Master of Business Administration: The Impact of Humorous Advertisement On Consumer Purchase Decision

THE IMPACT OF HUMOROUS ADVERTISEMENT ON CONSUMER PURCHASE
DECISION
Report submitted to the

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
For the award of the degree
of
Master of Business Administration
by
Rajdeep Biswas
Under the guidance of
Prof. Amit Upadhyay (VGSoM)
VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KHARAGPUR
APRIL 2021
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DECLARATION
I, Rajdeep Biswas hereby certify that this report titled ‘The Impact of humorous
advertisement on consumer purchase decision’
a. Is an original work and has been done by me under the guidance of my supervisor;
b. I have conformed to ethical norms and guidelines while writing the project;
c. Whenever I have used materials (data, model, figures and text) from other sources, I have given
due credit to them by citing them in the text of the report, giving their details in the references, and
following ‘fair use doctrine’ policies of copy righted materials if any used in this report.
_________________________
Rajdeep Biswas
Roll Number: 20BM63070
Dated: 06/ 04/ 2021
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COPYRIGHT NOTICE
I, Rajdeep Biswas, hereby declare that this research project is an original work and has been done by
me under the guidance of my supervisor. This report has been created to present an account of
Applied Management research project during my degree at Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT
Kharagpur and is a true representation of my work.
(Rajdeep Biswas)
©Rajdeep Biswas [2021]
All Rights Reserved.
No part of this document or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or
adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for
stand-alone materials. Commercial use and distribution of the contents of the document is
not allowed without express and prior written of the author.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like this opportunity in expressing my deepest gratitude to all those people who in one
way or other helped me in completing this project. A project on consumer behaviour involves a
joint role of several hundred people on the way. This project could not be completed without the
help of my project guide, review panelists, and batch mates and countless other people whose
inputs I collected from surveys.
I wish to express my sincerest thanks to Prof. Amit Upadhyay for giving me an opportunity to
study under his and for his valuable guidance, advice, suggestion and constant encouragement
rendered to me at every stage. This project would not have been possible without his invaluable
inputs on several aspects of consumer behaviour.
I am also thankful to the Institute and Faculty of Vinod Gupta School of Management, Indian
Institute of Technology, Kharagpur for providing me the valuable opportunity of doing this project
and also in enlightening me with the invaluable knowledge. I would like to acknowledge the
support of every individual who assisted me in completing this research project.
Rajdeep Biswas
Roll Number: 20BM63070
MBA 2020-22
Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
S.No. Title Page No.

1 Declaration 2
2 Copyright notice 3
3 Acknowledgement 4
4 Certificate from Supervisor 6
5 Approval from Viva-voice board 7
6 Executive summary 8
7 Project background and Motivation 9
8 Project Objectives 10
9 Literature Review 11-12
10 Theoretical Underpinnings 13-19
11 Research Methodology 20-31
12 Results 32-42
13 Conclusion 43
14 Practical Implementation 44
15 Recommendation for future studies 45
16 References 46
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CERTIFICATE FROM SUPERVISOR
This is to certify that the AMRP report titled, ‘The Impact of humorous advertisement on consumer
purchase decision’ submitted by Rajdeep Biswas bearing Roll No. 20BM63070 to Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur, is a record of bona fide research work under my (our) supervision and we consider
it worthy of consideration for the further evaluation by the Viva-Voce Board.
Date:
_
____________________
Supervisor
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APPROVAL OF THE VIVA-VOCE BOARD
DD/MM/YYYY
Certified that the AMRP report titled ‘The Impact of humorous advertisement on consumer
purchase decision’ submitted by Rajdeep Biswas to the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur,
towards the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree Master of Business
Administration has been accepted by the panel of examiners, and that the student has successfully
defended the work in the viva-voce examination held today.
Panel Member 1 Panel Member 2
Panel Member3 Panel Member 4
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TITLE
The impact of humorous advertisement on consumer purchase decision.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The main objective of this research is to analyse the “Impact of Humor advertisement on
Consumer purchase decision”. The objective of the research has been fulfilled by testing the
hypothesis of the study. The research depends on quantitative data which were collected through
a questionnaire-based survey. The questionnaire-based survey has been undertaken upon the
sample of 106 respondents. Furthermore, data analysis has been carried forward with the help of
SPSS through correlation. The aim of this research is to study the concepts and usage of humor
in advertising, consumer decision making process and how humor creates impacts on consumer
purchase decisions.
Audiences in different cultures respond differently to humour and possess different behaviour in
purchasing and decision making. To maintain validity and reliability, the study concentrates on
studying consumer decision making process and purchase intentions of the consumers. Similarly,
humour has various approaches when designed for diverse product type. For this reason, the
empirical research aims to identify perception of humorous advertising on male and female
respondents and how it impacts their purchase intentions.
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PROJECT BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION
Some of the most memorable advertising campaigns in recent history, regardless of company
size and marketing budget, and whether broadcast, print or online-only, have involved humor. As
an audience, consumers most enjoy being entertained instead of pitched, and so appealing to
them emotionally can lead to further engagement with your product in the future. Utilizing social
media can be an inexpensive and extremely effective way to do that.
Opportunities and benefits of using humor as a stimuli in advertising is appealing to any

