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When it comes to advertising, sex sells. 

But while many companies use attractive members of the opposite sex to sell their wares, little is known about how images of the same sex affect the behaviour of heterosexuals. 

To put this to the test, researchers asked straight men and women to look at images of same-sex people before they took financial gambles.

And they discovered that men are bigger risk takers when faced with an attractive male, especially if they think they earn less than him. 

Participants looked at photos of the same sex before choosing between pairs of financial gambles. Men who saw more images of attractive males were more likely to choose the riskiest option in each pair, while women showed no significant difference. Daniel Craig as James Bond is pictured left in the film Casino Royale

The research was carried out by Eugene Chan and his colleagues from the University of Technology Sydney in Australia. 

Mr Chan's team asked 180 heterosexual participants - 86 men and 94 women  - to look at 10 images of same-sex individuals who were either more or less attractive than the average man or woman. 

The attractiveness of each photo was rated by a separate group of people before the experiment. 

In the more attractive photos, the males were taken from Abercrombie and Fitch adverts, while the females were from Victoria's Secret. 

In the less attractive photos the models were 'neither fit nor obese' and were posed in a similar way. 

A control group saw no images.

Afterwards, participants completed tasks that required them to take financial risks.

They were presented with six hypothetical pairs of gambles. Each one had the same odds or outcome but one sounded riskier than the other.

For example, one pair involved receiving $100 with a 0.5 probability or receiving $50 with certainty. 

The total number of risky options that participants chose in each pair served as a measure for financial risk-taking, with a higher score indicating greater risk-taking.

This experiment revealed that participants who saw photos of more attractive individuals took greater financial risks than those who saw images of less attractive people. 

But men, in particular, who saw photos of more attractive males took greater financial risks than those who looked at the less attractive individuals.

While women took a similar amount of financial risks as the people in the control group, regardless of whether they saw more attractive or less attractive members of the same sex.

In a follow-up study, the relative incomes of the participants were also added. 

The risk-taking task involved choosing between a pair of gambles that had the same outcome, but one sounded riskier. For example, one involved receiving $100 with a 0.5 probability or receiving $50 with certainty. This chart shows how much the behaviour of heterosexual men was influenced by attractiveness

In a follow-up study, the relative incomes of the participants were also added. Men who saw attractive males took greater financial risks when their perceived relative income was lower. Those who saw attractive females took a similar amount of risks regardless of income. For women, there was no two-way interaction

But this time the images featured both the same sex and opposite sex, and all were considered more attractive.

Men who saw attractive males took greater financial risks when their perceived relative income was lower, than higher. 

But those who saw attractive females took a similar amount of financial risks whether their perceived relative income was lower or higher. 

For women, there was no two-way interaction between sexual images and relative income. 

The researchers said: 'In evolutionary history, men have faced greater competition in attracting women. When the average heterosexual man sees males who are more attractive than he is, he is motivated to increase his desirability, prompting him to [take] financial risks to do so.' Mark Wahlberg in The Gambler is pictured.

'This research reports an intriguing phenomenon: men who see attractive males take greater financial risks than those who do not,' explained the researchers. 

'In evolutionary history, men have faced greater intrasexual competition in attracting women as a mating partner. 

'Thus, when the average heterosexual man sees males who are more physically-attractive than he is, he is motivated to increase his desirability as a mating partner to women, prompting him to accrue money, and taking financial risks helps him to do so. 

'This research concludes by discussing the implications of the present findings for men today who are constantly bombarded by not only sexual opposite but also same-sex others, such as images that are commonly used in advertising.'