An Experimental Study on the Effects of Advertising on the Intention to Use Personal Trainer Services

Abstract

The present experimental research study was conducted through manipulating advertisements of personal trainer services using two types of male models: one with high level of physical hypertrophy and the other with a conditioned body.  Along with the manipulation of the biotype of the models, the expressive actions of the models were also manipulated.  They were either presented with a serious or a smiling face. Our goal was to identify which type of model and/or expressive action generates greater intention of using a personal trainer service. The intention of using this kind of service was analyzed for each manipulation overall and according to the gender of the respondent. The most accepted (in terms of intention to use) images of the endorsers (models) in the pre-test were used in advertisements, with two images of each model - one serious and one smiling for each body type. Using the QuestionPro platform, the four advertisements were distributed virtually for evaluation by the sample. Each participant from two groups analyzed only one advertisement. The data obtained were analyzed with SPSS version 21. Overall, neither biotype aroused greater intention to use the personal trainer service, however, the hypertrophied smiling model and the serious conditioned model presented the highest averages of intention of use (with no significant difference between these two). For women, the results were confirmed and repeated. However, for men, the greatest intention to use was aroused by the model with a high level of hypertrophy, regardless of expressive action.