Revisiting the Ghetto: How the Meanings of Gay Districts Are Shaped by the Meanings of the City

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Revisiting the Ghetto: How the Meanings of Gay Districts Are Shaped By the Meanings of the City. Jack Coffin, University of Manchester, UK Emma Banister, University of Manchester, UK Anna Goatman, University of Manchester, UK

This paper explores how LGBT consumers’ understandings of their local LGBT district are negotiated alongside their understandings of the broader urban context. The data include 31 in-depth interviews. This paper contributes to the LGBT literature, but also broader academic discussions about the meaning of place and space in consumer lives.

[to cite]: Jack Coffin, Emma Banister, and Anna Goatman (2016) ,"Revisiting the Ghetto: How the Meanings of Gay Districts Are Shaped By the Meanings of the City.", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 44, eds. Page Moreau and Stefano Puntoni, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 290-295.

[url]: http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/1022353/volumes/v44/NA-44

[copyright notice]: This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in part, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/. Revisiting The Ghetto: How The Meanings of Gay Districts Are Shaped by The Meanings of The City Jack Coffin, University of Manchester, UK Emma Banister, University of Manchester, UK Anna Goatman, University of Manchester, UK

ABSTRACT 2002, p. 385). This LGBT district features prominently in his under- This paper explores how LGBT consumers’ understandings of standing, and his choice of the term ‘ghetto’ was deliberate. Kates their local LGBT district are negotiated alongside their understand- (2002, p. 386) argued that “homosexuality was still somewhat stig- ings of the broader urban context. The data include 31 in-depth inter- matized” in the Canadian city that he studied, so the gay ghetto was a views. This paper contributes to the LGBT literature but also broader place of “community” where LGBT consumers “felt safe and secure academic discussions about the meaning of place and space in con- to walk, talk, behave, and consume in as open a way as they wished”. sumer lives. Gay ghettos could be understood as heterotopian places, “where alternative forms of social organisation take place” (Chatzidakis, Ma- INTRODUCTION claran, & Bradshaw, 2012, p. 497). It is within the ghetto that LGBT This paper explores how Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgen- consumers re-learn how to consume, use consumption to express der (LGBT) consumers interpret their local LGBT district in rela- subcultural affiliations, and resist the heteronormative mainstream tion to other places in the city. Existing research has provided two market (Kates, 2001, 2002, 2004). competing understandings of LGBT districts, framing them as ‘gay In many cities local residents and tourist marketers adopt the villages’ (Haslop, Hill, & Schmidt, 1998) or ‘gay ghettos’ (Kates, term ‘gay village’ rather than gay ghetto (e.g. Collier, 2014; Nash, 2002). The gay ghetto understanding has been cited more frequently, 2006, 2013; Simpson, 2012). The term village suggests geographical and is arguably the most influential of the two perspectives. How- concentration without invoking the connotations of segregation or ever, it assumes that LGBT districts are embedded into cities where stigmatisation that come with the word ghetto (Hubbard et al., 2015, LGBT identities are not accepted. Drawing on data from 31 inter- p. 290). Haslop et al. (1998, p. 318) studied the gay village of Man- views with LGBT consumers in Manchester, UK, this paper argues chester, a city in the North West of England. They noted how their that the gay village perspective may provide a more useful under- participants did not express feelings of ‘community’ or ‘safety’ when standing. The gay village perspective frames LGBT districts as com- discussing the gay village. These participants experienced far less mercial servicescapes, rather than subcultural places of resistance homophobia in the rest of Manchester, and thus “did not feel com- and community. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring pelled to visit a bar purely on its homosexual status” (Haslop et al., how recent social changes have transformed LGBT consumers’ un- 1998, p. 322). Instead, Haslop et al. (1998) argued that Manchester’s derstandings of place, and how marketing and consumer researchers gay village should be understood as a servicescape because it was should adjust their own understandings accordingly. It also takes into more like a tourist destination than a subcultural refugee camp (see account the experiences of lesbian and transgender consumers, who also Binnie & Skeggs, 2004; Simpson, 2012). Gay villages are com- are often overlooked in existing accounts. Finally, this paper also mercial places that differ from other locations in a largely superficial contributes to the consumer research literature on place and space, or aesthetic way, rather than being heterotopic or subcultural places. exploring how the meanings of a place are negotiated in conjunction In marketing and consumer research there has been little at- with the meanings of the broader context. tempt to compare or contrast the gay village and the gay ghetto perspectives. In sociology and geography these two