Sex and violence in advertising do not affect its effectiveness

Photo: LM Otero / AP

For a long time it was believed that advertising with scenes of a sexual nature or violence was more effective than advertising without such scenes. A new study by scientists seemed that this is not so - neither violence nor sex increase the effectiveness of advertising. On the contrary, sometimes the opposite effect occurs.

The study was conducted by two scientists from Ohio State University and Amsterdam Free University, writes Kommersant. Robert Lall and Brad Bushman published the results of their work in the reputable journal Psychological Bulletin. During the study, experts conducted 53 experiments in which 8489 volunteers were involved.

It turned out that advertising with pictures of sex or violence is poorly remembered, because the viewer is distracted by these scenes and does not remember the brand that is being advertised. Even if the user remembers the brand, it gives him a not-so-high rating, plus the probability of buying products manufactured by such a company is rather low. Not remembered and the goods that appear in the emotionally rich advertising.

“Violence and sex in advertising do not help sales at all. They either harm them or do not affect them in any way, ”says Brad Bushman.

It is also noted that many advertising agencies already use the results of the study when forming their own advertising strategy. For example, the election campaign of Barack Obama was carried out using neutral content, it was posted on informational or entertainment sites. At the same time, ads were not placed on sites with sexual content or elements of violence.

The results of the experiment are also confirmed by the Wal-Mart study, which showed that advertising, shown, for example, in family-oriented TV shows, is most effective.