you can continue to the questionnaire to answer some questions regarding this advertising.
Question 1: I find the advertisement to be: a. Bad ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Good
b. Dislikable ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Likable c. Irritating ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Not irritating d. Uninteresting ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Interesting e. Offensive ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Inoffensive f. Unappealing ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Appealing g. Unfavorable ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Favorable h. Tasteless ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Tasteful i. Inappropriate ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Appropriate Question 2: I find the brand to be:
a. Low Quality ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ High quality b. Appealing ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Unappealing c. Uninteresting ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Interesting d. Desirable ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Undesirable e. Bad ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Good f. Useless ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Useful g. Indistinctive ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Distinctive h. Unsatisfactory ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Satisfactory
Question 3: How likely are you to recommend [brand name] to a friend on a scale of 1 = very unlikely to 7 = very likely?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Question 4: Please answer the following statements according to your level of agreement on a scale of 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree.
Strongly Disagree 1 2 Neither Agree nor Disagree 3 4 Strongly Agree 5 I like to have to do a lot
of thinking
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
I seek situations that require thinking in depth about something
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
This is an attention filter. Please select “Strongly Disagree” for this statement.
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
I prefer to do something that challenges my thinking abilities rather than something that requires little thought
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
I do not prefer complex
to simple solutions ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Thinking hard and for long time about something gives me a lot of satisfaction
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Please answer the last set of question regarding yourself. Question 5: What is your age?
Question 6: What is your occupation? Please select one of the options: ☐ Working full-time
☐ Working party-time ☐ Student
☐ Temporarily unemployed ☐ Retired
Question 7: What is the highest level of education that you have completed? Please select on of the options:
☐ Secondary education ☐ Bachelor
☐ Masters ☐ PhD