perspectives have LITERATURE REVIEW been considered alongside one another, but largely through a chrono- The original ghetto was a district of Venice where Jewish people logical narrative where gay ghettos transform into gay villages as were forcibly confined in the 1500s, but the term has since been ad- LGBT people become more accepted (Ghaziani, 2015; Hubbard opted by sociologists to refer to any urban district dominated by a et al., 2015). Indeed, some researchers propose that many Western particular minority group (Ghaziani, 2015, p. 314). In the twenti- countries have entered a ‘post-gay’ era where LGBT people experi- eth century LGBT ‘ghettos’ began to emerge in many Western cities ence stigmatisation so rarely that they no longer see their sexuality (Hammack & Cohler, 2011). Following on from Soja’s (1980) notion as a defining or dominant identity (Ghaziani, 2011; Ng, 2013). In of the sociospatial dialectic, it could be argued that ghettos are the ‘post-gay’ cities the demand for gay villages is low, making them materialisation of “a conspicuous and locally dominant subculture economically unviable and thus under threat of dissolution (Brown, that is socially isolated from the larger community” (Levine, 1979, 2014; Ghaziani, 2014; Nash, 2013). p. 1739). One of the most famous, San Francisco’s Castro district, All three perspectives, but particularly the chronological narra- was described by an LGBT activist as a “refugee camp for homo- tive, implicitly suggest that the meanings of a LGBT district can only sexuals [sic]… a ghetto, out of self-protection.” (Wittman, 1970, pp. be understood in relation to the broader urban contexts in which they 67-68) This emic definition suggests that, in the LGBT context at are embedded. However, the chronological narrative overlooks those least, the term ghetto is associated with segregation and stigmatisa- LGBT consumers who continue to experience discrimination (Brew- tion, but also community and safety (Hubbard, Gorman-Murray, & is & Jack, 2010; Duggan, 2002; Heaphy, 2011; McDermott, 2011), Nash, 2015). and who may therefore still seek out places of safety and community In marketing and consumer research, Steven Kates (1998, (i.e. ghettos). It also fails to acknowledge that some LGBT-oriented 1999, 2000a, 2000b, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) is the key author for places and festivals, such as gay pride events (Ammaturo, 2015), those interested in understanding the ‘gay subculture of consump- continue to thrive. Finally, the account overlooks the fact that Haslop tion’ (Kates, 2002). He adopted an ethnographic approach to data et al. (1998) published their gay village perspective four years before collection, immersing himself in “the downtown gay ghetto” of a Kates (2002) wrote about gay ghettos. These ‘out of sync’ exceptions Canadian city to generate insights about the gay subculture (Kates, question the chronological narrative. However, they do not challenge

Advances in Consumer Research 290 Volume 44, ©2016 Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 44) / 291 the underlying assumption that the meanings of LGBT districts are and their lifestyle. Analysis followed an initial process of open cod- defined (in part) through comparisons and contrasts to other places ing, where the research identified interesting themes in the data, fol- within a city. This paper seeks to provide a more nuanced under- lowed by a process of categorising, where these themes were organ- standing of LGBT districts by exploring this implicit semiotic rela- ised to reveal recurring patterns (Belk, Fischer, & Kozinets, 2013). tionship in more detail. FINDINGS CONTEXT AND METHOD The findings suggest that LGBT consumers interpreted Man- This paper revisits the research context of Manchester, almost chester’s Gay Village in multiple different ways. Manchester’s Gay two decades after the research by Haslop et al. (1998). Manchester Village featured as a topic in all of the interviews, often being raised is a British city with a very “visible and publicly accessible” LGBT by the interviewees before the first author asked a specific question district, known locally as the Gay Village (Simpson, 2013, p. 284). on the topic. During analysis the authors began to notice that par- Researchers have noted how this place is a “regional magnet” for ticipants’ understandings of Manchester’s Gay Village were often LGBT people (Simpson, 2012, p. 1) and cosmopolitan heterosexuals related to their understandings of Manchester as a city. (Binnie & Skeggs, 2004; Haslop et al., 1998). Of the many intersect- A number of the interviewees argued that an LGBT-specific ing streets within the Gay Village, Canal Street is the most famous district was unnecessary in contemporary Manchester because the and is often used synecdochically to refer to the whole LGBT district. city was such an accepting place for LGBT people. Several partici- This street was made particularly famous by the 1999-2000 televi- pants spoke about how they felt comfortable holding hands with their sion show Queer as Folk, a show that presented the gay subculture partners in public. Participants provided only a couple of passing to the masses in positive, but sometimes shocking, ways (Skeggs, references to homophobic incidents in Manchester, none of which Moran, Tyrer, & Binnie, 2004). were based participants’ own experiences. Within this context of ac- In 2015 a show by the same writer, Cucumber, explored con- ceptance, participants did not associate the gay village with strong temporary LGBT lives in Manchester. Notably there were only a few feelings of safety (c.f. Kates, 2002; Levine, 1979; Wittman, 1970). fleeting scenes set in Manchester’s Gay Village. This representation Many participants interpreted the gay village as a site of consump- of LGBT Manchester echoes discussions in the local and national tion, rather than a place of community. When seeking new consump- media about the diminishing role of Manchester’s Gay Village (e.g. tion experiences or pleasant consumption environments, these par- Collier, 2014). The argument goes that Manchester is renowned for ticipants ranked features such as price, atmosphere, food, or décor tolerating and even celebrating LGBT people (Senior & Dalton, above the “homosexual status” of a place (Haslop et al., 1998, p. 2011; Simpson, 2012, p. 2), so LGBT-specific places are no longer 322). Participants described Manchester’s gay village as overpriced, necessary. At the same time, LGBT social groups (such as gay rug- lacking atmosphere, alcohol-oriented, and generally an undesirable by clubs), specialist venues (such as saunas), and specialist events place to be. (like Sparkle, the transgender festival) still thrive in Manchester (see Given the above, it is perhaps unsurprising that many inter- Simpson, 2014, p. 152). This contradictory evidence suggests that viewees rarely socialised in the gay village. One of the most frequent Manchester and its LGBT district defy easy categorisation under a visitors was Lee, a gay man in his late 20s, but even he only visited single, overarching narrative. Instead there may be multiple to ex- once a week. Other participants could not even remember the last plore. time that they had been to the gay village. These participants were To explore these narratives the first author conducted 31 semi- highly critical of those who visited Canal Street regularly, arguing structured interviews with LGBT residents of Manchester. Existing that they ‘ghettoised’ themselves by doing so. Such over-consump- research has generally constructed LGBT samples through ethno- tion was viewed as tantamount to self-imposed social segregation, at graphic immersion in a LGBT district (Haslop et al., 1998; Kates, least in an accepting city such as Manchester. Kates (2002, p. 393) 2002). As sampling from Manchester’s gay village could potentially noted that those who consumed “exclusively in the geographic and limit the range of experiences that would be expressed, a directory of social confines of the gay area” were referred to as ‘ghetto queens’. LGBT leisure groups was used to identify potential participants (see The data here suggested that this symbolic threshold was far lower Simpson, 2014). Three groups agreed to participate. The committee in Manchester. It was not just those who consumed ‘exclusively’ in of each group disseminated an information sheet about the study via the LGBT district that were viewed with disdain, but also those who email, and individuals volunteered to participate by contacting the went there ‘regularly’. Some participants saw weekly visits to the researcher directly. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and LGBT district as too regular, but for others even monthly consump- then analysed in NVivo. As the interviews and data analysis contin- tion was described as unnecessary. ued the first author began approaching members selectively (Glaser The re-interpretation of the gay village as a consumption site & Strauss, 1967), seeking to diversify the sample further. In the final was a common theme across the majority of interviews. However, sample six participants identified as lesbians, one as transgender, and participants who defined themselves as lesbians or as older gay men one as asexual. Ages ranged from mid-twenties to late sixties, with tended to distance themselves from the gay village more than most. a fairly even spread of participants in each age group (20s, 30s, 40s, In contrast to the more upmarket or ‘mature’ consumption ven- and 50s). A range of occupations and economic backgrounds were ues that could be found in the rest of Manchester, they argued that covered, but the sample was predominantly white and university the bars and clubs found in the gay village were mostly oriented educated. towards the lifestyle of young, single gay men. For instance, most The interviews varied in length from 23 to 115 minutes, but bars in the gay village offered cheap alcoholic drinks and played generally lasted just over an hour. They were conducted in locations loud dance music, rather than providing high-quality food and places that were suitable for audio recording but also comfortable for par- where people could talk to one another. Young, single gay men in the ticipants. Interviewees were given no remuneration for participation. sample often echoed this interpretation. Some even argued that the The interviews were fully transcribed, at which point details were gay village should diversify to better serve the needs of other LGBT omitted or altered to ensure participant anonymity. Interviews cov- people. However, these consumers also re-interpreted the gay vil- ered a range of topics connected with the participants’ sexual identity lage in a more positive way. The cheap drinks and ‘unsophisticated’ 292 / Revisiting The Ghetto: How The Meanings of Gay Districts Are Shaped by The Meanings of The City music found in these places were described as the perfect setting for perspectives of consumers. The findings suggest that the gay village ‘trashy’ nights out and weekends of excessiveness. The gay village understanding provided by Haslop et al. (1998) is still the most ap- became a site for “trash and excess”, a cultural trope that has long propriate way to understand Manchester’s Gay Village. Participants been associated with LGBT consumers (see Visconti, 2008, p. 124). use the gay village as a source of unique consumption experiences, These young and single gay men felt that the gay village provided a place to consume a commodified gay culture. This suggests an unique (and even tailored) consumption experiences that could not alternative narrative to the inevitable decline of LGBT places pro- be found elsewhere in Manchester. Importantly, such experiences vided by recent research (i.e. Ghaziani, 2014). However, the data of trash and excess were carefully “compartmentalised” (Goulding, also suggest that Kates’ (2002) ghetto perspective can also be use- Shankar, & Elliott, 2002, p. 263). The young and single gay men in ful to understand some LGBT consumers’ experiences in supposedly the sample felt that the gay village was somewhere that they should ‘post-gay’ cities. The findings suggest that instead of one narrative or only visit from time to time (c.f. Kates, 2002, p. 386). theoretical understanding, researchers should use multiple perspec- While a number of venues in the gay village focused on young, tives simultaneously to explore diversity of experiences that can co- single gay men, other venues had identified alternative target audi- exist within the same city. ences. Mary’s House was a bar styled around the theme of a tradi- Haslop et al. (1998) argued that gay villages could be under- tional English pub; it had quiet ambient music, real ale, and good stood as servicescapes (see also Rosenbaum, 2005). The findings quality food. Other venues provided high tea, carnivalesque drag here provide some support for this argument. Building on Hannah’s shows, and other experiences that could not be found in the rest of suggestion that venues in the gay village are like ‘Jazz clubs’ or ‘Irish the city. The participants who spoke about these alternative venues pubs’, it is argued here that the literature on themed environments in their interviews were also the participants that spoke about Man- may be helpful (Borghini et al., 2009; Kozinets et al., 2002). The chester as a multicultural city. The gay village was framed as a place owners of LGBT venues may carefully design their environments within which to experience ‘LGBT culture’, with Manchester being to draw on cultural tropes, just like the sports-themed ESPN Zone understood as a mosaic of different cultures. This understanding was draws upon sporting culture (Sherry Jr et al., 2004). Future research most clearly articulated by Hannah, a lesbian in her 40s, who com- may seek to draw more links between the culturally informed re- pared “gay bars” in present-day Manchester to “Jazz clubs” or “Irish search on servicescapes (Diamond et al., 2009; Kozinets, Sherry Jr, pubs”. In other words, LGBT venues were themed places where dif- et al., 2004), and research into commodified subcultures (Goulding ferent LGBT cultures were packaged and sold as experiences. This & Saren, 2007; Rinallo, 2007; Schouten, Martin, & McAlexander, contrasts with Kates’ (2002) understanding of LGBT districts as sub- 2007). In doing so, new insights into the relationships between subcultural ghettos. cultures, commodification, and servicescapes may be gleaned. Re- While the majority of participants described Manchester as an searchers may also wish to adopt a more critical perspective than the accepting place for all LGBT consumers, some were reflective that exploratory approach adopted here. For instance, what negative con- Manchester was not always so inclusive. A number of participants sequences might the commodification and thematisation of LGBT described transgender consumers as a potentially vulnerable group culture have for LGBT people and politics? that continued to use Canal Street as a place of safety and commu- Cresswell (2004, p. 7) defines a place as “a meaningful lo- nity. Robin, who was the only self-identifying transgender person to cation”. The interpretation offered here suggests that the meanings be interviewed in this study, described how the gay village was the of LGBT districts are negotiated within a web of other meaningful hub of the regional transgender community. Robin cited Sparkle, a urban locations. This interpretation may provide some transferrable national transgender festival based in the city of Manchester, as an insights for marketing and consumer researchers who are interested illustrative example of this. Robin also felt that venues in the gay more broadly in space, place, and consumption. According to Vis- village were far more likely to be considerate of transgender issues conti, Sherry Jr, Borghini, and Anderson (2010, p. 513), places can be than venues in other parts of Manchester. For instance, one bar con- understood as “appropriated sites where social interactions, sense of structed a unisex changing area specifically for transgender patrons. belonging, collective memories, and shared identities