Shock Advertising Research Articles

Eye-tracking in advertising research: an investigation among generation Z and Y of shock tactics’ effectiveness

Advertising has become an integral part of everyday life, due to the abundance of advertising messages, it is virtually impossible to pay attention or to retain all of them; thus, consumers learn to ignore most advertisements they are exposed to. Striving for exceptionalism and persuasion, advertisers tend to use dramatic emotions, they create messages that would shock consumers, and they increasingly break social and moral norms, so that their advertising messages break through the traditional advertising clutter and reach the existing or potential customer. Since the 1980s, shock advertising has gained interest among advertising industry specialists and academics. However, the impact of shock advertising on consumer behavior can vary and its effectiveness is questionable. This article aims to analyze the differences in the reactions among generations Z and Y to shock advertising, using the eye tracking method. A total of 40 participants were invited to take part in the study. The core of the research was based on seven distinct types of shock tactics. Each of these groups represented a category of advertising posters. Within each group, there were 3-5 individual images, each varying in design, content, and nature. This variety ensured a comprehensive understanding of participants' reactions to different types of advertisements within the same category. After the data analysis, it was concluded that there are differences in the perception of different types of shock depending on the generation. The results indicate that generation Z is more tolerant of shock tactics, having a more positive reaction than generation Y. The younger age group (16-20 years) appears to engage with visual stimuli in a more dynamic and perhaps exploratory manner. They seem to have a more focused or selective attention, especially when the content is emotionally or ethically charged. This paper provides marketers with a better understanding of the effectiveness of shock advertising based on age variable, recommending alternative methods to capture the attention of consumers.

Social marketing, shock advertising and risky consumption behavior

PurposeThe overall objective of this research is to “explore whether shock advertising has a long-lasting positive effect on the smoking cessation among smoking Jordanians in a country where smoking is a deep-rooted social norm.”Design/methodology/approachThis research is an exploratory qualitative research. A purposeful sampling technique was used to select participants from a mall intercept and randomly divided into groups of seven. Each group was interviewed in two different focus group sessions (four weeks apart). All focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis.FindingsA total of 41 participants took part in the focus group session. Most participants were smokers or second-hand smokers. “Three overarching themes were generated from the focus groups: previous anti-smoking campaign experience, shock advertising (SA) impact and drawbacks of SA. All participants reported that they have never been exposed to shocking adverts, and the shock appeal has never been applied in any of the anti-smoking or health awareness campaigns in Jordan. This research revealed that incorporating images of children with a mixture of emotional and fear appeals is effective in targeting Jordanian parents' negative consumptive behaviors, which may harm other individuals, especially children. Moreover, most participants commented that the effects of shock adverts would be very short term and would not likely change behaviors”.Originality/valueThis research contributes both “theoretically and practically to the value and effectiveness of shock advertising. This research area is overlooked in MENA countries, particularly Jordan”.

Impoliteness and hypermasculine language in Japanese shock advertising

This article shows that by using hypermasculine language in shock advertising, advertisement creators highlight its aggressive and crude image. Hypermasculine language has been commodified as a marker of impoliteness. This analysis utilises the concept of indexical field and makes two theoretical contributions. First, it shows that one can employ the concept in the analysis of styles, which are broader linguistic resources than individual variables. The analysis thus expands the applicability of the concept. Second, the article shows that advertisement creators are changing the indexical field of hypermasculine language. The analysis thus corroborates the characterisation of the indexical field as fluid. This article also argues that, because many in Japan believe in the importance of avoiding offending others and the prominence of linguistic politeness, hypermasculine language, with its foregrounded meanings of aggressiveness and vulgarity, violates the perceived code of linguistic politeness and serves as a useful apparatus for shock advertising.