advertiser and businesses as they all aim for boosting sales. However, influencing the human’s
mind is never easy. Nowadays, most advertisements communicate with their audience by
applying humor and the extent of its creativity is beyond borders. However, for an advertisement
to be successful, consumers need to do more than enjoy and laugh when they see an Ad in social
media websites or a TV commercial. The advertisement should change consumer’s behaviour
and attitudes. It also has to make them remember the product, so that when they make a purchase
the product or the brand will come to their mind.
Humour provides one strategy with which an advertiser may evoke positive feelings. These
positive feelings can potentially lead to cognitive processes that motivate the recipient to buy the
presented product. Considering the fact that involvement during commercial breaks is generally
rather low, humour may be an appropriate means to catch the recipient’s attention.
Humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide
amusement. Humor has been found to be one of the best advertising techniques for cutting
through clutter. Clutter is the most common form of noise affecting marketing communications.
It is estimated that humor is used in about twenty-four percent of prime time television
advertisements and about thirty-five percent of radio advertisements. Humor is used because it
causes consumers to: Watch, Laugh, and most importantly; remember. Humor in advertising can
help connect consumers to a product that may seem dry or be a niche product on paper.
Humor adds a handful of effective qualities to your marketing materials. At its best, humor is:
● Attention-grabbing. Humor often stands out from other marketing and advertising
attempts because it’s naturally colorful and original.
● People love to spread laughter. Making your campaign humorous imbues it with more
shareability.
● Funny brands are more relatable and are seen as more trustworthy and human.
● Humor is linked to higher recall, which means any message imbued with humor will be
easier for your target demographics to remember.
Humor in some cases, can be outright offensive and can cheapen certain ideas or make them be
taken less seriously. The companies can also face backlash if it tries to use a running joke or
meme without fully understanding it.
In this project, the main motivation is to find out how humour has various approaches when
designed for diverse product type. The research aims to identify perception of humorous
advertising on male and female respondents and how it impacts their purchase intentions.
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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the research objectives of the project:
➢ To explain the concept of the humour advertisement

➢ To explore the process of consumer purchase decision;
➢ To analyse the Impact of Humour Appeal in Advertisements on Consumer Decision
Making Process among respondents
➢ To analyse the Impact of Humour Appeal in Advertisements on Consumer Purchase
Intentions among respondents
➢ To analyse how male and female respondents perceive different types of humorous
advertisements
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Social media and messaging apps allow for greater user interactivity compared to traditional
media. On social media platforms, when users follow brands, they receive brand updates and
posts on their news feeds. Through “liking,” sharing and commenting on these posts, branded
messages are further propagated throughout the news feeds of these users’ friend connections,
whose own interactions with the posts would in turn be rebroadcast in an exponential manner. As
such, branded content can be transmitted through social media at a much faster rate and to a
larger, more engaged and responsive audience, at fractions of the cost of traditional media
advertisements (Quesenberry, 2015).
In previous research of social media-based advertising, brands have been found to increase
consumer engagement through various forms of user-generated content (UGC) (Liu et al., 2017;
Malthouse et al., 2016) and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) (Jin and Phua, 2014), which led
to more enduring positive brand attitudes and purchase intent.
Defined as the quality of “being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or

