AIDSImpact.com:: - Santa Fe, USA 2011

Abstract #131 - The effect of sensual vs. disease prevention positioning and contextual setting on condom purchasing
Authors: Presenting Author: Professor Gerald Gorn - University of Hong Kong
Additional Authors: Prof. Katie Kelting, Prof. Adam Lee Duhachek, Prof. Darren W. Dahl, Prof. Charles B. Weinberg,
Aim: It is widely known that consistent condom usage is an effective way to protect against the HIV virus and many other STIs. Potential barriers to condom use (e.g., reduced pleasure of sex) are important in reducing condom usage and have been the subject of much research. .Since “you cannot use a condom, if you don’t have one,” recent research has examined barriers to acquiring condoms (e.g., Moore et al. 2006, Gabler and Kropp 2000). The focus of the present research is on a topic that has attracted almost no research attention-- how the positioning (as a sensual or disease prevention product) of condoms affects consumer reactions to them.
Method / Issue: Two independent variables are manipulated in a “virtual” in-store setting: 1) the positioning strategy of the condom- sensual positioning/disease prevention positioning, and 2) the products surrounding the condoms display on the shelf, sensually- oriented products/disease prevention- oriented products. Four different shelf space plans (known as “planograms”) are used to manipulate these variables. Participants (N=170) at a U.S. university randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions were told that the planogram that they would see is one that a retail chain was considering using. They were asked how they thought consumers would react to that shelf plan. We varied the information on the condom package to manipulate product positioning. The prevention/protection positioning had the following features: 1) a sign at the top of the condom display that read “Want Protection? Put Your Trust in Ultra” (brand condoms), and 2) the following information at different places on the package: Super Strong, Super Safe, Extra Strong latex condoms, Lubricated with Spermicidal Gel, Made with the newest technology for more protection, Prevention Series. The sensual positioning had the following features: 1) a sign at the top “Want Romance? Enjoy Your Evening with Ultra”, and 2) the following information at different places on the package: Extra Sensitive, Super Thin, Extra Sensitive latex condoms, Lubricated with Stimulating Gel, Made with the newest technology for more feeling and pleasure, Sensual Series. The products in the prevention surrounding context condition were the following: an HIV- testing product, a pregnancy testing product, a spermicidal gel, and an anti-bacterial soap, The products in the sensual surround context condition were: a romantic candle, a simulating gel, a “caressing the body soap,” and chocolate syrup. Participants were asked a series of questions that assessed both their attitudes towards the display, plus some background information questions on for example their sexual history/use of condoms. (Scales used not described because of space constraints).
Results / Comments: Preliminary analyses of variance found that the prevention positioning/prevention context elicits the least favorable attitudes towards the Ultra condom brand, and the most amount of embarrassment. This suggests that a prevention (of disease/pregnancy) focus, is not very effective in this domain, which contradicts previous research in other domains which has typically shown loss frames to be very effective, usually more effective than gain frames. Interestingly, a mixed strategy, that is, sensual (prevention) positioning/prevention (sensual) context outperformed the sensual positioning/sensual context treatment.
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