The Impact of Humor on Advertising Comprehension

Abstract

: Many previous findings of the effects of humor and comedy on communication messages have commonly found humorous advertisements to be no more powerful than comparable advertisement serious messages. This study re-checks the humor's influence by focusing on type of humor measurement (changed vs. perceived) and humor location in the advertisement. Findings shows that humor in the form of funny incidents do promote message comprehension, and offer support for information processing and operant conditioning explanations of the humor influence process.