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UNIVERSITEIT GENT
FACULTEIT POLITIEKE EN SOCIALE WETENSCHAPPEN
Wetenschappelijk artikel
TIM DE GEYTER
MASTERPROEF COMMUNICATIEWETENSCHAPPEN
afstudeerrichting COMMUNICATIEMANAGEMENT
PROMOTOR: PROF. DR. VEROLINE CAUBERGHE
COMMISSARIS: DR. ERLINDE CORNELIS
COMMISSARIS: DR. KATARINA PANIC
ACADEMIEJAAR 2009 - 2010
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HUMOROUS VERSUS RATIONAL
APPEALS IN PRINT ADVERTISING FOR UTULITARIAN AND
HEDONIC PRODUCTS
aantal woorden: 9418
2
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HUMOROUS VERSUS RATIONAL APPEALS
IN PRINT ADVERTISING FOR UTILITARIAN AND HEDONIC
PRODUCTS
ABSTRACT (ENG)
Are there golden rules to be respected concerning the use of humor in advertising?
The omnipresence of humor in commercial messages contrasts sharply with the empirical
inconsistencies about its effects on persuasion and credibility. This study makes an attempt to
contribute to this debate and is based upon two classic conceptual frameworks; the ‘Elaboration
Likelihood Model’ (ELM) and the ‘Product Color Matrix’ (PCM).
A between subject factorial experiment among 263 respondents was designed to examine
whether humor is more appropriate for high or low involvement products and for utilitarian or hedonic
products. The results show that a rational appeal enhances the credibility of high involvement
products. Humorous appeals on the contrary have a positive effect on the credibility of low
involvement products. Nevertheless, there is no moderating role of product involvement or product
type on the effectiveness of humor in advertising. Although men rated the humorous ads significantly
higher on perceived humor, this higher likeability of the ads did however not turn out into increased
brand attitudes and purchase intention.
The mediating effect of ad attitudes supports the conceptualization that humor (positively)
influences brand attitudes through the attitude towards the ad. This implicates that a humorous
advertisement can cause a higher likeability of the ad and consequently evokes more favorable
feelings towards the brand.
KEYWORDS
Humor, advertising effectiveness, utilitarian, hedonic, involvement, PCM, Credibility, mediator,
moderator, ELM
3
SAMENVATTING (NED)
Zijn er gouden regels omtrent humor in reclame?
De alomtegenwoordigheid van humor in commerciële boodschappen staat in schril contrast met de
empirische inconsistentie over de effecten van humor op de geloofwaardigheid en overtuigingskracht
van reclame. Dit onderzoek poogt een bijdrage te leveren aan dit debat en is gebaseerd op twee
conceptuele schema’ s; het ‘Elaboration Likelihood Model’ (ELM) en de ‘Product Color Matrix’
(PCM).
Door middel van een between subject factorial design (tussen-persoondesign) werd bij 263
respondenten nagegaan of humor beter geschikt is voor hoge of lage betrokkenheidsproducten en voor
utilitaire of hedonistische producten. De resultaten tonen aan dat een rationele appeal de
geloofwaardigheid van hoge betrokkenheidsproducten verhoogt. Een humoristische appeal
daarentegen, heeft een positieve invloed op de geloofwaardigheid van lage betrokkenheidsproducten.
Er is echter geen modererend effect van betrokkenheid van het product of van product type (utilitair of
hedonistisch) van humor op reclame effectiviteit. Hoewel de mannelijke respondenten de advertenties
significant hoger scoorden op waargenomen humor dan de vrouwelijke respondenten, leidt dit niet tot
verhoogde merkattitudes en koopintentie.
Dit onderzoek bevestigt eveneens dat de invloed van humor op merkattitudes volledig
gemedieerd wordt door de attitudes ten opzichte van de advertentie. Dit impliceert dat een
humoristische reclame kan leiden tot een verhoogde aantrekkelijkheid van de advertentie en zal
bijgevolg positieve gevoelens ten opzichte van het merk oproepen.
4
INTRODUCTION
In the past few decades, numerous studies have been dedicated to the effects of humor in advertising.
Nevertheless, they seldom lead to univocal results. Academics generally agree that humor does attract
the attention, (Sternthal, Craig, 1973, p.17) but there is still discussion about the effectiveness of
humor on brand recall, brand attitude and purchase intention when used in advertisements. The lack of
empirical consistency contrasts sharply with the ubiquitous use of humor in advertising. Various
researchers inquired into the use of rational and emotional - or more specific- humorous advertising
appeals and found out that humor is present in 15 to 42 percent of US advertising messages
(Weinberger, Spotts and Parson, 1997; McCullough, 1992).
Together with the increasing use of humor in advertising, there is also a growing interest in the
academic research of the effectiveness of humorous appeals. Several researchers however did not
succeed in generalizing their results. Chattopadhy and Basu (1990) emphasized the need for a
paradigm shift; they feel that researchers should ask ‘when’ the use of humor is effective, rather than
wondering ‘whether’ humor in advertising leads to better results. It is important to take into account
different moderating variables such as prior brand evaluation (Chattopadhy and Basu, 1990), need for
cognition (Zhang, 1996; Geuens and De Pelsmacker, 2002) and also product type (Weinberger, Spotts,
Campbell and Parsons, 1995).
In the early days, there was hardly any belief in the persuasiveness of humor in advertising.
Advertisements were not designed to entertain, but to inform. This can be derived from quotes as
“people do not buy from clowns” (Claude Hopkins, 1923) and “Good copywriters have always resisted
the temptation to entertain” (David Ogilvy, 1963). This assumption, however, evolved into an
increasing belief and conviction that humor can be a convincing communication strategy as well. Even
David Ogilvy had to reconsider his vision; he had “reason to believe that...humor can now sell”
(1982). In addition, creative advertisers nowadays proudly present campaigns relying upon humor.
Those campaigns have not only won prestigious prices, but were able to display positive sales figures
as well. Few research has put emphasize on the credibility of humor in advertising. This research will
make an attempt to answer the question whether some products are more suited to be communicated in
a humorous manner and whether the credibility suffers when using comedy in commercial print
messages. Therefore, a classification matrix has been made, based on the Product Color Matrix
(Spotts, et al, 1997, p. 21). A minor adjustment on both theoretical classifications was made: the think
– feel dimension was replaced by a utilitarian – hedonic dimension, which basically are other terms to
define to level of functionalism and pleasure. The choice for print advertisements is quite obvious;
advertisements in magazines and newspapers are still manifold and account for 48% of the total
advertising expenditures (De Pelsmacker, Geuens and Van den Bergh, 2005). Moreover, it appeared to
be a useful medium to manipulate the ads. First, relevant literature will be discussed and hypotheses
will be developed. Second, the research and its results will be described. The last part of this article
consists of a discussion about the findings and suggestions for further research.
5
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Influence of humor on attitudes and purchase intention
The results on the effects of humor on brand attitude are unclear, because no univocal results have
been found. Sternthal and Craig (1973, p. 17) state that humor attracts more attention, but the
persuasiveness is not greater than that of serious appeals. This conclusion is being supported by
Brooker (1981, p. 39), who found little to no results on the effectiveness of humorous and rational
messages for the same object. From a marketing point of view, understanding the role of attitude
towards the ad (Aad) and attitude towards the brand (Ab) is impor
