Preliminary investigation of the communication effects of “taboo” themes in advertising

International audiencePurpose – The purpose of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature of taboo imagery in advertisingby drawing on cognate disciplines to build a conceptual framework and identify the characteristics oftaboo-challenging advertisements and the audiences who react to them.Design/methodology/approach – Data collected by 22 in-depth individual qualitative interviewsin Morocco and France were subjected to two-stage formal content analysis.Findings – This study reveals the importance of normative social influence, the properties of thetaboo, contagion from the content of the ad to the brand and to customers, and ambivalent emotionalreactions. The valence and the intensity of the responses to such advertising depend on personal,interpersonal and situational factors.Research limitations/implications – The conclusions are based on findings from a relativelysmall number of respondents reacting to one type of taboo only, but they offer a useful theoreticalframework and an empirical basis for future research on the communication effects and effectivenessof taboo in advertising.Practical implications – The study offers advertisers a better understanding of the factors andprocesses likely to influence consumers’ reactions to the strategy of invoking taboo themes inadvertising campaigns, with positive implications in terms of audience segmentation and mediaselection.Originality/value – Despite the prevalence of “taboo advertising”, little research-based analysis hasso far been available to academics or practitioners