Humor In Advertising Essay

Great Essays
Laughing Away the Tension: Humor’s Effect on Dissonance in Advertising We live in a digital age. Communication is becoming increasingly more prominent on electronic mediums. The average American prefers texting to face-to-face communication (Shropshire, 2015). With the increase of electronic communication, there is an increase in digital marketing and advertisements. According to an eMarketer Report, of the roughly $158 billion spent on advertising in the US in 2015, nearly $125 billion was spent on online or digital advertisements and that number is expected to rise. Vast amounts of money, time and other resources go into finding out what will be most effective in reaching out to consumers. In this paper, I will describe humor in advertising, …show more content…
Other studies have examined humor in advertising and it’s effectiveness on different genders and cultures. Humor is often paired with violence in the marketing sense. One study examined the effect that the violent humor had on different genders. It was found that high-intensity humorous violence in advertising was more effective on men than women (Swani, Weinberger, & Gulas, 2013). The use of humor also changes from society to society. Many studies examine the effectiveness of humor in American advertising, however when compared with other cultures the results vary. Toncar (2001) found that American advertising used more direct humor than British culture. Toncar attributes this to the high volume of advertisements in America and the desire to be noticed amongst all the competition. Toncar also found that the use of humor in advertisements is also on the rise at much faster rates than other cultures such as the …show more content…
Research has shown that cognitive dissonance before purchase, affects the likelihood that a consumer will be satisfied with a good or service (Korgaonkar & Moschis, 1982). This means that if humor can reduce the cognitive dissonance of the consumer before purchase, it will positively affect the consumer’s evaluation of the product. This can even be as simple as internal conflict on whether to spend more for the higher quality product or save money for the lower quality product. Either way, dissonance is created. There has been research on humor and its effect on cognitive dissonance that has found that it reduces the dissonance. Humor works as a cognitive reframing tool that reduces incongruity and tensions (Latta, 1999). The use of humor could help reduce cognitive dissonance when consumers have internal tensions concerning the product/service. When a consumer is debating whether to purchase a product, they feel tension and discomfort on whether or not purchasing will be wise decision. This dissonance can come from concerns regarding budget, competition, etc. As Meyer (2000) states, “Communicators take advantage of humor, often at the beginning of their remarks, to defuse a potentially tense situation. Often tension results from dissonance people experience after making a decision or sensing the approach of incompatible and undesirable thoughts or actions. Because people desire and find it pleasing to reduce dissonance, speakers who do so can create

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    We see ads everywhere on our phones, on buses, on television, we even hear them on the radio. And I can assure you almost every single one is trying to appeal to a specific audience through rhetorical appeals such as ethos, pathos, and logos; they also use thing such as juxtaposition, camera angles, and lighting to help catch their audiences’ attention. Together we’ll look at how two car ads use humor and their ability for the audiences to relate. We’ll see how car companies like Audi and Hyundai target two different audiences such as parents and teenagers by appealing to ethos and pathos. The first ad we’re going to be looking at was shown during the 2016 Super Bowl by Hyundai.…

    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Do you ever watch the Super Bowl for its commercials? Have you ever bought a more expensive product because you had seen its advertisement? If the answer is yes, then you might have been a victim of today’s marketers. Jean Kilbourne, author of Killing Us Softly, stated in one of her lectures, “The influence of advertising is quick, cumulative and for the most part, subconscious. Ads sell more products….…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Universally, people are unable to shove away the natural desire for "stuff." The media promotes new inventions because society will always be interested in the latest and greatest. However, sometimes it can be difficult to see past the exaggerated claims of a new item, and advertisers will not stray from outlandish when describing their products to draw in curious customers. In this mock article from The Onion, the author jokingly pokes innocent fun at public advertising means through the usage of jargon, over exaggeration, and sarcasm.…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Many people are not aware of how susceptible they are to the influences and subliminal messages found within advertising today. The truth is, teenagers as well as adults are numb to the fact that they are even being influenced by it, which is in turn manipulating them. One way these viewers and potential buyers are being drawn in to these advertisements are by companies promoting a favorite, even universal, technique: sex. In Jean Kilbourne 's essay, "Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt": Advertising and Violence, it is evident that sex in advertising is the primary approach used to negatively draw in viewers; however, this approach objectifies women, portrays women as weak and defenseless creatures in the eyes of men, as well as encouraging men…

    • 1357 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Advertising is everywhere. We can discover it from newspapers, magazine, radio, television, and internet and so on. Moreover, the contents of many advertisements are very creative to catch the consumers’ eyes and motivates us to buy the products. According to Jib Fowles’s article, “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals”, he analyzed 15 basic emotional appeals, such as the need for sex, the need for guidance, the need for prominence, the need to aggress, the need to escape that advertisers usually use in the ads. He also gave explanations and example advertisements of each emotional appeal.…

