Humor in Advertising

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Although several studies indicated that humor could be used has a persuasive tool, the failed to explain whether they are more effective than a non-humorous ad. The overall conclusions were: (1) Humorous messages attract attention; (2) Humorous messages may detrimentally affect comprehension; (3) Humor may distract the audience, yielding a reduction in counter argumentation and an increase in persuasion; (4) Humorous appeals appear to be persuasive, but the effect is at best no greater than of serious appeals; (5) Humor tends to enhance source credibility; (6) Audience characteristics may confound the effect of humor; (7) A humorous context may increase liking for the source and create a positive mood. This may increase the persuasive effect of the message; (8) To the extend that a humorous context functions as a positive reinforcer, a persuasive communication placed in such a context may be more effective.
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