The Impact of 'Shockvertising' on Consumer Behavior: Investigating Its Influence on the "Why Buy" Aspect TAREQ NAEL HASHEM 1 , MOHAMMED S. ALNSOUR 2 , NAFEZ NIMER ALI 3 , FIRAS NAEL HASHEM 4 , ABDULRAHMAN NAEL HASHEM 5 , OMAR SALEH MOH"D ABU HAMIDEH 6 1 Marketing Department, Isra University, Amman, JORDAN. 2 Al-Balqa Applied University, JORDAN. 3 Marketing Department, Business College, AL Zaytoonh University of Jordan, JORDAN. 4 College of Business, Tafila Technical University, JORDAN. 5 Faculty of Administrative and Financial Sciences, Isra University, Amman, JORDAN. 6 Marketing Department, Business College, AL Zaytoonh University of Jordan, JORDAN. Abstract: - Current study focused on highlighting the influence of shockvertising (Disgusting Images, Sexual References, Profanity/Obscenity, Vulgarity, Impropriety, Moral Offensiveness and Religious Taboos) on consumer behavior in its two dimensions of repurchase intention and word of mouth. Through depending on quantitative approach and utilizing a questionnaire as a tool; researcher distributed on (431) Jordanian consumers within the online social platforms due to COVID 19 lockdown and quarantine. Through SPSS, results of study indicated that shockvertising – along with its variables – plays a role in negatively influencing consumer behavior, analysis also revealed that using religious taboos as advertisement material was the most influential aspect of shockvertising as people tend to act emotionally in reference to their religion, also, results indicated that shockvertising an influence consumer behavior variables and mostly repurchase intention as a consumer is welling to boycott a brand if it presented any offending ad. Key-Words:- Shockvertising; Shock Advertising; Consumer Behavior; Offensive; Surprising; Racist; Religious Received: May 10, 2021. Revised: October 12, 2021. Accepted: October 23, 2021. Published: November 2, 2021. 1 Introduction Shockvertising (shock advertising/ shock marketing) is a type of advertisement that is used to surprise the audience through deliberate violation of social values standards, personal ideals, rules, values and norms, in order to attract the attention of the recipient and spread the idea and talk about it among people, using horrific images of intimidation or bold or provocative messages, in order to sell a product or present a message as public service to change the behavior of the recipient [18]. The beginning of the appearance of the shocking advertisement has not been decided conclusively, but this may be because this term did not appear until the 1980s, specifically in 1982, with the appearance of the first shocking advertising campaign for the Italian company, Benetton, [7] which is one of the leading companies in the field of shocking and controversial advertisements, and this happened when the company enlisted the help of fashion photographer "Oliviero Toscani", who carried out a multi-ethnic advertising campaign under the slogan (United Colors of Benetton), and here the focus was on the educational message more than the product itself, as Oliver believed that the advertisement would be more effective when addressing an ethical message, regardless of Marketing the product itself, which was not uncommon at the time [13]. Generally speaking, shockvertising violates social values which are the acceptable and unacceptable behavior recognized among people through the process of social learning, in order to evaluate ideas, actions and people [2]. If the advertisement respects that and does not contradict society’s perceptions of good, and does not violate these standards, then it is an acceptable declaration by the recipients, but if it violates advertising which are the standards of good taste and personal morals and make the recipient embarrassed and uncomfortable and in some cases, like mental disorder and an increase in heartbeat upon exposure to the shock announcement, this may lead to a backlash that may lead to a boycott of the trademark [17]. 2 Problem Formulation Current study aimed at examining the impact of shockvertising on consumer behavior; the aim included objectives of highlighting the correlation between shockvertising and consumer behavior from a marketing perspective. In addition to that, the WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS DOI: 10.37394/23207.2021.18.123 Tareq Nael Hashem, Mohammed S. Alnsour, Nafez Nimer Ali, Firas Nael Hashem, Abdulrahman Nael Hashem, Omar Saleh Moh"D Abu Hamideh E-ISSN: 2224-2899 1330 Volume 18, 2021