When it comes to advertising, a lot of execs would agree that "Sex sells!" big time. But it also depends on who you're actually selling it to.

A newly published study in the journal of the Association for Psychological Science has found that female consumers are actually turned off by explicit advertising:
"Women generally show spontaneous negative attitudes toward sexual images," writes psychological scientist Kathleen Vohs, a researcher at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, and colleagues. "Sexual economics theory offers a reason why: The use of sexual imagery is inimical to women's vested interest in sex being portrayed as infrequent, special, and rare."
The only time that women actually reacted positively to explicit ads was when it was for promoting "superior and expensive". This probably explains why those cliche luxury handbag ads clutched featuring a buck naked model are so popular in Vogue and other high-end magazines.

[The Independant]