speech” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2017), humor is a type of emotional message appeal widely used
in advertising, and has been found in prior advertising research to enhance attention towards and
liking of the ad, source credibility, and attitude towards advertised brands (Eisend et al., 2014;
Weinberger and Gulas, 1992; Yoon and Tinkham, 2013). In general, researchers agree that the
use of humor in traditional advertising can increase help to increase recall and positive brand
evaluations when the humor is well-integrated with advertising objectives, and is seen by
viewers as being brand- and product-appropriate (Sternthal and Craig, 1973; Van Kuilenburg et
al., 2011). Recent studies have also found that individual differences such as gender identity,
normative beliefs and issue involvement, can influence consumer responses to advertising humor
(Eisend et al., 2014; Nabi, 2016; Vanden Bergh et al., 2011; Yoon and Kim, 2014).
Djambaka, Petrovska and Bundalevska (2016) has conducted a research study on, “Is Humor
Advertising Always Effective? Parameters for Effective Use of Humor in Advertising” with the
objectives to find out parameters used to produce higher effectiveness of the product advertised
and their correlation in appropriate products use of humor in advertisement. The research was
mainly base on primary and secondary data. Primary data were collected by questionnaire
method from two groups (young high educated and social network people). The major finding of
the study was that people find humorous message more effective than serious version of the
message, humor attracts attention, may increase liking for the source and create a positive mood,
humor makes the advertisement more memorable and leaves long term positive feeling inside the
consumer after seeing them, humor has word-of –mouth effect and easily became “talk” in town
and 60% of the time humor cost-effective.
Hoang (2013) has conducted a research study on, “Impact of humor in advertising on consumer’s
purchase decision”. The objectives of the study were to study the consumer decision process and
its determinants, to explore the concept and usage of humor in advertising and to find out humor
advertisement impact on consumer purchase decision. The theoretical framework gathered data
from article, books and previous research. The research had an aim to find out Vietnamese
consumer buying decision. The primary data were collected from transcripts of interviews and
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recorded observation. The researcher used quantitative and qualitative research methods. The
findings showed that humorous advertising had an impact on consumer’s recall and tend to
undertake nominal and limited decision making. Humor has relatively impact on encouraging
repurchase but appropriate for building brand’s image and gain consumer’s fondness and the
consumers of “yellow goods” are variety seeking buyers.
WOM is an abbreviation for "Word-of-Mouth"; that is telling others about the product of a
certain supplier from a non-marketing source (Bergeron & Vachon, 2008). As far as to the
researcher’s knowledge, Bergeron & Vachon (2008) were the first to link humor and WOM in
the financial advising field, as it depends on social networks that humor increases, they found
that there is a very strong positive relation between them; namely, the better the advisors’ skills
of humor, the more the probability of their customers to engage in WOM (Söderberg, 2013). In
advertising filed, according to Bussiere (2009), there was only one study that examined the
impact of humorous ads on stimulating WOM and it was found that HA positively affects the
willingness of the audience to WOM.
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THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS
THE IMPACT OF HUMOUROUS ADVERTISING
People use humour every day as a communication tool. Humour tends to relax the audience,
break the ice and create a connection between the communicator and the audience (Tellis, 1998).
Thus, many public speakers often open their speech with a joke. Humour helps setting a good
mood to transfer message and gain acceptance. For this reason, humour is used in about 24
percent of prime time TV advertisements and 35 percent of radio advertisements (Clow, 2007).
Some academic researchers have shown that advertisements using humour draw more attention
and liking than advertisements that do not (Speck, 1991). However, the efficiency of humour in
advertising is elusive because humour is a complex topic that is affected by wide variety of
factors (Weinberger and Gulas, 1992). Many scholars have been experimentally studied the
effectiveness of humour.
According to Clow (2007), Weinberger and Gullas (1992), humorous advertisements grab
attentions and attracts viewer’s interest by its ability to cutting through clutter. In a test of
attention effects, Speck (1987) compared humorous ads what non-humorous controls on four
attention measures: initial attention, sustained attention, projected attention and overall attention.
It was found that humorous ads outperform non-humorous ads on each of the attention measures.
As mentioned, humour is often executed by using incongruity, the initial response may be a
cognitively recognition of discrepancy. When the meaning of humour is resolved, the consumers
generate a response by laughter and amusement. That is one of the aims of marketers when using
humorous advertisements to communicate with their target consumers.
Humour can solve the distance among people in communication and it can reduce the resistance
to the message (Tellis 1998). In the scenario where consumers already hold negative beliefs and
resistance to the product type, they may resists to accept information about it. Like a person,
humorous advertisements approach them by making them laugh. The laughter can distract the
consumer from their existing judgments and opinions and make an effort to introduce the central
message. Several researches also show that humour can enhance liking of the advertisement and
the advertised brand (Weinbeger and Gullas 1992, Shimp 2010).
Most of the advertisements that became viral are humorous advertisements. Many
advertisements have the power of lasting in consumer’s memory for an impressively long period.
Figure (1) presents a part of Nielsen Global Survey of Trust in Advertising, polled more than
29000 respondents in 58 countries showed that humorous advertising resonated most. However,
there are mixed findings on whether humour can always generate a strong memory for the brand
name or brand claims (Spotts, Weinberger and Parsons, 1997; Shimp 2010). It is a commonly
accepted fact that things attached to humour tends to make us remember it longer, but this impact
is also relied on humour relevance.
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Figure (1): What types of advertising messages resonate most with you? – Nielsen Global Survey
of Trust in Advertising Q1 2013
Fugate (1998) provides a list of humour’s benefits in advertising that has also been shown and
proved by many other studies
● Humour grabs attention.

● Humour encourages people to remember the advertisement and therefore the message.
● Humour shows we are human – we can laugh and smile with the rest of humanity.
● Humour makes people like us – and by extension improves our brand image.
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CONSUMER BEHAVIOR’S MODEL AND DETERMINANTS
Figure (2): Overall model of consumer behaviour (Hawkins/ Mothersbaugh 2010)
Consumer purchases are influenced by social, culture, personal and psychological characteristics
as shown in Figure (2). For the most part, marketers cannot control these factors (Kotler,
Armstrong 2010), but they need to understand and put them into account when making
marketing decision. However, they influence consumer’ behaviour by influencing their
consumption. Marketers not only focus on identifying what their customers want, they aim to
make customers realize what they need. Nowadays, consumer behaviour is also determined by
what and how they buy (Solomon 2010, p.31). This will be presented more detailed further in
this chapter about how consumers hold their purchase behaviour and how they make the
decisions.
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CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS
Figure (3) shows five stages of considerations that arise when a consumer faces a new and
complex purchase situation. It is clear that the buying process starts long before and proceeds
after the actual purchase (or not to buy decision). In different types of decision making listed
above (nominal, limited and extended) consumers often skip or reverse some the stages.
However, marketers need to focus on the entire buying process (Kotler and Armstrong 2010).
Figure (3): Consumer decision making process
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A. PROBLEM RECOGNITION
The first stage in the consumer decision-making process is problem recognition. Without
recognition of a problem, there is no need for a decision. Problem recognition occurs when
consumers face an imbalance between desired and actual states. An actual state is one’s
perceived feelings and situations at the present time. A desired (ideal) state is the way one wants
to feel or be at the present time (Solomon, 2010, p. 326). Consumer’s problem can be either
active or inactive. An active problem is the one that consumer is or will eventually aware of. An
inactive problem is one of which the consumer is not aware. Marketers often need to trigger
problem recognition for the consumer. With active problems, marketer should convince
consumers that the brand is the superior solution. In contrast, inactive problems require marketer
to show consumers that they have the problem and marketer’s brand is the superior solution
(Hawkins and Mothersbaugh 2010, p. 496).
B. INFORMATION SEARCH
After recognizing a need or problem, consumers search for information about various
alternatives available to fulfil it. Figure (6) provide the sources of information involved in this
stage. An information search can occur internally, externally or both. In an internal information
search, relevant information from long-term memory is recalled to determine characteristics and
satisfaction of potential or previous solutions and ways to compare solutions. If consumers
cannot come to a final resolution, then the external information search is initiated. There are
several types of external information:
● Personal Sources (family, friends, neighbours)

