Pushing male Arousal up +85% with targeted content
Ads: Top Girl vs. Gardenscapes
When we ran emotion-based tests on two video ads with a “rescue” plot, we saw something surprising. Only by digging into the emotional response — by gender and age — did we find the real reasons why people stayed, dropped off, or felt strong emotions.
These insights helped us understand audience more clearly — and showed how to create better-performing, more targeted creatives.
Context & Goal
Creative ads based on rescue mechanics are a popular trope in mobile gaming. We wanted to explore how audiences emotionally respond to this format — and whether empathy is truly a strong engagement driver. Would replacing a distressed family with a lonely but hyper-attractive woman change how viewers feel? We tested two videos:
• Gardenscapes — a typical family-rescue scenario.
• Top Girl — the same mechanic, but with a highly sexualized female character.
The target audience: males and females aged 18–54 in the US.
Is “rescue” as a core narrative good or overused?
It’s good — but only if you keep up the pace and offer hope of success. In both videos, viewers engage quickly from the start and stay engaged throughout the video. Engagement increases again during the packshot. These key moments suggest that the rescue hook and plot are effective at driving initial and sustained attention.
The main challenge for both videos is maintaining viewer engagement after the rescue hook is introduced. In the middle section — specifically during the second challenge — arousal levels plateau. This might be due to the segment being too long or too similar to the initial task, which was the most engaging moment.
Throughout most of the videos, engagement is driven by negative emotions. Positive emotional engagement only appears toward the end, when the carousel packshot shows the chance to retry. This moment of “hope” is crucial. The carousel is a great opportunity to not only shift emotional tone, but also showcase game variety.
- Video 1 – Top Girl – The blue line drops during the second task
- Video 2 – Gardenscapes – The red line doesn’t show noticeable growth during the second task
In both graphs, the slightly lighter segments at the end of the lines indicate a dominance of positive emotions.
Sexy visuals = for men? Empathy = for women?
Not exactly. Only when the woman is fully sexualized do men respond more strongly. Meanwhile, the empathetic family-rescue scenario affects both men and women similarly — although women are generally more emotionally reactive.
It was expected that Top Girl would perform better among men — and that’s partially true. Men and women show similar reactions for most of the video, until the shower scene, where male engagement spikes and their emotional response becomes more positive.
Likewise, it was expected that Gardenscapes, the less sexualized video, would appeal more to women. But again, it’s not that simple. Both men and women respond well to the initial hook, though women show a slightly stronger early response. After the loss scene at the end, women’s engagement drops sharply, reflecting emotional disappointment. Men, while less emotionally expressive overall, react more positively to the packshot, re-engaging through a hopeful ending.
Men show a stronger spike in engagement at the end.
There’s no dramatic spike like in Top Girl, but there are localized moments where women respond more actively.
So... at least eroticism = for young, and empathy = for older?
Not really. As the sexual content escalates in Top Girl, younger viewers actually lose interest. But empathetic family-rescue content isn’t a hit for them either.
Initially, the younger audience in Top Girl shows higher engagement, but quickly drops off — especially during the second task mentioned above, which had a negative impact on this group. The only moment that excites them is the lead-up to the shower scene, but engagement sharply drops once it transitions into explicit content. This might be due to a disruption in expectations — the viewers were watching a typical mobile game ad, which suddenly turned into something resembling 18+ content.
In contrast, older viewers remain more consistently engaged and don’t seem to experience that same dissonance.
With Gardenscapes, age differences are more pronounced. The older group engages reliably, while the younger group is more likely to drop off — again, mostly around the middle section. They do like the packshot, but might not make it that far.
To summarize
🎣 The “rescue” hook works — for both genders
In both videos, the opening task sequence hooks users quickly. Engagement doesn’t drop off midway, and we observe another spike at the packshot, showing that the narrative structure (hook > challenge > outcome) holds attention well.
However, in the middle of both videos, particularly during the second challenge, arousal flatlines. This may be due to repetitive structure or pacing. Emotional activation shifts from negative to positive only during the resolution phase (packshot carousel).
👩🦰 Empathy ≠ only for women
Contrary to assumptions, Gardenscapes — the empathetic, family-focused video — was equally effective for both genders. Women showed slightly stronger early engagement and more disappointment at the loss scene, while men reacted more strongly to the positive ending.
🚿 Eroticism spikes male attention
In Top Girl, arousal among male viewers dramatically increases after the shower scene begins, leading to a peak difference of ~0.3 points over women on the arousal scale. Until this moment, both genders reacted similarly. This proves that sexualized visuals don’t work universally — they hyper-activate male viewers but leave women indifferent.
👵 Age didn’t behave as expected
Surprisingly, younger viewers lost interest faster, even in Top Girl. They reacted to the build-up but dropped off sharply once it crossed into overt eroticism — possibly due to a mismatch in tone or expectations. In contrast, older viewers maintained steadier engagement throughout both videos. only during the resolution phase (packshot carousel).
So, what works better?
Both videos are effective. But Top Girl outperforms by triggering stronger emotional highs, especially among male viewers. It sustains nearly 100% focus and delivers an emotional “rollercoaster” that climaxes during the packshot — a key moment for conversion.
However, this intensity comes at a price: engagement is more segmented. The erotic payoff works only for certain viewers, and risks alienating others.