Samenvatting

Advertising clutter is a problem for advertisers. Nowadays print advertisements compete with online personalised advertisements for attention. Personalised ads are more likely to gain and hold the attention, print advertisements have to adopt a different strategy (Bang & Wojdynski, 2016).

One way advertisers try to get through the clutter and get the attention of consumers is by using sex appeal. This research examined the attitudes of Dutch women between the age of 20 and 25 towards the use of sex appeal in contemporary advertisements in Dutch magazines.

241 advertisements from five editions of the fashion magazines Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Grazia were subject to content analysis. 125 respondents filled in an online questionnaire about the usage of sex appeal in advertisements and 10 interviewees gave their opinion on sex appeal in advertisements.

The results shows that sex appeal is the most used appeal for advertisements in fashion magazines, with 44.4%. Furthermore, Dutch women have slightly negative attitudes towards the usage of sex appeal, which results in more negative attitudes towards the ad and towards the brand and lower purchase intention. Exceptions are possible, for example when sex appeal is used in a romantic or artistic setting or when the ad uses sex appeal in combination with a statement or other appeals.

The results provide Dutch advertising agencies with a strategy on how sex appeal should be used to get attention in a positive manner to create a positive attitude towards the ad and the brand, and increase purchase intention.