● Commercial Sources (advertising, salespeople, websites, packaging, displays).
● Independent sources (mass media, consumer rating organizations, and Internet searches).
● Experiential sources (handling, examining, using the product).
Figure (4): A model of an impact of humor advertisement brand purchase strategy.
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Figure (5): Information sources for a purchase decision
C. EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES
As more information is obtained, the consumer’s awareness and knowledge of available brands
increase. The information search should yield a few groups of alternatives. These alternatives are
called awareness set, and sorted into three subcategories:
● The inert set is composed of those brands consumers are aware and have a neutral
opinion. Consumers are open for positive information but inactive in seeking it.
● The inept set contains those brands consumers are aware of and view negatively
● The evoked set (also called the consideration set) includes brands or product consumer
will evaluate for the solution of a particular problem. These are consumer’s most
preferred alternatives (Hawkins and Mothersbaugh 2010).
D. PURCHASE DECISION
In this stage, the consumers do not simply decide to purchase or not. There are three types of
decision process that consumers might undertake:
➢ AFFECTIVE CHOICE
The evaluation of products is primarily based on the immediate emotional response to the
product or service. Consumers imagine or picture using the product or service and
evaluate the feeling that this use will produce. Affective choice is likely to activate when
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the motive is consummatory rather than instrumental. Consummatory motives trigger
behaviours that are pleasing to the individual involved. Instrumental motives activate
behaviours designed to achieve a second goal (Hawkins and Mothersbaugh 2010).
Marketers need to continuously study affect-based decisions because they require
different strategies than the cognitive decisions. For decisions that are likely to be
triggered by consummatory motives, marketers should design products and services that
help consumers visualize how they feel during the product experience.
➢ ATTITUDE BASED CHOICE
Attitude-based choice involves the use of general attitudes, impressions, intuitions and no
attribute comparisons are made at the time of decision. The lower the motivation the
make an ideal decision, the more likely an attitude-based choice will occur. This scenario
can be related to in nominal and limited decision making. When information is difficult
to find, consumers face time pressures, they have a tendency to make attitude-based
choices.
➢ ATTRIBUTE BASED CHOICE
Attribute-based choice requires the knowledge of specific attributes at the time of
purchase and it involves attribute evaluations and comparisons. This process is much
more effortful and time consuming than affective and attitude-based choice. The decision
also tends to be closer to the ideal choice. Consumers with high purchase involvement
and motivation are more likely to make attribute-based choice (Hawkins/ Mothersbaugh
2010). Marketers can apply this approach to brands that have important attribute based
advantages but lack strong reputations or images (Percy et al 2002). This could be done
by providing attribute-based comparisons in easy-to-process format and displayed on ads,
packages, point-of-purchase displays, websites, etc.
E. POST PURCHASE EVALUATION
Post purchase behaviour is the stage in which consumers take further action after purchase, based
on their satisfaction or dissatisfaction. When buying products, consumers expect certain
outcomes from the purchase. How well these expectations are met defines the satisfaction level
of the consumer. When they recognize inconsistency between their expectations and
performance, they tend to fee a tension called cognitive dissonance.
It is considered an important object for marketers to reduce any dissonance, doubts, or anxiety
and make consumers believe that their decision was optimal. Post purchase letters sent by
manufacturers and dissonance-reducing statements in instruction booklets may help consumers
feel at ease with their purchase. Advertising that displays the product’s superiority over
competing brands or guarantees can help relieve the dissonance of consumers who already
purchased the product (Hawkins and Mothersbaugh, 2010).
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology refers to the body of practices that govern the acquisition of knowledge
within a given field. An exploratory research methodology is designed to collect data through
primary and secondary research. A structured questionnaire is intended to gather information
for primary data and research papers, internet data, journals, reports for secondary data.
RESEARCH PLAN
Identifying the topic of

