Study indirectly explains why SEMA has booth babes

Presented without commentary

I'm not sure I'm seeing the correlation. 

The article doesn't mention boot babes.

Then add this: "The participants in the relatively small sample were relatively young, and all enrolled in a business degree at the same university."

Asking a bunch of like-minded people and then applying it to all men is the opposite of good science. It reads more like someone trying to justify their own opinion. 

As to the babes. Men like booth babes because they are babes. It's how men are wired. 

I saw that last week.  Apparently I'm a sadistic psychopath.  🤷

A while ago I heard a debate where someone asserted that it was a myth that sex sells, which shocked me, but after looking into it, it turns out that it really doesn't:

https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/522402

I would think that the fact that those polled were also enrolled in a collage business degree program and didn't necessarily own a loud car would be pretty relevant and not just a footnote.

I recall another study that correlated psychopathy with a love of black coffee and dark chocolate. Now this.

Berkeley, they're on to me.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Sex doesn't sell, but it does attract attention to the product much like the blue light at Kmart. 

"Sex Sells" is one thing, but I cannot understand celebrity endorsements.

I see actors/comedians/sports figures endorsing things completely outside their experience, like cell phones or cable/streaming. All I can think is "Wow, they paid way way too much money to have these people say that, and if I'm a customer, I'm paying for it."

Celebrity endorsements of related objects is one thing - I'd buy anything for my car that Randy Pobst recommends.

But completely unrelated? Something like the (indisputably talented) Kevin Hart endorsing a credit card? How does that have value?

In reply to BoulderG :

From the limited experience I have with that, the celebrity endorsement about two things:  Attention and relation.  You get their attention because you're putting someone familiar in front of them that they're going to have a tendency to pay attention to.  That actor/comedian guy is funny/good-looking/talented so my brain will devote attention when he comes on the screen.  And then you've created a positive attachment in the person's brain so even if they don't immediately act on whatever you're advertising, they've created this link in your brain between brand XYZ and That Guy You Like to Watch.

IMO. It is not that the babes are offering sex. They are there to draw us men to there booth so we can buy the item they are promoting. Come on we have been looking at Snap-on tool, Sports Illustrated Babes for decades.

A breastaurant chain here in Canada always has very attractive hostesses.

Management isn't stupid, they know how to get guys to spend money.

Apparently the way they get around labor laws is, the staff are hired from a modeling agency.

How many booths are at SEMA now ?

How many minutes do you have per booth ?

If the "booth babes" can slow you down so that you look at the product the booth is selling they have done their job , 

And the booths are so expensive now that the "booth babes" are only a small part of the cost.

Career statistician here.

Bottom line: The significant factors only accounted for 29 percent of the observed variation (not sure if R-Squared, R-Squared Adjusted, or R-Squared Predicted was referenced) but whatever, anything less than 70 percent as a drop dead minimum is generally considered not worthy of publication.

All click bait and no useful findings...see also all hat and no cattle. 

ShawnG said:

Apparently the way they get around labor laws is, the staff are hired from a modeling agency.

It's perfectly legal in Canada to either not hire someone, or let them go because they're not good looking enough.

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I'm actually less likely to consider car parts from booth babes, for all the same reasons that I'm less likely to consider cafe drinks from bikini baristas.

I read the article and was offput in that I equated the "loud exhaust" with "car guys."

But then I re-read the premise and realized that the whole thing was based on custom loud exhaust. I also have a feeling that the researcher in question was pointing at drivers with what I call "Attack" or "Popcorn" exhaust. I might actually agree with her if that is the case; here in London, where the thesis writer resides, we have a lot of these drivers with exhaust that turn into a fireworks finale with a big dab of the throttle. The game seems to be to startle people as they drive around. My term of "shiny happy people" might not be as scientifically rigid.

This lady coulda just called Bubb Rubb and saved herself a lot of time.

"woo woooo!"

Because cars and girls have gone together since the first cars?

MyMiatas said:

IMO. It is not that the babes are offering sex. They are there to draw us men to there booth so we can buy the item they are promoting. Come on we have been looking at Snap-on tool, Sports Illustrated Babes for decades.

I used to attend engineering conferences and trade shows in the 1980s.  I remember that Hewlett-Packard in particular would recruit the best looking women engineers they could find in their work force to staff their booths.  Having someone who was attractive and could explain the technical features of the latest and greatest piece of electronic gear worked very well for them, there was always a large crowd of nerdy male engineers hanging around their displays.

Driven5 said:

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I'm actually less likely to consider car parts from booth babes, for all the same reasons that I'm less likely to consider cafe drinks from bikini baristas.

Why?

Do they offend you? Do you think they are being objectified?

In reply to Toyman! :

Maybe he feels they are masking a E36 M3 product with tits?

I know I'd be reluctant. If you need boobs to get me to look at your widget, how good is your widget?

20+ years ago when I was in water and wastewater, the president of the largest engineering firm in the industry wrote an op/ed about booth babes. Her article wiped out the practice practically overnight. It was an important turning point IMHO. 

Appleseed said:

In reply to Toyman! :

Maybe he feels they are masking a E36 M3 product with tits?

I know I'd be reluctant. If you need boobs to get me to look at your widget, how good is your widget?

Kind of my thought. Or, are you trying to distract me from how poorly-engineered or poorly-conceived your product is?

I've been to Oshkosh for the EAA's giant fly-in every year since 95. People trying (and succeeding) to sell kits, and plans, engines, and avionics. Millions of dollars spent over a week.

You know what I've never seen there? Booth babes. 

In reply to Appleseed :

Only enough money for one incredibly expensive hobby at a time.