Ads forgettable in sex-laced programmes

By IRENE CHAPPLE marketing writer

Television with high sex and violence content can distract viewers from advertising, new research shows.

Viewers watching movies or television programmes with steamy scenes or violent action were less likely to remember advertisements run during the show, both immediately after and a day later.

The research may place a serious dent in the notion that sex and violence sell.

Less than a quarter of viewers who watched violent programmes recalled the advertising, but it fell to 19 per cent among those who watched the steamy shows.

Those who watched a neutral programme remembered 67 per cent more ads immediately after and 60 per cent a day later.

The sharp decline was evident in males and females, of all ages, regardless of whether they liked the programmes.

The research, conducted by Brad Bushman of Iowa State University, is the first to look at the link between advertising and shows with a high sexual content, although similar results have been found with violent shows.

The study used 162 men and 162 women, aged between 18 and 54. They viewed programmes rated as violent, such as La Femme Nikita and Tour of Duty, or sexually explicit programmes such as Strip Poker and X-Show.

Neutral programmes included Candid Camera, Encounters with the Unexplained and Miracle Pets.

The same advertisements, for products such as soft drinks, snacks or laundry detergent, were embedded in each programme. Participants were then asked to recall the advertising.

Bushman, a psychology professor, said the results might indicate people's limited attention. The more attention they gave to the television show, the less memory capacity remained for the advertising.

The sex and violence could also prompt sexual and violent thoughts which would take focus away from the commercials.

He suggested advertisers who used such shows to target youth might need to rethink their media strategy and that the commercial pressure away from adult shows might push them off air.

"It is unlikely that moral appeals from parents and other concerned citizens will influence the television industry to reduce the amount of violence and sex on television.

"The bottom line - profits - determines what programmes are shown on television. If advertisers refuse to sponsor them, violent and sexually explicit television programmes would become extinct."