Effect of Humorous Advertisements on Customer Behavior

Effect of Humorous Advertisements on Customer BehaviorHumor has a universal langu get on with. It doesnt need degrees in obscure langu sequences, hardly ever in Clinical Psychology and it is unrivaled of the few devices white plagued to make people grinning and think at the same duration. Humor has been astray use in advertising. However, maculation humor has attained popularity in advertising, its use is continuously being debated. The modestness for this debate is that at that place are a number of both positive and detrimental effects which do-nothing be referd to the use of humor.The purpose of this research study is to answer following questions-The clashing of sexuality grow on the degree of affection to the ads.The effect of humor speak to in Ads, on the consumers procureing conclusiveness.To kick downstairs the conclusions exploratory descriptive research designs are used. Primary data are collected with the help of Focus group technique questionnaire me thod data is study with the help of various statistical techniques.The conclusions of this paper help in clarifying the dilemma of ironical advertisements.IntroductionAdvertising is one of the critical marketing variables which marketers use to differentiate increases in a cluttered marketplace. In order to increase the effectiveness of advertising for a product, advertising messages should be unique and meaningful. This concurs with the von Restorff effect, which concludes that interference is lessen by the presentation of a unique item in a group of similar items. Companies have attempted to use many vehicles to create this specialisation effect. One such vehicle is the employment of humor.In order to have a better understanding, we need to further explore the world of advertisements, the appeals used, the targeted decision fashioning components and the effects of Ads on the targeted consumer as a whole. there are two main components advertisers aim to effect the affective component, where affective message strategies are employ by invoking feelings and trying to match them with the product or service offered in an effort to increase the likeability of the product, and also the cognitive components, where the Ad focuses on the attributes and benefits of the product, encouraging the consumer to buy it. Such components are affected by the leverage points in an Ad these are the features in the Ad that helps the consumer transfer the advertised message into personal value.In order to achieve that, over the years, advertisers have attempted a wide variety of advertising approaches, there are seven main ones fear, humor, sex, music, rationality, emotions and scarcity. Advertisers use one or combine several of these appeals to ensure that their targeted auditory senses receive their message.However, nowadays, humor appeal is being used extensively sometimes combined with others, but most of the time it is strong enough to be used solely. Humor in advertisi ng constitutes billions of dollars in spending each year (Campbell et al. 44).A variety of benefits have been suggested for tongue-in-cheek appeals including1) Humor attracts attention.2) Humor can increase retention of the advertising message.3) Credibility of the source can be enhanced with humor.4) Attitude toward the ad can be enhanced with the use of humor.5) Counter arguments may be minimized with the use of humor because it acts to distract the audience from making cognitive responses.Furthermore, the popularity of humor is evident in the fact that 24.4% of television advertisements attempt to be humorous (Alden Hoyer 29). However, while humor has attained popularity in advertising, its use is continuously being debated. The reason for this debate is that there are a number of both positive and negative effects which can be attributed to the use of humor. Throughout the literature of this paper, the debatable effect of this appeal is discussed.Literature ReviewThere has bee n numerous researches proving that advertisement with humorous appeal can gain consumers likability. A strong positive correlation is also order between the degree of how well an advertisement is liked with the likability to the brand advertised (e.g., Gelb Pickett, 1983 Haley Baldinger, 1991 Weinberger Campbell, 1991 Zhang, 1996). In short, adding humorous elements can enhance ones likability of an advertisement and eventually increase appetency to the brand advertised.Defining HumorHumor has been widely used in advertising. It has been suggested that 24.4% ofprime time television advertising in the U.S. is intended to be humorous (Weinberger Spott, 1989). Regarding to advertising budget, 10% to 30% out of the totalexpenditure of $150 billion in the U.S. national media, is paid for the placement ofadvertisements that are having humorous nitty-gritty (Spotts, Weinberger Parsons,1997). Operationally. humor is out situationd, according to Sternthal and Craig (1973), asheightene d arousal, smiles, and laughter exhibited by an audience in response to aparticular message (p.13). Moreover, humor can be defined in terms of how well theaudience perceive the level of humor and it can be administered by pencil and paper testing to measure how the audience perceive a particular message is humorous andfunny or not.Humor in Advertising and Its EffectThe reason why humor has been widely used in advertising is due to its power ofcreate liking towards the advertisement by from the consumer. It has been found byWeingerber and Spotts (1989) that advertising practitioners coming from the U.S. andU.K. are broadly favor in the use of humor on advertising. A couple of reasons arefound and supported by many other researches that humor can enhance onesfavorable attitude towards an advertisement. It is reviewed by Weingerber and Gulas(1992) that ten advertising studies and seven non-advertising studies report a positiveeffect of humor on liking while only two advertising studie s and three non-advertisingstudies report neutral or mixed findings.ObjectiveThe purpose of this research paper is to answer following questions-The impact of gender age on the degree of affection to the ads.The effect of humor appeal in Ads, on the consumers acquire decision.Research Methodology(a) Research use To have a better understanding about the issue exploratory research design was used. Two focus groups (i.e. one for each gender) were conducted to get the in depth insights about the topic. Each group consisted of 7 persons.Further descriptive research design was used to get the primary data with the help of closing ended questionnaire.