Getting Viewers to the Screen 1
Getting Viewers to the Screen: The Role of Sexual and Violent Images in Movie
Previews on Viewers’ Anticipated Perceptions and Enjoyment of Motion Pictures
Abstract
An experiment was conducted to explore the contributions of sexual and violent images
contained in a movie preview for an action/thriller on viewers’ anticipated perceptions of
the previewed film. The results showed that sexual and violent images increased
anticipations that the film would contain sex and violence respectively, with these
perceptions associated with greater anticipated suspense and greater anticipated
enjoyment. In addition, for male participants, the presence of violence in the movie
preview resulted in more unfavorable perceptions of a competing movie trailer shown in
the same setting. These results are discussed in terms of viewers’ responses to media
images of sexuality and violence per se, and the importance of these portrayals in the
marketing of motion pictures.