Shockvertising como un método para promocionar el contenido de los servicios de transmisión de video bajo demanda

Purpose: Most thumbnails promoting movies or series in video on demand (VOD) streaming services contain some form of shock advertising. The intention of this type of appeal is to bring immediate attention of viewers. However, little is known if shock advertising persuades consumers to watch series or movies on VOD streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. This study examines more deeply consumer responses to two types of shock advertising appeals: fetishism and sexual, and compares the results to an experimental condition in which there is an absence of shock advertising. Design / Methodology / Approach: This study empirically tests if shock advertising, in the form of fetishism and sexual appeals, persuades consumers to watch series or movies. In the experimental setting, we manipulated romantic feelings and compared how each shock advertising types of appeals influence consumers when deciding what to watch in VOD streaming services. Analysis of variance was utilized to test the main effect of type of shock advertising appeal (fetishism vs. sexual vs. control condition) and to test the moderating effect of romantic feelings. Results: Our findings suggest that consumers exposed to fetishism and sexual appeals revealed ower levels of persuasion compared to a control condition. An important finding of the study is the moderating effect of romanticism. When an individual has romantic feelings, conceived as a transitory mood state, the fetishism appeal becomes more persuasive than the sexual or the neutral appeals. Limitations / Implications: These results are useful for improving the implementation of shock advertising appeals in the form of fetishism or sexual thumbnails for VOD streaming services. The study uses a single experiment to draw conclusions. Future research can test to generalize the results of this study in different settings. Originality / Contribution: The main contributions derived from this research can be classified into two findings: it improves our understanding of consumer’s reactions to shock advertising; and, second advances our knowledge of the influence of positive emotions (romantic feelings) when consumers decide what to watch in video streaming services.

Exploring the use of shock advertising by for-profit and nonprofit organisations in China

This paper investigates the use of shock advertising by both for-profit and nonprofit organisations in China. Specifically, the study assesses the effectiveness of shock advertising in terms of attitude toward the advertisement (Aad), attitude toward the brand (Ab), and behavioural intention. The results indicate that Chinese consumers held more positive Ab when shock advertising was used by a nonprofit organisation rather than by a for-profit organisation, but their Ab was more positive toward non-shock ads by both of the organizations. In addition, shock advertising used by a nonprofit organisation elicited higher behavioural intention than other types of advertising/organisation combinations. No difference was found in Aad when shock advertising was used by for-profit or nonprofit organisations.

Comparing the three types of approach of advertising in brand building in emerging markets

ABSTRACT The aim of this research is to compare and examine the effectiveness of an emotional, Shock and humour advertising strategies in terms of brand recall, image and attitudes towards the advertisement and purchase intentions towards the brand. Secondly, to determine the moderating effects of generation Y on these three types of advertisements. And lastly, to provide marketers with a better understanding of the effectiveness of three types of advertisements and emphasize the importance of alternative methods of breaking through the advertising clutter. To measure the impact of different types’s advertisement, six advertisements from each of the three categories, i.e. Shock; Humour and Emotional are shortlisted and linked together. These advertisements (18 in total) are then shown to respondents. Respondents recorded their views in the questionnaire. A total 345 respondents participated in this study. Brand recall is high in both emotional and humorous ads, but the purchase intention is high in an emotional advertisement in eastern culture. Type of product should influence the advertising approach in the promotion of a brand.

Examining Asian and European Reactions within Shock Advertising

This paper seeks to establish whether subjects from different cultures, in this case from Europe (Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom (UK)) and Asia (China and Japan), react differently when exposed to the same shock advertising. This is of relevance to advertisers/ marketers who wish to target particular groups in a population as societies continue to evolve, change and become less homogenous. This paper examines the effects that gender and cultural identities have on different ethnic groups. The current study was carried out in the UK using 115 undergraduate university students from 6 countries. The participants were exposed to 7 adverts on safe driving from 4 countries. The aim of the study was to see if the participants would react differently to the degree of shock depending on the culture portrayed within the advert. Our findings highlight that there is a correlation between gender and the environment depicted within 3 of the adverts. Furthermore, significant differences between European and Asian participants were also found within 2 of those 3 adverts. The findings accentuate the importance of cultural content within shock advertising. Thus, advertisers/ marketers need to take great care when constructing and delivering messages to multi-cultural customer bases.

