Humor is a widely used tactic in advertising--around 30% of of advertising in the national media are humorous ads. In the article "Humor and Ad Liking: Evidence That Sensation Seeking Moderates the Effect of Incongruity-Resolution Humor" by Graeme Galloway conducted a study to examine whether sense seeking determines how much one would like an ad with incongruity-resolution humor; he argues that ads containing this type of humor will appeal to low sensation seekers.
An ad using incongruity is characterized by momentarily fusing two things that are otherwise unrelated. Here is an example of just such an ad: etrade baby ad. There is incongruity in that babies don't talk, and they certainly don't play golf or trade stocks. The researchers found that "a liking for lower sensation seekers stems from reduction of induced arousal, and arousal induction for higher sensation seekers (786)". These findings were consistent with their hypothesis.
So what does this mean for the advertising industry? The first implication is that humor is a much more complicated concept than meets the eye. Multiple aspects of "humor" can be analyzed because there are a variety of different types of humor, as well as the impact of context. The findings of this study can be useful in determining segmentation of ads to reach a target audience, but there is ample room for further research. It could be taken a step further to attempt to determine if there is a relationship between the use of incongruity-resolution humor and ad liking for example. It would also be interesting to research the relationship between the type of humor used and attention/recall. In the advertising industry, it is well known that humor works--is a useful tactic with regards to attention grabbing, and liking. I think the next step is to conduct research that will shed light on the characteristics of those who like a specific type of humor. Exploring this aspect of humor and advertising will aid marketers in terms of tailoring a message to a specific audience, and successfully communicating that message in a unique and likable manner.
