Humor Roles of Females in a Product Color Matrix

Healthcare providers sometimes use the power of humor as a treatment and therapy for buffering mental health or easing mental disorders because humor can provide relief from distress and conflict. Humor is also very suitable for advertising because of similar benefits. This study carefully examines humor's widespread use in advertising and identifies relationships among humor mechanisms, female depictions, and product types. The purpose is to conceptualize how humor theories can be used not only to successfully define a product as fitting within one of four color categories of the product color matrix, but also to identify compelling contemporary female depictions through humor in ads. The results can offer an idealization for marketing managers and consumers to help them understand how female role depictions can be effectively used with humor in ads. The four propositions developed herein are derived from related literature, through the identification of marketing strategy formulations that achieve product memory enhancement by adopting humor mechanisms properly matched with female role depictions.

Authors:

• Jin-Tsann Yeh
• Chyong-Ling Lin

Keywords:

• Humor mechanisms
• Female role depiction
• Product types.

References:

[1] G. O. Young, "Synthetic structure of industrial plastics (Book style with
paper title and editor)," in Plastics, 2nd ed. vol. 3, J. Peters, Ed. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1964, pp. 15-64.
[2] A. Arima, "Gender stereotypes in Japanese television advertisements,"
Sex Role, vol. 49(1), pp. 81-90, 2003.
[3] E. Azim, D. Mobbs, B. Jo, V. Menon, and A. L. Reiss, "Sex differences in
brain activation elicit by humor," Stanford University School, PNAS, vol.
102(45), pp. 16501, 2005.
[4] R. F. Bales and P. E. Slater, "Role differentiation in small
decision-making group," in Family Socialization and Interaction Process,
Free Press, 1955, pp. 259-306.
[5] A. A. Berger, An anatomy of humor. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction
Publishers, 1993.
[6] A. Blanch, "The problem of feminine masochism," Cornell Journal of
Social Relations, vol. 9, pp. 1-15, 1974.
[7] M. Buijzen and P. M. Valkenburg, "Developing a typology of humor in
audiovisual media," Media Psychology, vol. 6, pp. 147-167, 2004.
[8] A. J. Chapman and N. J. Gadfield, "Is sexual humor sexist?" Journal of
Communication, vol. 26, pp. 141-153, 1976.
[9] A. J. Chapman and H. C. Foot, Humor and laughter: Theory, research,
and application. New Brunswick: Transaction, 1996.
[10] A. E. Courtney and S. W. Lockertez, "A woman-s place: An analysis of
the role portrayed by woman in magazine advertisement," Journal of
Marketing Research, vol. 8, pp. 92-95, 1971.
[11] M. Crawford and D. Gressley, "Creativity, caring and context: Woman-s
and men-s accounts of humor preferences and practices," Psychology of
Women Quarterly, vol. 15, pp. 217-231, 1991.
[12] M. S. Davis, "Sociology through humor," Symbolic Interaction, vol. 2, pp.
105-110, 1979.
[13] G. A. Fine, "Humorous interaction and the social construction of
meaning: Making sense in a jocular vein," Studies in Symbolic
Interaction, 5, pp. 84-104, 1984.
[14] J. Ford, P. Voli, E. D. Honeycutt, Jr., and S. L. Casey, "Gender role
portrayals in Japanese advertising: A magazine content analysis," Journal
of Advertising, vol. 17(1), 1988.
[15] M. Gilly, "Sex role in advertising: A comparison of television
advertisements in Australia, Mexico, and the United States," Journal of
Marketing, vol. 7(1), 27-37, 1990.
[16] B. Henkin and J. M. Fish, "Gender and personality differences in the
appreciation of cartoon humor," The Journal of Psychology, vol. 120(2),
pp. 157-175, 2001.
[17] J. M. Jones, Cognitive factors in the appreciation of humor: A theoretical
and empirical analysis. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Yale
University, 1970.
[18] J. Katz, "Families and funny mirrors: A study of the social construction
and personal embodiment of humor," American Journal of Sociology, vol.
101, pp. 1194-1237, 1996.
[19] R. Lakoff, "Language and woman-s place," Harper & Row, vol. 56, 1975.
[20] P. E. McGhee, "Cognitive development and children-s comprehension of
humor," Child Development, vol. 42, pp. 123-138, 1971.
[21] P. E. McGhee, Humor: Its Origin and Development. W.H. Freeman,
1979.
[22] M. Mulkay, On humor: It-s nature and its place in modernity society.
Polity Press, 1988.
[23] J. C. Myer, "Humor as a double-edged sword: Four functions of humor in
communication," Communication Theory, vol. 10, pp. 310-331, 2000.
[24] S. Myers, B. Ropog, and R. Rodgers, "Sex differences in humor,"
Psychological Reports, vol. 81(1), 221-222, 1997.
[25] G. Nerhardt, "Incongruity and funniness: Towards a new descriptive
model," In eds. A. J. Chapman and H. C. Foot, Humor and Laughter:
Theory, Research, and Application, London: Wiley, pp. 55-62, 1976.
[26] O. Nevo and B. Nevo, "Singaporean humor: A cross-cultural,
cross-gender comparison," The Journal of General Psychology, vol.
128(2), pp. 143-156, 2001.
[27] W. E. O-Connel, "The adaptive function of wit and humor," Journal of
Abnormal and Social Psychology, vol. 61, pp. 263-270, 1960.
[28] R. E. Petty, J. T. Cacioppo, and D. Schumann, "Central and peripheral
routes to advertising effectiveness: The moderating role of involvement,"
Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 10(4), 135-146, 1983.
[29] R. F. Priest and P. G. Wilhelm, "Sex, marital status and self-actualization
as factors in the appreciation of sexist jokes," Journal of Social
Psychology, vol. 92, pp. 245-249, 1974.
[30] D. T. Robinson and L. Smith-Lovin, "Getting a laugh: Gender, status, and
humor in task discussions," Social Forces, vol. 80(1), pp. 123-158, 2001.
[31] R. M. Stephenson, "Conflict and control functions of humor," American
Journal of Sociology, vol. 56, pp. 569-574, 1951.
[32] T. C. Veatch, "A theory of humor, "Humor, vol. 11, pp. 163-215, 1998.
[33] N. Walker and Z. Dresner, Redressing the balance: American women-s
literary humor from colonial times to the 1980-s, Jackson, MS: Univer,
Press of Mississippi, 1988.
[34] M. G. Weinberger, L. Campbell, and B. Brody, Effective radio
advertising. New York: Lexington Books, 1995.
[35] C. P. Wilson, Jokes: form, content, use and function. Academic Press,
1979.
[36] G. D. Wilson, D. K. Nias, and A. H. Brazendale, "Vital statistics,
perceived attractiveness and response to risqué humor," Journal of Social
Psychology, vol. 95, pp. 201-205, 1975.
[37] R. S. Wyer, D. A. Weatherly, and G. Terrel, "Social role, aggression and
academic achievement," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
vol. 1, pp. 645-649, 1965.
[38] D. Zillman and H. Stocking, "Putdown humor," Journal of
Communication, vol. 26, pp. 154-163, 1976.