occur.” How- Robin argued that the gay village remained an important place for ever, researchers generally focus on interactions within a particular the transgender community because transgender people still experi- location when they explore how consumers, producers, materialities, enced discrimination in the rest of Manchester. While other partici- and practices co-construct the meanings of places (Borghini et al., pants described few experiences of discrimination, Robin provided 2009; Kozinets, Sherry, et al., 2004; Sherry Jr et al., 2004). Only two personal accounts of transphobia. Transgender consumers were fleeting attention is given to relevant influences outside of these spa- not the only vulnerable group mentioned by participants. Lesbian, tial borders (Diamond et al., 2009; Penaloza, 1998). The findings gay, or bisexual people from certain religious, ethnic, or socioeco- here suggest further attention should be given to the semiotic rela- nomic backgrounds were also cited as groups who might continue to tionships between places. For instance, Exarcheia is understood as experience discrimination, even in an accepting city like Manches- an anti-capitalist heterotopia partly through its contrast to the rest of ter. For such consumers the gay village was understood as a place Athens, which is pro-capitalist (Chatzidakis et al., 2012). However, of safety and community (i.e. a positive ghetto) because the rest of residents and visitors that interpret Athens differently may construct Manchester was seen as a socially and physically dangerous place to an alternative understanding of Exarcheia as a place. consume openly as LGB or T. Future research could overcome the limitations of this study by developing a more diverse sample. Particular attention should be DISCUSSION paid to recruiting more transgender and bisexual participants. It may The findings suggest that LGBT consumers’ understandings of also be interesting to include heterosexuals in the sample, people their local LGBT district depend, at least in part, on their understand- who consume places in the gay village without self-identifying as ings of the broader urban context. Understanding these places within LGBT. Future research may also seek to include the perspectives their urban context avoids adopting a single overarching narrative, a of LGBT venue owners, managers, or designers. Such perspectives zeitgeist of stigmatisation or acceptance. Rather it provides a more would allow researchers to consider whether producers also inter- nuanced account that takes into consideration the multiple coeval pret (and design) gay villages as themed environments. Finally, the Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 44) / 293 analysis of this study is limited to the urban context of Manchester. Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded It may be useful to conduct a comparative study of two or more cit- Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine. ies with LGBT districts. Indeed, following Visser’s (2013) critique Goulding, C., & Saren, M. (2007). ‘Gothic’ entrepreneurs: a study that LGBT districts are a largely Western phenomenon, it would be of the subcultural commodification process. In B. Cova, R. V. particularly interesting to study cities where LGBT districts have not Kozinets, & A. Shankar (Eds.), Consumer Tribes. Oxford, UK formed. For example, Visconti (2008, p. 118) describes the “limited & Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. number of gay pubs and meeting places” in the Italian context, while Goulding, C., Shankar, A., & Elliott, R. (2002). Working Weeks, Hsieh and Wu (2011, p. 400) describe a number of “gay havens” that Rave Weekends: Identity Fragmentation and the Emergence are dispersed across Taiwan. Such isolated places may have different of New Communities. Consumption Markets & Culture, 5(4), meanings for LGBT consumers than geographically concentrated 261-284. doi: 10.1080/1025386022000001406 LGBT districts. Investigating these places may provide new theo- Hammack, P. L., & Cohler, B. J. (2011). 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ABSTRACT To test these hypotheses we conducted an experiment in which Marketing practitioners claim that sex in advertising only works erotic meaning was transferred to both “sexy” and “unsexy” objects. for products that are related to sex. The presented experiment under- The acquisition of the attribute was captured by explicit ratings but pins that this folk hypothesis is not true. Via semantic conditioning also by an indirect measure, a semantic version of the affect misat- (a variant of evaluative conditioning) erotic meanings can be trans- tribution procedure (AMP; Payne, Cheng, Govorun, and Stewart ferred to any product including those totally unrelated to sex. 2005). The indirect measure was important to make sure that the objects really acquired an erotic meaning and that the effect was not due INTRODUCTION to demand characteristics or explicit memory of the exposure during Practitioners of advertising repeatedly claim that sex in adver- the conditioning stage. tising only works when the product is related to sex (Ogilvy, 1985). Advertising Professor Jef I. Richards from the University of Texas is METHOD cited with the statement: “Sex sells, but only if you’re selling sex.” The experiment used a standard EC procedure (Walther, 2002) (Kalb, 2012). to transfer the attribute