FEMALE NUDITY IN ADVERTISEMENTS, AROUSAL AND RESPONSE - A PARSIMONIOUS EXTENSION

This study extended a 1990 report of LaTour, Pitts, and Snook-Luther b y further analysis. Relationships between the key dimensions of High A ctivation (tension) and General Activation (energy) and ratings of att itude toward the advertisement were analyzed in a test of two hypothet ical models performed on ratings by 134 undergraduate business student s who responded to the paper-and-pencil tests which operationalized th e constructs. In addition, attitude toward the brand was added to the formulation to evaluate the tenability of direct effects of arousal on attitude toward the brand (A(b)) and indirect effects ''filtered thro ugh'' attitude toward the advertisement (A(ad). Analysis supported the idea that excessive rated tension induced from an erotic advertisemen t has negative consequences. As predicted, different structural relati ons between these variables occur under different conditions.