research
Literature Study
Deciding the Project title
Secondary research
Understanding the consumer

purchase behaviour
Finding the humorous

Design questionnaire
advertisements
Collect data using

questionnaire
Analyze the data
Conclusion
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SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
Convenience Sampling has been used because it is a type of non-probability sampling method
where the sample is taken from a group of people easy to contact or to reach.
SAMPLE SIZE
Sample size measures the number of individual samples measured or observations used in a
survey or experiment.
Sample size of the study: 106
RESEARCH DESIGN
Quantitative Research Design has been used in this research project. Quantitative data includes
close-ended information such as that found to measure attitudes (e.g., rating scales),
behaviours (e.g., observation checklists), and performance instruments. The analysis of this
type of data consists of statistically analysing scores collected on instruments (e.g.,
questionnaires) or checklists to answer research questions or to test hypotheses.
RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
Unlike qualitative research, quantitative methods are those which emphasize on facts, numbers
and frequencies. The respondents can represent opinions of the whole population. Quantitative
research is mathematically oriented and involves statistical analysis such as SPSS and
Microsoft Excel. The most common quantitative technique is perhaps “market research survey”.
It is also the chosen technique in this research. Essential in conducting a survey is
questionnaire, a data collection instrument that consists of various types of questions given to
the respondent to acquire desired information.
The Primary source of data collection was a questionnaire. This questionnaire was prepared by
considering insights from the literature review. This questionnaire was an essential part in
understanding the impact of humorous advertisement on consumer purchase decision. The
primary aim of developing the questionnaires was to get an idea about the perception of the
sample regarding humorous advertisements. It helped us to ascertain the degree of priority
regarding the different types of humour, in the context of various purchase decisions.
HYPOTHESIS FORMULATION
H01 = Gender has no impact on perception of realization based humorous advertisements

H11 = Gender has impact on perception of realization based humorous advertisements
H02 = Gender has no impact on perception of personification based humorous advertisements

H12 = Gender has impact on perception of personification based humorous advertisements
H03 = Gender has no impact on perception of sarcasm based humorous advertisements

H13 = Gender has impact on perception of sarcasm based humorous advertisements
H04 = Gender has no impact on perception of pun based humorous advertisements

H14 = Gender has impact on perception of pun based humorous advertisements
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QUESTIONNAIRE (ONLINE SURVEY)
Sr. Question
No. Questions Type
1. Gender
o Male
o Female
o Prefer not to say MCQ
2. What is your age?
o Less than 20
o 21-30
o 31-40
o 41-50
o 51-60
o Above 60 MCQ
3. Occupation
o Student
o Businessman
o Employed
o Home Maker MCQ
4. City of residence
o Tier 1 city (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad
and Pune)
o Tier 2 city
o Tier 3 city (small cities with population less than 10 lakh) MCQ
5. Annual Income Bracket
o <5L
o 5-15 L
o >15 L
o N.A MCQ
6. How did this advertisement describe about the product?
o Very bad, it is unclear and difficult to understand
o Bad
o Average
o Well
o Very well, it is clear and easy to understand MCQ
7. The advertisement evokes the desire to purchase the products shown in the
advertisement.
Please rate on a scale of 1-5. 1 – Strongly Disagree, 5 –Strongly Agree Likert Scale
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8. The advertisement is vague, the message is not clear
9. This advertisement evokes an emotional sentiment in me
10 The advertisement has changed my attitude towards the product
11. After seeing this advertisement, I can accurately compare these brands with other
competing brands on matters that are important to me
12. After seeing this advertisement, I would like to try this brand
13. I could resonate with the thought the advertisement is trying to invoke
14. Will you tell someone else about the advertisement?
15. The above point influences my decision to purchase the product
16. The benefits described in the advertisement are believable to me
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STATISTICAL INFERENCE FROM ADVERTISEMENT-1
The Chi-square test is intended to test how likely it is that an observed distribution is due to
chance. In this test, if the p value is less than 0.05 then the null hypothesis is rejected and the
alternate hypothesis is accepted.
AD1 * GENDER Crosstabulation

