The effect of personality on response to sexual appeals

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the role of personality in how people respond to sexual appeals in advertising. The impact of three traits (extraversion, neuroticism and openness) was tested. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-factor experimental design was used. Gender, level of sexual appeal (manipulated over two levels) and participants' standing on each of the three personality trait scales were the between-subjects factors. Relevance of the product to the appeal, which was also manipulated over two levels, was the within-subjects factor. The sample comprised 156 undergraduate students, and each student was randomly assigned to either a mild appeals or an overt appeals condition. Findings: The results show that levels of extraversion and openness directly affect responses to advertisements as measured with attitude towards the advertisement. Research limitations/implications: Recommendations are made, including that overt sexual appeals should not be used on a target audience of "introverts", or people who are characterised as quiet, shy and reserved. Originality/value: This research extends existing work on the effect of individual differences on consumers' reactions to advertising and is the first to show that personality traits affect responses to sexual appeals.