The burden of skin cancer, specifically melanoma, is considerable worldwide, with prevention as simple as seeking shade, wearing a hat and applying sunscreen. This thesis aims to investigate the influence advertising has on consumers’ intentions to apply sunscreen. It was determined through a review of the literature that the factors of gender and peer groups may prove useful to incorporate into advertisements in an attempt to influence sunscreen application intentions.

The research adopts an experimental design to understand the influence of certain stimuli portrayed in an advertisement on respondents’ behavioural intentions. This approach uses a 2 x 3 between-subjects factorial design in the form of an online questionnaire. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of six conditions, which were presented as advertisements, with each manipulating the two independent variables, gender (male vs. female) and peer groups (a singular person applying sunscreen to themselves vs. a peer applying sunscreen to their peer). Respondents were recruited through social media, with a final data set consisting of 294 responses that were used for the analysis. A series of MANCOVA, one-way ANCOVA and independent samples t-test analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses for this research.

The results indicate that the manipulations of the independent variables did not significantly influence respondents’ sunscreen application intentions. However, respondents' sunscreen application intentions were high across all manipulations, which indicates that respondents are in tune with applying sunscreen. Several correlations were found between the scale variables, and significant covariate relationships were identified to affect the outcome of the dependent variables. Specifically, the relationships between the three variables of interpersonal touch attitudes. These relationships show how society has developed and become accepting of help from friends. The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed, followed by suggestions for areas of future research.