The Impact of Shock Advertising on Donation Intention

Organisations use advertisements to convey a preferred image to their target markets, to persuade them to perform an action which is beneficial to them. Non-profit organisations (NPOs) use advertisements to implement certain feelings, perceptions, and emotions in the minds of the targets so that it would cause them to contribute to the organisation for the cause. One of the many ways through which advertisements inflict emotions, attitudes, and actions is shock advertising. This research aims to investigate whether the shock appeal in shock advertising by NPOs would affect the donation intention. To explore this, a qualitative research through interview was conducted. The key findings indicated that the shock adverts of the non-profit organisations have an impact on the level of awareness and comprehension of the respondents on the issues highlighted in the shock adverts. However, the shock adverts do not have an obvious impact on the donation intention. The respondents indicated that they need more information about the non-profit organisations before donating. Some of them said that the financial capability is the main factor affecting their donation intention.