(b) Sample Design 70 respondents were selected through convenience sampling.(c) Analysis The data collected was analyzed with the help of various statistical tools like Chi-square test, analysis of variance etc.Analysis InterpretationsExploratory research results (I) Focus Group (A)It consisted of 7 males who were asked to provide view s on the issue. It was a general opinion that to make the ad elicit creative there is in no harm in using humor appeal in ad but one also considered it rigorously offensive. They were also agreed on the fact that some time they buy the product because of Ad effect but product attributes are also evenly important.(II) Focus Group (B)It consisted of 7 females who were asked to provide views on the issue. A contradiction in views was seen half of them believed that humor appeal increases the liking of ads while rest treat it offensive or unaffected. 70% of them said that advertisements dont affect the purchase decision.(b) Descriptive research results 54% of the respondents were male rests were female. 24% of the respondents were from less than 30 years age group 76% were from more than 30 years age group.55% of the respondents admitted that their intuition or the way they feel about the product finalize their decision of purchasing the product, 35 % considered advertisement of p roduct as the basis of purchase decision and rest purchase the product because of the attributes of product.62% indeed admitted that they have purchased the product just because they liked the commercial.Both results indicate the affect of advertisements on the purchase decision of customers.When asked what they look for in an Ad 45% believed the most important attribute of an ad is creativity, followed by 26% who believed it was the endorsers used how they relate to them.56% of the respondents believed that, the use of humor content in advertisements is acceptable for products as long as its inside certain limits. 27% found it offensive rest said that humor appeal increases the creativity of ads.Four print advertisements containing humor appeal (Refer Appendix) were shown respondents were asked to disclose their views. The results were as follow-ResponseAd 1Ad 2Ad 3Ad 4TotalPercentageOffensive07012197%Interesting111616165921%Creative24536198430%Really Nice292910107828%Unethical0 7613269%Unaffected / Bored6620145%Total70707070280100%58% of the customers found the advertisements Creative nice while very few respondents treated it offensive or unethical, which indicates that respondents are taking advertisements in positive manner.Majority of Respondents (i.e. 75%) replied that they would purchase the product based on the advertisements the humor appeal used in ads changed their purchase decision.(c) Hypothesis Testing H01 = There is no association between degree of affection to the ads gender of respondentsH11 = There is an association between degree of affection to the ads gender of respondents.GenderDegree of bosomTotalSmart / CreativeInappropriate / UnethicalCorrect where neededMale882238Female4111732Total12193970 2 testCalculated ValueDegree of Freedomlevel of substanceTabulated Value1.9425%5.99The result of the study shows that the null-hypothesis holds to be valid thus there is no association between degree of affection to the ads gender of respo ndents.H02 = Degree of affection towards the ads will be the same irrespective of the age of respondents.H12 = Degree of affection towards the ads will not be the same irrespective of the age of respondents.AgeDegree of AffectionTotalSmart / CreativeInappropriate / UnethicalCorrect where needed11151730 years1183453Total12193970ANOVA (F-ratio)Calculated ValueDegree of FreedomLevel of SignificanceTabulated Value1.66(1,2)5%18.501The analysis supports the null-hypothesis that degree of affection towards the ads will be the same irrespective of the age of respondents. In other words age was found to have no significant differences on the degree of affection to the ads.H03 = Humor appeal doesnt affect the purchasing decision of respondents.H13 = Humor appeal affects the buying decision of respondents.Product PurchaseDecision ChangeTotalAgreeDisagreeYes102107209No195271Total121159280 2 testCalculated ValueDegree of FreedomLevel of SignificanceTabulated Value10.5215%3.841The analysis prov ides enough evidence to reject the null Hypothesis. In other words Humor appeal affects the buying decision of respondents.ConclusionsIt is a big question in marketing area that how the Humor appeal used in advertisements, is perceived by respondents. In the same line this research was conducted and following conclusions were drawn-Humor appeal was not taken in negative manner by respondents if it was used in a limit for the relevant products to make the ad creative.Exploratory research shows that there is a thin line difference between the opinion of males females but as per the chi-square there is no significant difference in the views of males females towards the advertisements.Respondents of every age group having the same views on the issue.Humor appeal used in advertisements motivated the respondents to purchase the product but attributes of the product also plays a significant role in buying decision.ReferencesJournal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues/Jan-July, 2006 E thics in advertising sex sells, but should it? by Jessica Dawn Blair, Jason Duane Stephenson, Kathy L. Hill, John S. GreenThe Ethical Dilemma of Advertisements By May Abd El Latif El Hattabhttp//www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/sexual-appeals.phphttp//www.articleswave.com/advertising-articles/types-of-advertising-appeals.html