erotic from erotic pictures (USs) to pictures In their comprehensive analysis of research on the effectiveness of neutral objects (CSs). However, in contrast to regular condition- of sex in advertising Lull and Bushman (2015) come to the conclu- ing procedures, we used two different sets of stimuli for CSs: One sion that sex does not sell at all. However, most of the research re- set of six objects consisted of objects which presumably were well viewed solely considers variables like memory, valence of an attitude suited for being charged with an erotic meaning while another set or intention to buy. In contrast, for many cases the primary intent comprised six objects which were totally unrelated to sex and was of sex in advertising would be to load up the product with erotic thus not unsuitable for a transfer of erotic meaning. We will refer to content in order to give it an erotic image. Only little attention has these two sets of stimuli as “sexy” and “unsexy”. This results in a two been paid to the question whether sex in advertising is successful in by two factorial design in which all conditions were varied within reaching this goal. Moreover, the practitioner’s claim cited above has groups. The two factors were conditioning (erotic vs. nonerotic USs) rarely been challenged: Is it really impossible to “sex up” an unsexy and suitableness (“sexy” vs. “unsexy” objects). product? As “erotic” is most likely a positive concept we controlled for To address this issue we use a variant of evaluative condition- valence in two ways: Firstly, we selected USs which were equal in ing. This kind of conditioning can be defined as the classical condi- valence. Secondly, we collected ratings of CSs valence and erotism tioning of liking or disliking by pairing a neutral stimulus (CS) with to be able to control for valence statistically. an unconditioned stimulus (US) which has a clear positive or negative valence (De Houwer 2009). The mechanisms behind evaluative Material conditioning, however, are not limited to elicit liking alone. Proce- Conditioned stimuli dures similar to those of evaluative conditioning have also proven to As CSs we used a sample of twelve objects half of which were be effective in changing meanings of the conditioned stimuli. These regarded as very “unsexy” whereas the other half was supposedly procedures have been labeled as a kind of “concept learning” (Glaser well suited for being connected to an erotic content. We took these and Walther 2013) or “non-evaluative conditioning” (Förderer and stimuli from the results of a preliminary study. More specifically, a Unkelbach 2011). For instance, Förderer and Unkelbach (2011) were sample of N = 32 participants was instructed to name objects which successful in making neutral people seem more athletic by repeat- are well suited for being charged with an erotic meaning as well as edly presenting them with athletic people. objects which are very poorly suited to acquire an erotic meaning. We use the paradigm of non-evaluative conditioning to prove These lists consisted of classes of objects. For example furniture that in the case of transferring erotic meaning to a product the effect or office supplies were frequently mentioned as “unsexy” objects, is not restricted to certain stimuli. To do this we add an additional whereas jewelry, candles or alcoholic beverages were frequently factor to the standard conditioning procedure: We present erotic and mentioned as ”sexy” objects. As CSs two sets each containing six non-erotic US along with products that do have an erotic meaning on pictures were chosen which showed either potentially erotic or their own as well as with products that do not. unerotic objects (see figure 1 and 2 for examples). Moreover we hypothesize that the conditioning effect is not due “Sexy” (i.e., potentially erotic) objects were: Candles, strawber- to an effect on confounding variables. It can be argued that pairing ries, jewelry, chocolate, perfume and beer neutral CSs with erotic USs may not go beyond evaluative condition- “unsexy” objects were: Writing desk, chair, sticky notes, paper ing after all: Since “erotic” for most people is a positive attribute the clip, writing pad, folder conditioning procedure may only transfer valence but no meaning. If To make sure that the objects were otherwise neutral (except for the pairing of a product with an erotic stimulus results in higher eval- their potential erotic content) pictures did not show any hint on an uations on an attribute like “erotic” this may only be the result of an existing product or brand. unspecific and general enhancement of the product’s evaluation. To make sure that the product really gets a different meaning it should Unconditioned stimuli be demonstrated that the conditioning effect cannot be reduced to USs were generated from ratings participants gave in the first valence alone. Accordingly, we hypothesize that pairing a neutral CS stage of the main experiment. In this stage participants rated a sample with an erotic US has a much stronger effect on the ascription of at- of 40 pictures, presented in randomized order, on a scale from 1 to 7 tributes like “erotic” and semantically similar attributes (e.g., “excit- as to whether they consider this picture to be erotic (= 7) or not (= 1). ing”) than on the evaluation on attributes like “good”. The pictures comprised of males, females, and couples (hetero- and