Does sex sell? Examining the effect of sex appeals in social media ads on engagement with the ad and actual purchase

Abstract

ABSTRACT The question of whether ‘sex sells’ has drawn significant attention in advertising research. This study builds on previous research and examines the effectiveness of sex appeals in social media advertising using a novel field experiment method. An ad using sex appeal and a control ad without sex appeal for the same brand ran on Facebook for the same 5-day period. Results indicated the sex appeal ad outperformed the control ad in terms of engagement but not in actual sales. By directly examining the effect of sex appeals in advertising on actual purchase behavior, the study makes important contributions to social media advertising and to advertising research in general.