We need to go deeper: A visual analysis on how the personal care industry uses sex and sex appeals in advertising between 2010 – 2019 to attract its audience

A question often posed by consumers and marketers is whether sex actually sells in advertising. Sex appeals have long been used in advertisements, with the personal care industry being one of the markets that use in the most when trying to attract their audiences. Personal care brands such as Nivea, Tom Ford, Chanel and Gillette often use sexual appeals to attract its audience. Whether it sells may no longer be a question, instead it is important to understand how sexual appeals and sex are used to attract audiences when advertising personal care products especially in this day and age. Moreover, it is also important to look at how the sex appeals differ in terms of appealing to women and men, as well as how consumers are then encouraged to buy products of the brands. There has been a shift in society when it comes to gender ideologies and sex. Therefore, it is important to look at what this shift in society meant for the personal care advertisements. Through qualitative research in form of a visual analysis, combined with Burke’s identification, 80 personal care video advertisements between 2010 and 2019 were analyzed. Four main themes were found in regard to personal care brands using sex appeals and sex in order to attract its audience: overt sexual behaviour, consisting of the themes: emphasis on the body, explicit displays of sex, sexual desirability and single lifestyle. Second, the theme of socially acceptable displays of sex, amounting to the themes: the use of humour sexually suggestive behaviour, reflecting desires and relationship. The third theme was traditional persona’s, consisting of: masculine behaviour and submissive partner to men. The last theme that derived from the analysis was that of progressive persona’s, containing the themes: boy-next-door and female empowerment. The research offers the view that advertisements of their personal care industry have tried different strategies when using sexual appeals in order to attract its audience. By promoting identification, advertisements are able to find creative ways to appeal to their audience using sex appeals. The personal care industry has to mediate its sexual imagery in order to attract audiences who are attracted by explicit displays of sex, as well as those who are not. Moreover, a variety of different types of gender role displays were found within the advertisements, which match up with the way contemporary society views the gender roles of men and women nowadays.