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The Role of Female Sexual Self-Schema in Reactions to Non-explicit Sexual Advertising Imagery

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Creating Marketing Magic and Innovative Future Marketing Trends

Abstract

We explore females’ reactions to a non-explicit, but still sexually themed, advertisement. Specifically, we consider the role of female sexual self-schema (SSS) in the identification of the level of sex present in such an advertisement, and then resultant effects on attitudes and purchase intent. We find that while SSS has no effect on the perceived level of sex present, it does influence resultant dependent variables, particularly for low-SSS females. Informed by our study and extant literature, we also offer areas for further SSS-based advertising research, particularly regarding issues of females’ perceptions of advertisement and brand fit with sexual themes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    James Mark Mayer

  2. Towson University, Towson, MD, USA

    Plamen Peev

Authors
  1. James Mark Mayer
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  2. Plamen Peev
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to James Mark Mayer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing & Services, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Maximilian Stieler

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© 2017 Academy of Marketing Science

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Mayer, J.M., Peev, P. (2017). The Role of Female Sexual Self-Schema in Reactions to Non-explicit Sexual Advertising Imagery. In: Stieler, M. (eds) Creating Marketing Magic and Innovative Future Marketing Trends. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45596-9_220

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