Count
GENDER
Female Male Total
AD1 1.00 1 2 3
2.00 4 5 9
3.00 8 14 22
4.00 16 22 38
5.00 10 24 34
Total 39 67 106
Table 1: Gender wise distribution of the responses
Chi-Square Tests
Asymptotic
Significance (2-
Value df sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 1.501a 4 .826
Likelihood Ratio 1.515 4 .824
N of Valid Cases 106
a. 3 cells (30.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum
expected count is 1.10.
Table 2: Chi-square analysis
INFERENCE:
H01 = Gender has no impact on perception of realization based humorous advertisements
H11 = Gender has impact on perception of realization based humorous advertisements
In this case the observed p value is 0.826 which is more than the threshold level of 0.05, thus,
we should accept the null hypothesis (H01), which states that “Gender has no impact on
perception of realization based humorous advertisements”
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The correlation analysis is used in order to investigate if there is any correlation between the
variables, and especially for every independent variable on the dependent variable. The higher
the correlation coefficient, the stronger the correlation between variables. A Pearson correlation
test is performed and is measured on a standard scale with a range of -1 and +1. According to
Cohen a correlation coefficient of 0.10 is perceived as weak, a coefficient of 0.3 is considered
moderate and a coefficient of 0.5 is large (Cohen. J. 1988). All of the correlation coefficients are
significant at the 0.01 level.
Correlations
Brand Purchase
Awareness Brand Attitude Intention
Brand Awareness Pearson Correlation 1 .494** .627**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
Brand Attitude Pearson Correlation .494** 1 .587**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
Purchase Intention Pearson Correlation .627** .587** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Table 3: Correlation between brand awareness, brand attitude and purchase intention
INFERENCE:
In examining the relationship brand awareness, brand attitude and purchase intention, Pearson
correlations were computed in Table 3.
➢ There lies significant positive correlation between brand awareness and purchase
intention. This shows that brand awareness plays a vital role in making purchase decisions
by the consumers.
➢ Likewise, there is significant relationship between the brand attitude and the purchase
intention of the consumers.
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Count
GENDER
Female Male Total
AD2 1.00 3 4 7
2.00 2 4 6
3.00 12 10 22
4.00 14 24 38
5.00 8 25 33
Total 39 67 106
Chi-Square Tests
Asymptotic
Significance (2-
Value df sided)


INFERENCE:
H02 = Gender has no impact on perception of personification based humorous advertisements
H12 = Gender has impact on perception of personification based humorous advertisements
perception of personification based humorous advertisements”
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Correlations
Brand Purchase
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
INFERENCE:
by the consumers.
➢ Likewise, there is significant relationship between the brand attitude and the brand attitude
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Count
GENDER
Female Male Total
AD3 1.00 2 5 7
2.00 4 8 12
3.00 13 16 29
4.00 15 19 34
5.00 5 19 24
Total 39 67 106
Chi-Square Tests
Asymptotic
Significance (2-
Value df sided)
INFERENCE:
H03 = Gender has no impact on perception of sarcasm based humorous advertisements
H13 = Gender has impact on perception of sarcasm based humorous advertisements
perception of sarcasm based humorous advertisements”
28 | P a g e
Correlations
Brand Purchase
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
INFERENCE:
by the consumers.
➢ Likewise, there is high significant relationship between the brand attitude and the brand
awareness
29 | P a g e

Count
GENDER
Female Male Total
AD4 1.00 2 8 10
2.00 3 3 6
3.00 21 18 39
4.00 12 24 36
5.00 1 14 15
Total 39 67 106
Chi-Square Tests
Asymptotic
Significance (2-
Value df sided)


INFERENCE:
H04 = Gender has no impact on perception of pun based humorous advertisements
H14 = Gender has impact on perception of pun based humorous advertisements
perception of pun based humorous advertisements”
30 | P a g e
Correlations
Brand Purchase
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 106 106 106
INFERENCE:
by the consumers.
➢ Likewise, there is significant relationship between the brand attitude and the brand
awareness.
31 | P a g e
RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS (ONLINE SURVEY)
DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS
Demographics is defined as statistical data about the characteristics of a population, such as

the age, gender and income of the people within the population.
A. GENDER
Gender
Male 67
Female 39
INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents are male.
32 | P a g e
B. AGE
AGE
80
60
60
40
19
20 11 8 5
3
0
Less than 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70
20
INFERENCE: Most of the respondents are between 21 to 30 years of age
C. OCCUPATION
Occupation
Retired 3
Homemaker 8
Employed 26
Businessman 6
Student 63
0 20 40 60 80
INFERENCE: Most of the respondents are students who are between 21 to 30 years of age are
students.
33 | P a g e
D. CITY OF RESIDENCE
City of Residence
Tier-3
9%
Tier-2
32% Tier-1
59%
INFERENCE: Most of the respondents are from Tier-1 cities.
E. INCOME
Income per annum

Below 5 lakh, N.A, 34
5 -15 lakh, 33
35 31
30
25
20
Greater than
15 15 lakh, 8
10
5
0
Below 5 lakh 5 -15 lakh Greater than N.A
15 lakh
INFERENCE: Most of the respondents are students who are between 21 to 30 years of age and
thus, the major response is annual income per annum is not available.
34 | P a g e
ADVERTISEMENT 1: ZOMATO AD
Food-tech firm Zomato opted for the digital route to ring in this year’s Mother’s Day. Focused on
mothers who have spent so much time cooking delicious food for their kids, Zomato’s digital
campaign #OrderForMom inspires all to celebrate the day differently.
How did this advertisement describe about the product?
Very Bad, 1, 1% Bad, 4, 4%

