Does culture tame the bunny? A content analysis of a global adult magazine

Abstract

Purpose – Few empirical studies have probed the effects of culture on the standardization/adaptation decision in the context of controversial products. This study aims to investigate the relationship between sociosexuality and the adaptation decision for editorial images and advertisements in Playboy magazine through content analysis. Design/methodology/approach – This study is a qualitative research using content analysis as the research approach. The content analysis is done for Playboy magazines from four culturally diverse countries conducted for this study. Findings – The result shows that editions of the magazine across four culturally diverse countries reveal that sociosexuality is positively correlated to the degree of nudity in photographs and to the usage of advertising for controversial products. Moreover, the paper uses the concept of sociosexuality to gain a better understanding of the empirical discrepancies concerning nudity or sex appeal. Originality/value – This research is an empirical study developed by author to confirm the influence of culture on the standardization/adaptation decision in the context of controversial products. This research is originally developed by author and has not been published before.