“Wow, That Was Funny”

Abstract

In this study, we examined whether or not exposure to a humorous surround campaign in Iowa (United States) could produce a multiplicative effect based on Intermedia Theory. Until You're Ready, AvoidtheStork.com © was designed to prevent unintended pregnancies among young women. In the case of unintended pregnancy, interpersonal sharing is important because women's contraceptive decisions are influenced by what others, including their friends, think about the health issue. In a sample of college students (n ¼ 594), cross-sectional survey results indicated that campaign exposure and humor were significant predictors of talking with and/or showing the campaign to others. Based on our results, we suggest that campaign practitioners should consider humor-based campaigns as a way to generate not only exposure-based effects but also conversation-based effects. Specifically, humorbased campaigns can increase the reach of a campaign through sharing.

Selection and Transmission Processes for Information in the Emerging Media Environment: Psychological Motives and Message Characteristics

“…Positively valenced information should be more widely shared, because it can enhance positive images of senders (Alhabash, et al, 2013; Kim et al, 2013). The role of positive emotions in the form of humor (Campo, et al, 2013; Shifman, 2012) and pride and empathy (van den Hooff, Schouten, & Simonovski, 2012) predict transmission measured through intentions as well as behaviors. Along the same lines, Berger and Milkman (2012) found that positive news articles invited more frequent email-based retransmissions than those with negative emotional valence.…”

Humor in public health messaging

“…Nanin, Bimbi, Grov, and Parsons (2009) reported that 40% of those aware of the Stop the Sores campaign reported that the ads made them want to talk to friends about syphilis, with this number higher among men of color. Campo et al (2013) found that humor is conducive to sharing, with respondents who found an unplanned pregnancy prevention campaign to be more humorous more likely to share the campaign. Similarly to Reder (1997), Campo et al (2013) found that women were more likely to have shared the campaign with others than men.…”

“…Campo et al (2013) found that humor is conducive to sharing, with respondents who found an unplanned pregnancy prevention campaign to be more humorous more likely to share the campaign. Similarly to Reder (1997), Campo et al (2013) found that women were more likely to have shared the campaign with others than men. Thus, it appears from both experimental research and evidence from campaign evaluations that humorous messaging can promote sharing of messages as well as interpersonal discussions about the message and health topic.…”

“…Yoon and Tinkham (2013) tested humorous and non-humorous versions of an anti-deforestation print ad and found that for those who had low involvement in deforestation, attitudes towards conserving paper were significantly higher in the humor condition than the no-humor condition, while for those with high involvement there were no significant differences between the conditions (Yoon & Tinkham, 2013). Connecting to interpersonal influence, Campo et al (2013) found that those who perceived a campaign to be more humorous were more likely to talk about and share the campaign with others. Thus, as humor can reduce reactance, including in threatening situations, and can increase the shareable nature of messages, it is important to understand what humor is and how humorous messages are created.…”

“…The satiric kit group had lower purchase intentions, but perceived humor was positively associated with ad liking and perceived credibility of the organization. Finally, evaluating an unplanned pregnancy prevention campaign, Campo et al (2013) found that those who found the campaign to be more humorous were more likely to have shared the campaign.…”