Hyperboles in advertising: a serial mediation of incongruity and humour

Abstract

Visual hyperbole is a widely used yet understudied rhetorical figure in advertising. This experimental study examined the effectiveness of visual hyperbole over non-hyperbolic visual and verbal hyperbole. A significant serial mediation is found in that visual hyperbole is considered more incongruous than literal visual, and the increased perceived incongruity exerts a positive influence through perceived humour on ad attitude. A similar serial mediation is found when visual hyperbole is compared with verbal hyperbole. In addition, visual hyperbole ads generated stronger product belief than non-hyperbolic visual and verbal hyperbole ads. The advantage of visual hyperbole is attributed to both argument style and mode of delivery. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords:

• Humour
• incongruity
• product belief
• rhetorical figure
• visual hyperbole

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ying Huang

Ying Huang (PhD Southern Illinois University Carbondale) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication, University of West Florida. Her research interests include the content and effects of visual rhetorical figures, and the representations of race and gender in advertising.