Perceived Humor and Purchase Intention: Mediating Role of Attitude towards the Advertisement and Brand
Keywords:
Perceived humor, attitude towards the advertisement, attitude towards the brand, message arguments, self-monitoring, purchase intentionAbstract
In order to investigate the purchase intention of the customers, and its relationship with perceived humor, this research analyses different types of humor that have been used in advertising campaigns. In this regard, multi-mediation analysis has been applied keeping in mind the perspective of humor in advertising; moreover, attitudes towards the advertisement, and attitudes towards the brand are used as sequential mediators. In addition, self-monitoring and message arguments have also been included as moderators in order to estimate the interaction effect in the proposed model. The data has been gathered from 617 respondents after showing them relevant advertisements. After checking the normality of the data, the Confirmatory Factor Analysis was applied using AMOS. Also, Simple Linear Regression was used to test simple relationships; however, complex models have also been tested by using the hierarchal regression (to test moderation), and the bootstrapping (to test mediation) methods. A good fit between the data and the tested model was observed. As predicted, the purchase intentions were positively related to perceived humor, and evidence of full mediation effect was found. However, for the moderation of self-monitoring and message arguments, the findings were distinctive. In reality, this research can be used by mature brands which mostly require the use of persuasive advertising. As the results of different types of humor, collectively, are significant, it can be inferred that companies must use a mix method approach in terms of types of humor they might resort to in their advertisement campaigns. Findings are particularly noteworthy for national and multinational media agencies in Pakistan, as well in the other parts of the world.
References
Andrews, J. C., & Shimp, T. A. (1990). Effects of involvement, argument
strength, and source characteristics on central and peripheral
processing of advertising. Psychology & Marketing, 7(3), 195-214.
Batra, R., & Ray, M. (1985). How advertising works at contact. In L. F.
Alwitt & A. A. Mitchell (Eds.), Psychological processes and advertising
effects (pp. 13–44). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Chung, H., & Zhao, X. (2003). Humor effect on memory and attitude:
Moderating role of product involvement. International Journal of
Advertising, 22(1), 117–144.
Cline, T. W., & Kellaris, J. J. (1999). The joint impact of humor and argument
strength in a print advertising context: A case for weaker
arguments. Psychology & Marketing, 16(1), 69–86.
Cline, T. W., Altsech, M. B., & Kellaris, J. J. (2003). When does humor
enhance or inhibit ad responses? The moderating role of the need
for humor. Journal of Advertising, 32(3), 31–45.
Cohen, J. (1977). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, New York: Academic.
Dahl, D. W., Frankenberger, K. D., & Manchanda, R. V. (2003). Does It pay
to shock? Reactions to shocking and Nonshocking advertising
content among university students. Journal of Advertising Research,
(3), 268–280.
Duhachek, A. (2005). Coping: A multidimensional, hierarchical framework
of responses to stressful consumption episodes. Journal of Consumer
Research, 32(1), 41–53.
Duncan, C. P. (1979). Humor in advertising: A behavioral perspective.
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 7(4), 285–306.
Duncan, C. P., & Nelson, J. E. (1985). Effects of humor in a radio advertising
experiment. Journal of Advertising, 14(2), 33–40, 64.
Edell, J. A., & Burke, M. C. (1987). The Power of feelings in understanding
advertising effects. Journal of Consumer Research, 14, 421-433.
Eisend, M. (2011). How humor in advertising works: A meta-analytic test
of alternative models. Marketing Letters, 22(2), 115–132.
Elpers, J., Mukherje, A., & Hoyer, W. (2004). Humor in television
advertising: A moment to moment analysis. Journal of Consumer
Research, 31(3), 592–598.
Flaherty, K., Weinberger, M. G., & Gulas, C. S. (2004). The impact of perceived
humor, product type, and humor style in radio advertising. Journal of
Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 26(1), 25-36.
Gelb, B. D., & Pickett, C. M. (1983). Attitude-toward-the-ad: Links to humor
and to advertising effectiveness. Journal of Advertising, 12(2), 34–42.
Gelb, B. D., & Zinkhan, G. M. (1986). Humor and advertising effectiveness
after repeated exposures to a radio commercial. Journal of
Advertising, 15(2), 15–20, 34.
Geuens, M., & Pelsmacker, P. (2002). The role of humor in the persuasion
of individuals varying in need for cognition. Advances in Consumer
Research, 29, 50–56.
Cline, T. W., & Kellaris, J. J. (1999). The joint impact of humor and argument
strength in a print advertising context: A case for weaker
arguments. Psychology & Marketing, 16(1), 69-86.
Hameed, I., Siddiqui, S. J., & Husain, J. (2015). Disparagement as a
processing stimulus for humor in advertising. IBT Journal of
Business Studies, 11(1), 75-85.
Hameed, I., Siddiqui, S. J., & Husain, J. (2016). Conceptualizing humor in
advertising: the moderating role of self-monitoring. Pakistan
Business Review, 18(3), 692-709.
Hameed, I., Zainab, B., & Shamim, S. J. (2018). Arousal safety leading to
purchase intention; The role of moderating and mediating variables in
structural model. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 57(2), 77-96.
