How Do We Perceive a Humorous Manager? Manager Humor, Impression Management, and Employee Willingness to Work With the Manager

Abstract

Humor is a form of communication that is intended to be entertaining and produce positive affective and cognitive responses from receivers. Nonetheless, humor in the workplace is a complicated matter. It has been recognized as a valuable tool for managers because it can activate various favorable outcomes and alter employees’ perception of the manager’s warmth and competence (impression management), but not always to the benefit of the manager. In our studies, the use of humor showed changed attitudes toward a manager’s warmth and competence, and eventually influenced the employee’s behavioral intentions. In Study 1, we tested the use of managerial humor in two emails. The humorous manager was perceived as warm, but not competent. Impression management mediated the employee’s willingness to work with the manager. In Study 2, we tested the use of managerial humor with one introductory email. In this study, we also monitored the gender of both the manager and the employee. Once again, the humorous manager was perceived as warm and humor mediated employees’ behavioral intentions. As for competence, gender moderated the results, such that male employees perceived humorous female managers as more competent, while female employees perceived humorous male managers as less competent. Practical implications are presented.

A systematic literature review of the stereotype content model in the fields of psychology and marketing: main themes examined in the literature and an agenda for future research in marketing

“…Finally, in the fourth theme, researchers in marketing explored the effect on brands (e.g., Brender-Ilan and Reizer, 2021 ), country stereotypes ( Grigoryev et al, 2019 ; Barbarossa and Mandler, 2020 ; Feng et al, 2023 ; Rojas-Mendez and Davies, 2023 ), perception of providers in front-line service ( Güntürkün et al, 2020 ; Leung et al, 2020 ), the effect of the two traits on consumers’ prosocial behavior ( Liu and Lin, 2018 ; Zhou et al, 2019 ; Chua et al, 2023 ), perception of endorsers in marketing communications ( Bauer et al, 2022 ; Linne et al, 2022 ; Philipp-Muller et al, 2023 ), and perception of AI ( Belanche et al, 2021 ; Borau et al, 2021 ; Yoganathan et al, 2021 ). To summarize the main themes, providing a visual answer to our first research question, Figure 4 provides a graphic summary of the different topics and research streams identified during this review ( Figure 9 ).…”

“…These associations might change among different consumers (e.g., based on demographics), and due to the interaction with other variables, such as the use of humor ( Brender-Ilan and Reizer, 2021 ; Howe et al, 2023 ) or emoticons when communicating the brand ( Ivens et al, 2015 ). Other studies examined the interaction of W/C with the type of narration used to present the brand (i.e., in first vs. third person) ( Chang et al, 2019 ).…”

“…While there is a wide variety of topics examined in the literature, there are two main fields where most prior studies have been conducted, namely, in psychology (e.g., Imhoff et al, 2013 ; Vervecken et al, 2015 ; Meyer and Asbrock, 2018 ; Grigoryev et al, 2019 ; Xue et al, 2020 ; Brender-Ilan and Reizer, 2021 ; Gärtner et al, 2022 ; Linne et al, 2022 ) and marketing (e.g., Kolbl et al, 2019 , 2020 ; Diamantopoulos et al, 2021 ; Gidaković et al, 2022 ). In fact, prior research in marketing on the SCM uses the main theoretical basis of research in social psychology, connecting prior research from these two fields.…”

The success elements of humor use in workplace leadership: A proposed framework with cognitive and emotional competencies

“…Studies show humor production ability is related to verbal intelligence [16,17], and the use of humor signals confidence, however, the inappropriate use of humor signals incompetence [8]. There is recent evidence to suggest humor use only affects emotional connection (warmth) rather than judgement on competence [18]. Despite the inconsistent findings, these studies suggest effective humor use may involve both cognitive and emotional intelligence.…”

Validation of the humour styles questionnaire in healthcare professionals

“…In the therapeutic relationship, humour has been shown to improve communication with the patient and the coping with difficult situations, helping to create a climate of trust and confidence (Birkelund & Larsen, 2013 ; Haydon & van der Riet, 2014 ; Leñero, 2015 ; Sousa et al, 2019 ). In the work environment, it improves the working atmosphere, favours relationships between colleagues, promotes teamwork, increases motivation and job satisfaction and reduces job burnout and stress, resulting in a higher quality of care (Bartzik et al, 2021 ; Brender‐Ilan & Reizer, 2021 ; Chen & Ayoun, 2019 ; Cheng et al, 2021 ; Mesmer‐Magnus et al, 2018 ; Vaz de Almeida & Nunes Health, 2020 ).…”