The influence of product/nudity congruence on advertising effectiveness

Abstract

While a body of research has examined the effects of nudity appeals in advertising, previous studies examining the question of product/nudity congruency have failed to consider product categories of equivalent levels of involvement and towards which respondents had similar purchase intention. In this experimental study, we examine the role which product/nudity congruency and levels of nudity have on several measures of advertising effectiveness. We also examine the effect of the interaction between these two variables. Our findings suggest that product type and the interaction between degree of nudity and product both influence significantly certain measures of advertising effectiveness. Implications for marketing professionals and researchers are outlined, along with directions for future research.