    • 1434 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ever since the early twentieth century, Americans have been bombarded by advertisements and marketing strategies. In the year 1917, The Committee of Public Information was created, which spread propaganda and promotional posters throughout World War I, proving that the American public’s opinion could be easily manipulated. Today is a vastly different world, as mass capitalism and consumerism dominate public life. Companies continue to market their products aggressively, as advertisements and marketing campaigns have become commonplace. While humorous and entertaining, the Onion satirizes common marketing ploys and how products are advertised to consumers in order to make light of such a prevalent industry.…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stereotypes In Advertising

    • 1460 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Advertising has been used by companies and organizations for hundreds of years and has taken many different forms. The common goal of advertisers is to make a connection between a person and a product or service, in order to get them to buy it. Most of the time this is through visually appealing images and language. Advertising has a significant impact on society, by shaping gender roles, appearance standards, stereotypes, and sexual norms for both women and men, ultimately helping to mold the culture of the time. The advertising industry needs to quickly change their ways because of the strong desire for gender equality in today’s society.…

    • 1460 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Examining Commercial Advertising Advertisements are everywhere we go and almost on everything we know. Yet advertisements portray men and women very differently. They also affect men and women more than some people realize. The films, Miss Representation, Killing Us Softly 4, and Tough Guise 2 really thoroughly discussed the problems and effects of advertisements for both men and women. Advertisements can portray women as sexual objects with ideals of beauty, and men as powerful.…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Advertising has been a popular source to communicate with masses in every aspect of our daily lives (Thurm, NJ 2001). The social world is reflected and recreated in a manipulated way by advertising (). It has been an effective tool to motivate people to buy the products and services through diverse visual associations. In some cases, sexual imagery is used to create a meaningful depiction for the associated message. But the halo effect of representing sexuality in advertisements especially for women has raised eyebrows in the field of both media and society.…

    • 1423 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As a television, computer, smartphone, or any other multi-media device is in the possession of many people today, advertisements are seen by everyone on a daily basis. Whether it is for food, clothes, or even an advertisement for a big game, it is designed to appeal to the senses. The advertiser wants to make the viewer feel as if they can see, taste, touch, smell, and hear what is presented in front of them. It is all about appealing to the viewer’s senses and emotions. This is why advertisement’s one would see on a network like Comedy Central differs from what one would see on Cartoon Network.…

    • 1064 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    As consumers, we have many reasons to believe that we are not effected by advertisement. We go about our normal lives, blind to what the true effects that advertising has on us, in both our physical and mental states. Though it’s difficult for advertisers to sway us in making a physical decision, the mental game they play with us is longer lasting and later comes to a physical decision. Many advertiser’s intentions with advertisements is to provoke an emotional response dealing with the senses of taste, success, and in some cases a sexual pleasure. Advertisements are full of riddles and secrets hidden within the page and text and they can be deceiving and, in some cases, deadly.…

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nudd Tim, BIC Apologises for women’s Day Ad that mostly just made women furious, 12 August 2015, < http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/bic-apologizes-womens-day-ad-mostly-just-made-women-furious-166358>, [accessed it: 10 March 2016] Nudd, Tim, ‘BIC for her’ pens deluged with sarcastic reviews on Amazon, 27 August 2012, < http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/bic-her-pens-deluged-sarcastic-reviews-amazon-143145>,[accessed: 10 March 2016] Simmons, Andrela, Codes and Convention’s in Media, Academia, < http://www.msn.com/en-za/?PC=MSSH&ocid=1PRCMSRT&ResetID=131012145705306978&GUID=1C7F6A33-1E9E-4E6A-9106-14415474896F>, [accessed: 10 March 2016] O’ Shaughnessy, M. And Stadler, J (2012) Media and Society (Fifth Edition). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. 702, 11 August 2015, < http://www.702.co.za/articles/4455/bic-womens-day-ad>, [accessed: 10 March 2016] Portrayals of men and women in Drum Magazine (south Africa) advertisement, Volume 1, number 1, 2014, , [accessed: 17 April…

    • 1787 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Advertisements as a Genre Commercial advertisement is a genre directed to all people. Although all commercials fall under the same genre, there are many different techniques the author can take, depending on the purpose of the commercial and the audience that the author wants to reach. For example, an advertiser can take the celebrity approach and have a celebrity appearance in the commercial. This shows the audience that if the company is able to have someone famous represent them, they must be legitimate. Also, it allows people to think they can have the perfect life, just like their favorite role model.…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Language and Advertising There are a million companies all over the world trying to come up with advertisements to help sell their products. Using language in advertising is way of using a type of communication for marketing and is helping to encourage an audience to continue or take action in buying the product or service. Advertisements are needed to make bigger markets and mass production for the audience to have a reason to buy the product. In our society today everywhere you look you will see advertising. Nothing is free in this world so companies have to come up with ideas to be heard or discovered that will help sell their product which leads to advertising.…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Sex In Advertising Essay

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Advertising is constantly surrounding us; TV, Radio, Internet, Billboards, Magazines, Books; What makes an advertisement stick with you? Images? Music? Words? Phrases?…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays