The Use of Humor in Japanese Advertising

Hanna, Nessim; Gordon, Geoffrey L.; Ridnour, Rick E.

doi:10.1300/j046v07n01_06

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…In a later work, Alden and Martin (1995) found similar types of humor structures but important content differences between Japanese and American humor in televison advertising. Hanna et al (1994) also agree that humor has limited application in Japan. The view that cognitive approaches to humor transcend geopolitical boundaries is parallel with Unger's (1995) finding that an affectbased approach to humor also is consistent across national borders.…”

Section: Intangible Nature Of Services Makes Differentiation Difficultmentioning

confidence: 74%

The advertising of services: what is an appropriate role for humor?

Fugate

1998

Journal of Services Marketing

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The use of humor is quite prevalent in the promotion of US goods and services. Estimated expenditures on humorous advertisements are in the billions and a majority of advertisements may contain some humorous elements. Unfortunately, not much attention has been focused specifically on the role of humor in the advertising of services. By using the available humor‐related literature and synthesizing it with services marketing literature, a set of logically supported propositions was determined. Specifically, propositions are offered regarding the ability of humor to attract attention, increase comprehension, effect source credibility, and enhance liking. In addition, audience factors, the nature of the service product, the superiority of humor over non‐humor, the relatedness of humor to the product and the extension of humor into the international marketplace are examined.

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Section: Intangible Nature Of Services Makes Differentiation Difficultmentioning

confidence: 74%

The advertising of services: what is an appropriate role for humor?

Fugate

1998

Journal of Services Marketing

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“…However, a few studies appear to have analyzed the global use of humorous advertising (Alden et al , 1993) (Table I). Content analysis seems to be the most frequently employed methodology in these research papers (Koudelova and Whitelock, 2001; Toncar, 2001; Hanna et al , 1994; Alden et al , 1993; Alden and Martin, 1995; McCullough and Taylor, 1993; Biswas et al , 1992; Weinberger and Spotts, 1989), while experimental and quasi experimental designs (Lee and Lim, 2008; Nevo et al , 2001; De Pelsmacker and Geuens, 1998; Unger, 1995) have been rarely used.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kelly and Solomon's typology (pun, understatement, joke, ludicrous, satire and irony) (1975) has been employed as the main methodological instrument in descriptive studies (Table I). A synthesis of findings across papers provides evidence on the global pervasiveness of ludicrousness (Toncar, 2001; Alden and Martin, 1995; Alden et al , 1993; Hanna et al , 1994; Weinberger and Spotts, 1989). However, some exceptions do exist.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Humor is one of the most commonly used emotional appeals in global advertising (Koudelova and Whitelock, 2001; Hanna et al , 1994; Biswas et al , 1992), but only a few descriptive studies have examined the ways in which it varies across national cultures (Toncar, 2001; Alden et al , 1993; Biswas et al , 1992; Weinberger and Spotts, 1989). Most of these studies have been concerned mainly with TV advertising, although the majority of the experiments in the field of humorous advertising have analyzed print ad executions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Humor and cultural values in print advertising: a cross‐cultural study

Hatzithomas

Zotos

Boutsouki

2011

International Marketing Review

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PurposeThe present study aims to discuss the role of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, uncertainty avoidance and individualism/collectivism, on the use of various humor types in print advertising, across culturally diverse countries.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 12,351 ads (3,828 humorous) from the largest circulated UK and Greek magazines was content‐analyzed in light of Speck's humorous message taxonomy, emphasizing humor types and intentional relatedness.FindingsThe results indicate that cultural diversity is reflected in the types of humorous devices that tend to be used in the UK and Greece. British advertisements incorporate not only sentimental but also disparaging humor types such as sentimental humor and full comedy, providing a great deal of pure entertainment. On the contrary, Greek print ads emphasize cognitive humorous appeals, in an attempt to provide credible information to the uncertainty‐avoiding Greek audience.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study highlight some key aspects of UK and Greek print advertising that can be extended in other homogeneous cultures. In individualistic countries with low uncertainty avoidance, it seems that consumers prefer humor‐dominant messages. On the contrary, in collectivistic countries with high uncertainty‐aversion attitudes, humor can be used as a Trojan horse to convey the required information to the target group.Originality/valueThe present study points out how advertisers' intentions to entertain or to inform the target audience are expressed in the use of various humor types in advertising, underlining, also, the effect of cultural values on these communication decisions.

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“…Hu mour is an im por tant tool in Jap a nese ad ver tis ing be cause it cre ates a bond of mu tual feel ings with the viewer (Kiishi, 1988). Pre vi ous stud ies on Jap a nese ads con clude that hu mour is set in fa mil iar set ting (Di Benedetto, Tamate, and Chandran, 1992), fo cuses on lu di crous ness (Hanna, Gordon, and Ridnour, 1994), and ap pears to have com mon struc ture with other coun tries (Alden and Mar tin, 1995). While some con clude that the frequency that hu mour is em ployed less of ten than U.S. ads (Lin, 1993), oth ers do not (Kline 1988).…”

Section: Ad Ver Tiser Ac Cul Tur a Tion In Ja Panmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advertiser acculturation in Japan: examples from foreign actors

Martin

2005

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics

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Recent work on advertising acculturation suggests that ad agencies have changed their messages in order to appeal to immigrants. The following inquiry turns the tables and looks at how the role of foreign actors has been adapted in a country with a relatively homogeneous population. Specifically, how adaptive is the Japanese advertising industry? Has the behaviour of foreign actors been adapted to reflect Japanese culture? Using Duncan’s categories of the non verbal communication, the mannerisms of foreign actors are examined. The results suggest that acculturation is occurring at some level; however, the inclusion of stereo typical materials suggests some retention of foreign identity.

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The Use of Humor in Japanese Advertising

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

The advertising of services: what is an appropriate role for humor?

The advertising of services: what is an appropriate role for humor?

Humor and cultural values in print advertising: a cross‐cultural study

Advertiser acculturation in Japan: examples from foreign actors

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