Using provocation in advertising as a way of brand communication and consumer's responses

Brands which want to draw attention consumers and to be seen between communication clutter and strong competition in today's commercial environment, very often use provocation in advertising. Provocation is widely used in advertising, however, the researches on effects of provocation in advertising is quite limited. In this thesis study, the effects of provocation in advertising on atttitude toward the advertising (Aad) and consumer's responses examined. Quantitative research method used for his study. In this research, consumer's attitude and response compared by using provocation in advertising with respect to social context and commercial context. 200 university student participated in this research and participants were randomly assigned two equivalent groups according to their personality traits. The result revealed that participants have had more positive attitude toward the provocative ad in social context than the provocative ad in commercial context. Participants evaluated that provocative ad as arresting, striking and daring. Openness to experience and closedness to experience participants evaluated to provocative ads quite differently. However, there was not a significant difference with regard to effects of personality traits on Aad. Closedness to experience participants evaulated provocative ads according to their social and moral values. And this study has shown that openness to experience participants evaulated provocative ads as more acceptable.