The impact of humorous advertising on consumers’ buying, word of mouth and recall

This paper aims at investigating the effect of "humorous advertising" on the Egyptian viewer. It is studying the effect of humorous advertising (HA) on the consumer's buying behaviour, probability to purchase and actual sales, as mediated by the attitude; along with studying its effect on recall and Word of Mouth. The research depends on both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data includes five interviews with advertising experts and two focus groups, one with youth and another with adults. Quantitative data were collected through a survey. The data revealed that using humour in ads affects positively and strongly consumer attitude which has positive strong effect on probability to purchase; yet the consumer attitude effect on actual purchase choice was direct weak. Humour in ads has positive strong effect on word of mouth; as well as on recall. The marketers can use the humorous execution to lead to branding. As well as the paper clarifies for advertising agencies that this appeal needs special care in its creation to lead to the intended result; otherwise, it could lead to the opposite result. This paper fulfils an identified need to know the best marketing objective that can be achieved through humorous advertising.