The interactive effects of moral identity and humor on advertising evaluations: the mediating role of disgust

Abstract

Despite the potential of humour in increasing positive marketing outcomes, some consumers may negatively evaluate humour in advertising. This is because even though consumers perceive a humorous advertisement as funny, such content can also elicit negative emotions. Extending the literature in this area, the present research explores how consumers with high (vs. low) levels of moral identity react more negatively to a humorous advertisement. Further, this effect is driven by the emotion of disgust elicited by the humorous content. These predictions are tested across three studies. As such, the findings of this research offer theoretical and practical implications by highlighting the potentially negative role of moral identity in consumer evaluations of humorous advertisements.

Keywords:

• Humour
• norm violation
• moral identity
• disgust
• advertising

Funding

There is no funding associated with this research.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Widya Paramita

Widya Paramita is a Lecturer at Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia. She graduated her doctoral degree from the School of Marketing, University of New South Wales, Australia. Her research interests are brand management and service marketing. She has published her works in various journals such as Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, amongst others.

Felix Septianto

Felix Septianto is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at The University of Queensland and also holds an honorary position at the University of Auckland Business School. He investigates the influences of feelings and emotions on consumer decision making, particularly in the context of advertising, consumer ethics, prosocial and pro-environmental behaviours. He has published over 40 (30+ first authorship) articles in major marketing journals (FT-50, ABDC “A*” and “A” ranked), including International Journal of Research in Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising Research, and Marketing Letters, among others.

Reza Ashari Nasution

Reza Ashari Nasution is an Associate Professor at School of Business and Management, Bandung Institute of Technology and currently is the Vice Dean of Resources of the school. His research interests are business strategy and marketing. He has published his papers in several reputable journals such as International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, Polish Journal of Management Development, and among others.