%0 Journal Article %A Gerard Prendergast %A Wah-Leung Cheung %A Douglas West %T How Far Is Too Far? The Antecedents of Offensive Advertising in Modern China %D 2008 %R 10.2501/S0021849908080562 %J Journal of Advertising Research %P 484-495 %V 48 %N 4 %X Previous research has classified offensive advertising into matter (offensive products and services) and manner (offensive execution). This study was designed to (1) develop a more comprehensive schedule of offensive advertising and (2) identify the psychological predictors of taking offense. A survey conducted in Hong Kong and Shanghai showed that offensive advertising could be classified into three categories: advertisements dealing with offensive sexual matter, advertisements for offensive nonsexual matter, and advertisements displaying an offensive manner. Of these categories, manner was perceived as the most offensive. Self-esteem and susceptibility to interpersonal influence both were significant in predicting the level of offensiveness for all three types of offensive advertising. %U https://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/jadvertres/48/4/484.full.pdf