The Attitude of Young People in Bucharest Regarding Taboo Topics in Advertising

Iovu Oana-Bianca ()
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Iovu Oana-Bianca: The Bucharest University of Economic Studies

International Conference on Marketing and Business Development Journal, 2018, vol. 1, issue 1, 57-67

Abstract: This study explores the attitudine of young people regarding the taboo topics in advertising and their influence on the purchasing decision. In order to study the phenomenon, a focus group was organized in june 2018. It consisted of 9 young people who have been answering some general questions, and then, after watching a few advertisments, they told their opinions and feelings about them. The focus group highlights the fact that in our society, there are topics considered taboo and, regardless of their nature and people's openness, they cannot get used to talking freely about them. On the other side, young people represent a category of open minded people who can accept many subjects and this can be considered a new beginning for promoting these subjects, especially in advertising, where they have already begun to appear more and more often. Respondents have not noticed the existence of offensive or disturbing elements in the presented advertisments. The overall attitude towards the taboo topics in advertising is a positive one, which shows that young people have a modern, new and understanding view of these subjects. Most of the time they do not consider there are any problems in highlighting taboo topics in advertising. These people do not know race discrimination, tattoo problems, motorcyclists or non-conformist means of transport. But they have a slightly different view of gender equality, this one being the only subjects where they cannot agree if it exists or not or it is just an excuse for people to defend their actions. Finally, the results may help the advertisement business to understand the fact that there is not a problem in using taboo topics in their advertising strategies.

Keywords: taboo topics; commercial ads; young people; focus group; purchase decision. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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