Shock charity campaigns: Building our understanding on their effectiveness: Comments on “Emotions and Prosocial Behaviors: A Study of the Effectiveness of Shocking Charity Campaigns” by Jeanne Albouy

The recent article entitled “Emotions and Prosocial Behaviors: A Study of the Effectiveness of Shocking Charity Campaigns” authored by Jeanne Albouy published in Recherche et Applications en Marketing provides important evidence on the effectiveness of shocking advertisements in the context of charity appeals. Specifically, this research highlights how the negative emotions and empathy that are produced by shock campaigns lead to positive attitudes toward the ad, the cause, and the intentions to help the charity. This work is important because it helps to resolve a conflict in the literature – namely, divergent findings that have shown both positive and negative outcomes for ads in charity campaigns that are emotional and raw in nature. Furthermore, like any good research, this work also seeds new opportunities for future investigation into the role of shock advertising in the context of charity communication campaigns. This commentary will look to highlight where additional research opportunities exist. Specifically, the discussion will center on three directions of potential interest: (1) a broader investigation into the notion of shock advertising in the context of charity campaigns, (2) understanding potential differences in how an audience is exposed to shock advertising and the implications therein, and (3) contemplating other outcome measures that could provide meaningful insight into how shock advertising has an impact in the marketplace.

Шоковая реклама как разновидность социальной рекламы

Шоковая реклама как разновидность социальной рекламы

Shocking People Into Action: Does It Still Work?: An Empirical Analysis of Emotional Appeals In Charity Advertising

ABSTRACT How effective is shock advertising for charities? To address this question, the current researchers used an experimental design based on a cross-sectional sample of three groups of adults. Respondents were exposed to an advertisement with a shock, neutral, or positive emotional appeal for a charity and indicated their intention to donate to the charity, volunteer for the charity, agree to the charitable cause, and talk about the advertisement with family and friends. Key findings include that shock advertising does work, but not by shocking. Surprise, interest, and compassion are key emotions when it comes to engaging with a charity.

Шоковая реклама в коммерческой сфере: российский и зарубежный опыт

Шоковая реклама в коммерческой сфере: российский и зарубежный опыт

Shock Advertising: Not So Shocking Anymore. An Investigation among Generation Y

In today’s society, marketers are going to extreme measures to attract consumers’ attention in an attempt to break through advertising clutter. A widely used method is shock advertising, however, the effectiveness of this method is questionable. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of shock advertising on Generation Y consumers in today’s society. Three variables were analyzed, namely, level of shock, norm violation and memory recall, with five different types of shock (impropriety, moral offensiveness, sexual references, disgusting images and religious taboos). The moderating effects of these relationships with gender, religion and personal identity were also explored. By means of a quantitative study, 300 university students were asked to complete questionnaires. The overall findings indicated that shock advertising has become obsolete and that marketers need to implement alternative ways of ‘breaking through the clutter’. This paper provides marketers with a better understanding of the (in)effectiveness of shock advertising and proposes the importance that marketers should find alternative methods to capture the attention of consumers. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n21p203

Geopolitical storymaking about Tonga and Fiji: How media fooled people to believe Ma'afu wanted Lau

