How advertisers use sex to sell products to women

We're so mysterious

It's no secret that sex sells. But a lot of studies show that it sells a lot better to men than women.

In 2006, researchers from the University of Florida showed a group of women print ads of beautiful, sexy models from Vogue, Allure, and other women's magazines. They found that the "hotter" the model's attire or look, the lustier the model's expression, the colder it left the female subjects. And a similar 2010 study from the University College of London found that sexual imagery in advertising not only bored women, it actually repelled them.

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Carmel Lobello is the business editor at TheWeek.com. Previously, she was an editor at DeathandTaxesMag.com.