Very well, 31,
29% Average, 27,
25%
Well, 43, 41%
INFERENCE: Thus, it is quite evident that respondents feel that the advertisement describes
well about the product.
The advertisement evokes the desire to purchase the products shown in the advertisement
60
43
37
40
20 15
3 8
0
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree
INFERENCE: The weighted mean is 3.3584, thus the advertisement evoked a neutral impact on
the respondents.
The advertisement is vague, the message is not clear
60 44
40 32
16 12
20
2
0
Disagree Agree
INFERENCE: The weighted mean is 2.4339, thus the advertisement message was clear in its
approach.
35 | P a g e
This advertisement evokes an emotional sentiment in me
40 37
32
30
22
20
9
10 6
0
Disagree Agree
INFERENCE: The weighted mean is 3.7547, thus the respondents agree that the advertisement
evoked an emotional sentiment in them.
After seeing this advertisement, I would like to try this brand.
45 41
40
35
29
30
25 22
20
15
9
10 5
5
0
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Disagree
INFERENCE: The weighted mean is 3.5754, thus the respondents agree to try the brand after
seeing this advertisement.
Will you tell someone else about the advertisement?
50 41
40
28 25
30
20
10
10 2
0
Disagree Agree
INFERENCE: The weighted mean is 3.6037, thus the respondents agree to tell others about the
advertisement.
36 | P a g e
ADVERTISEMENT 2: COCA-COLA AD
The campaign is led by a 30-second film that shows a determined ladybug – eventually along
with the help of some ants – trying to do its part to contribute to creating a cleaner world. It does
offer a subtle message, at least in our eyes, that hey, if these insects can take time out of their
busy day and team up to recycle, then so can we!
Very Bad, 1, 1% Bad, 3, 3%

Very well, 36, Average, 27,
34% 25%
Well, 39, 37%
40 36
25 27
30
20 15
10 3
0
Disagree Agree
INFERENCE: The weighted mean is 3.6509, thus the respondents agreed to the fact that the
advertisement evokes the desire to purchase.
40 34 29 27
20 14
2
0
Disagree Agree
approach.
37 | P a g e
40 35 33
30
20
20
11
10 7
0
Disagree Agree
40 35
31
30 26
20
9
10 5
0
Disagree Agree
40 33 35
30 27
20
9
10
2
0
Disagree Agree
advertisement.
38 | P a g e
ADVERTISEMENT 3: AMUL AD
In an attempt to raise awareness about the novel coronavirus which has claimed over millions of
lives to date, dairy brand Amul's new doodle is urging people to adopt healthy hygiene
practices. Asserting the famous proverb 'Prevention is better than cure,' the text on the doodle
read, "Better saaf than sorry."
Very Bad, 1, 1%Bad, 4, 4%

Average, 23,
Very well, 22%
44, 41%
Well, 34,
32%
40 35
28 30
30
20 11
10 2
0
Disagree Agree
40 35 31
30 25
20 13
10 2
0
Disagree Agree
approach.
39 | P a g e
40 37
31
30
18
20 13
10 7
0
Disagree Agree
35 33
29 28
30
25
20
15 11
10 5
5
0
Disagree Agree
40 36
33
30 24
20
10
10 3
0
Disagree Agree
advertisement.
40 | P a g e
ADVERTISEMENT 4: DUREX AD
Continuing with its goal of reminding consumers that they must use protection to have
sex Whenever they don’t want to increase the family. The print is very simple, at the same time
that it perfectly fulfills its purpose. It is a background of Durex corporate blue accompanied by a
revealing sum that reminds the public what happens when they don’t use a condom: 1 + 1 = 3.
Very Bad, 1, 1% Bad, 4, 4%

Average, 21,
20%
Very well, 49,
46%
Well, 31,
29%
40 33 30
30 25
20 15
10 3
0
Disagree Agree
40 37 32
22
20 13
2
0
Disagree Agree
approach.
41 | P a g e
40 37
33
30
20 17
13
10 6
0
Disagree Agree
50
39
40
30 27
22
20 13
10 5
0
Disagree Agree
40 37
32
30
23
20
11
10
3
0
Disagree Agree
advertisement.
42 | P a g e
CONSCLUSION
The analysis and evaluation above have been able to prove that there is a remarkable impact of
humour advertising on the consumer purchasing decisions. The study was able to identify that
the purchasing decision of the consumer's plays is largely dependent upon their willingness to
purchase particular products. Among the types of humour, realization, personification and
sarcasm is evaluated to have the most entertaining value. Advertisements successfully executed
these types of humour can achieve audience attention, make the message viral, the product
memorable and differentiate from many competitor brands. However, humour can easily distract
audience from delivering product information or the main message. Effectiveness of these types
of humour might sound tempting but there is a thin line between amusement and ridiculousness.
The other types of humour such as exaggeration and pun are perceived by consumers to be
relatively less entertaining. Sarcasm is a humour type that needs to be used with caution because
it can easily offending an individual or a group of audience.
To conclude, the impact of humour on consumer’s purchase decision also depends on how
involved or attached the consumer is to the product. With new product, humorous advertising
can draw consumer attention and access consumer’s long-term memory. The consumers in this
study stated that with humorous advertising, an aligning campaign and product placement, they
most likely would be able to recall the product. With products that are already familiar to
consumer, humour has relatively little impact on encouraging repurchases but is appropriate
tactic to build brand’s image and gain consumer’s fondness.
43 | P a g e
PRACTICAL IMPLICATION
Humorous advertisement is one of the popular types of advertising for consumer and industrial
product and is increasingly being used by industries for branding to impress and attract their
customers in the market. The thesis is aimed to benefit marketing students, corporate houses
and/or “advertiser-to-be” with understanding of humour in advertising and consumer decision
making process. With the study of consumer decision making process and purchase intentions of
consumers, this paper can assist advertisers who plan to approach and influence Indian
consumers by using humour.
44 | P a g e
RECOMMENDATION FOR FUTURE STUDIES
Due to limited time and resources this study has not been able to cover all areas and aspects
found interesting, therefore a few suggestions for further research is presented below:
➢ Focus on what kind of humour is most successful when communicating with Indian
consumers.
➢ Analyse how different age groups perceive different humour appeal in advertising.
➢ Conduct a similar study with a wider age range in the in-depth interview
While gender equality varies greatly among cultures and since humor concerning men and
women are common in commercials, it would be interesting to further investigate the feminist
aspect of humor with concerns of the cultural characteristics. Further research could also be done
with comparison of other countries or even between continents, to investigate how the same
humor styles are perceived.
45 | P a g e
REFERENCES
1. Beard, F. K. (2005). One hundred years of humor in American advertisement. Journal of
Macro Marketing, 25(1), 54–65. doi: 10.1177/0276146705274 965
2. Chung, H., & Zhao, X. (2003). Humor effect on memory and attitude: moderating role of
product involvement. International Journal of Advertising, 22(1), 117–144.
doi:10.1080/02650487.2003.1107284
3. Djambaska, A., Petrovska, I., & Bundalevska, E. (2016). Is humor advertising always
effective? Parameters for effective use of humor in advertising. Journal of Management
Research, 8(1), 1-19.
4. Duncan, C. P., & Nelson, J. E. (1985). Effects of humor in a radio advertising

