The “Decorative” Female Model: Sexual Stimuli and the Recognition of Advertisements

Recent evidence suggests an increasing prevalence of “decorative” or functionless female models in print advertising (2, 3, 4, 5). Results of a test of the impact of “decorative” models indicate, however, that models facilitate recognition of model/related information (p< .05) but do little to increase the recognition of brand names. This finding is discussed in terms of a distinction between a product's image and memory of a product's brand name. Implications of this finding are also discussed for practitioners utilizing “decorative” models in their advertising.