Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Reed College of Media
Department
Not Listed
Committee Chair
Julia Daisy Fraustino
Committee Member
Elizabeth Cohen
Committee Member
Rita Colistra
Committee Member
Geah Pressgrove
Abstract
This study examines the impact of humor use by brands and brand parody accounts on Twitter. Specifically, this research investigates how the type of humorous message and the message source influence perceptions of the brand, behavioral intentions toward the brand, and perceived parasocial interaction with the brand. It also examines the relationship between gender and perceptions of humor. Accordingly, this study uses a 2 (humor: wordplay vs. disparagement) x 2 (source: brand account vs. parody account) between-subjects online experiment to answer these questions. Key results suggest that parody Twitter accounts, particularly those using disparagement-style humor, may be advantageous to the real brand in terms of viewers’ purchase intentions and intentions to spread positive word of mouth about the real brand. Yet, brands’ own use of disparagement-style humor on Twitter could lead to lower purchase intentions in comparison. However, regardless of message source, people tend to perceive disparagement humor as more humorous than wordplay humor.
Recommended Citation
Eckman, Nick, "Effects of Humor use by Brands and their Parody Accounts on Twitter" (2018). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 7503.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/7503