experiment. Journal of Advertising, 14( 2), 33–40.
5. Eisend, M. (2009). A meta-analysis of humor in advertising. Journal of the Academic

Marketing Science, 39, 191 – 203.
6. Eisend, M. (2017).Explaining the use and effects of humor in advertising: an

evolutionary perspective. International Journal of Advertising, 37(4), 526–547.
doi:10.1080/02650487.2017.1335074
7. Elbers, J. S. (2013). Humorous advertisements and their effectiveness among customers

with different motivational values (Master’s thesis, University of Twente).
8. Hatzithomas, L., Zotos, Y., & Boutsouki, C. (2011). Humor and cultural values in print
advertising: a cross–cultural study. International Marketing Review.
9. Hoang, A. T. (2013). Impact of humor in advertising on consumer purchase decision.

Lappeenranta: Saimaa University of Applied Sciences.
46 | P a g e

Master of Business Administration: The Impact of Humorous Advertisement On Consumer Purchase Decision

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THE IMPACT OF HUMOROUS ADVERTISEMENT ON CONSUMER PURCHASE

Report submitted to the

Master of Business Administration

Under the guidance of

Prof. Amit Upadhyay (VGSoM)

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Kharagpur and is a true representation of my work.

©Rajdeep Biswas [2021]

All Rights Reserved.

not allowed without express and prior written of the author.

S.No. Title Page No.

Panel Member 1 Panel Member 2

Panel Member3 Panel Member 4

Opportunities and benefits of using humor as a stimuli in advertising is appealing to any

The following are the research objectives of the project:

➢ To explain the concept of the humour advertisement

Defined as the quality of “being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or

● Humour grabs attention.

Figure (2): Overall model of consumer behaviour (Hawkins/ Mothersbaugh 2010)

Figure (3): Consumer decision making process

● Personal Sources (family, friends, neighbours)

Figure (4): A model of an impact of humor advertisement brand purchase strategy.

E. POST PURCHASE EVALUATION

Identifying the topic of

Deciding the Project title

Understanding the consumer

Finding the humorous

Collect data using

Analyze the data

Sample size of the study: 106

H01 = Gender has no impact on perception of realization based humorous advertisements

H02 = Gender has no impact on perception of personification based humorous advertisements

H03 = Gender has no impact on perception of sarcasm based humorous advertisements

H04 = Gender has no impact on perception of pun based humorous advertisements

AD1 * GENDER Crosstabulation

AD2 * GENDER Crosstabulation

Likelihood Ratio 5.376 4 .251

a. 4 cells (40.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum

AD3 * GENDER Crosstabulation

Table 7: Gender wise distribution of the responses

AD4 * GENDER Crosstabulation

Table 10: Gender wise distribution of the responses

Likelihood Ratio 14.125 4 .007

a. 3 cells (30.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS (ONLINE SURVEY)

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS

Demographics is defined as statistical data about the characteristics of a population, such as

INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents are male.

INFERENCE: Most of the respondents are between 21 to 30 years of age

INFERENCE: Most of the respondents are from Tier-1 cities.

Income per annum

How did this advertisement describe about the product?

Very Bad, 1, 1% Bad, 4, 4%

Well, 43, 41%

The advertisement is vague, the message is not clear

After seeing this advertisement, I would like to try this brand.

Will you tell someone else about the advertisement?

How did this advertisement describe about the product?

Very Bad, 1, 1% Bad, 3, 3%

Well, 39, 37%

The advertisement is vague, the message is not clear

After seeing this advertisement, I would like to try this brand.

Will you tell someone else about the advertisement?