Just when Tongan Democratic Party leader ‘Akilisi Pohiva stumped the public by saying he admired Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama because “he has been able to make things happen and take development to the people,” the Government of Tonga’s Minister for Lands, Lord Ma’afu, came right out of the blue and trumped him (Tonga Daily News, 2014a, 2014b). Ma’afu topped Pohiva at causing public bamboozlement.
 By this, Pohiva was the progenitor of Tonga’s thirty year old pro-democracy movement. Why would he over romanticise about the former military commodore Frank Bainimarama, the hard-line originator of Fiji’s third coup to take place in a period of twenty eight years? Pohiva’s swinging politics from democracy in Tonga to an overthrow of democracy in Fiji baffled readers (Naidu, 2014; Graue, 2014). But Ma’afu took centre stage as the show stopper.
 Momentarily, people were gobsmacked and did not know what to make of him. Was Tonga’s Minister for Lands and Survey who was a senior noble in the Tu’ivakano cabinet courting mischief or dead serious? Fiji’s permanent secretary for foreign affairs Amena Yauvoli was certain, we “would just have to wait for the Tongan government’s proposal” (Tonga Daily News, 2014a). But as Tongan journalist Kalafi Moala put it, “they will be waiting for a very long time” on that geopolitical front (Moala, 2014).
 This essay explores the geopolitical storymaking about Tonga and Fiji instigated by Tonga Daily News publishing online that Lord Ma’afu had said, “In good faith I will propose to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Fiji that they can have Minerva Reef and we get Lau in return” (Tonga Daily News, 2014a). The very thought of drawing up a new map instantly ignited outrage from Fijian readers. How then, might Tonga and Fiji’s argument over ownership of the Minerva Reefs play out this time around? Could the region’s geopolitical atlas ever be imagined differently when its cartography was permanently cemented to the era of Western European colonial empire? When the media fooled people to believe Lord Ma’afu wanted the Lau Islands for the Minerva Reefs, what did this signal about how news sites can manoeuver shock advertising and manipulate what politicians say to up their ratings?

PETA making social noise: A perspective on shock advertising

This article analyses People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) strategies for making social noise, a form of public communication that is sufficiently attention grabbing to be ‘heard’. A common social noise tactic is shock advertising. It has a magic-bullet effect; when PETA resorts to graphic video recordings of animal abuse, it instils feelings of ‘shock’ to get its point across. Unlike many other studies on PETA and its advertising strategies, this analysis is distinctive in that it mostly bases the principle of shock advertising on the theory of social noise. The latter adds fresh insights to our understanding of visual legitimacy in the twenty-first century.

‘Shockvertising’: An exploratory investigation into attitudinal variations and emotional reactions to shock advertising

ABSTRACTThis study compares the reactions towards shock advertising in for‐profit (FP) and not‐for‐profit (NFP) organizations. Although the use of shocking advertisements is a growing phenomenon, the findings regarding the effectiveness of such advertisements remain mixed. Moreover, there is little consideration of the use of these tactics in different organizational contexts and the effect on the consumer. A qualitative methodology was adopted and included the use of focus groups to explore the attitudes and emotional reactions of a range of individuals. The shocking images from both the NFP and FP organizations were deemed successful at capturing the audience's attention. Some images were more ‘shocking’ than others, whereas some were more effective at drawing attention to the product or the cause. Importantly, the use of shock advertising was perceived to be justifiable in the NFP sector but much less so in the FP sector. Reactions were somewhat influenced by both religion and gender; however, it was apparent that this sample were inherently more accepting of shock advertising than expected. Despite the apparent immunity of today's youth to shock tactics, this study found that there are still themes that are considered inappropriate in FP and NFP sectors; these include the use of religious taboos or morally offensive images. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Does It Pay to Shock? Reactions to Shocking and Nonshocking Advertising Content among University Students

ABSTRACT Although the use of shocking content in advertising appeals has been widely adopted, the effectiveness of such communication strategies has not been empirically investigated. In two laboratory studies, conducted in the context of HIV/AIDS prevention, we examine the effectiveness of shock advertising in comparison to the commonly used appeals of fear and information. Our findings suggest that shocking content in an advertisement significantly increases attention, benefits memory, and positively influences behaviour among a group of university students.

Should Advertising Shock?

Shock advertising is a tactic of choice for some organizations despite its disputed efficacy and dubious ethicality. Through a focused biblical analysis, this paper identifies numerous examples of divinely-initiated shocking communication, which in light of Imago Dei might lead people to believe that they also have considerable liberty to use shock. Closer examination of biblical cases, however, suggests that organizations should only create shocking ads for very compelling reasons.